Sunday, 4 May 2008

Barely Sprouting Broccoli



Brassica olaeracea. Sown far too late last year. Planted out too late. Planted too close together. Stunted growth, in every way. Harvesting the first shoots now as everyone's else's has just about finished cropping for the season. Better than nothing though, lessons learned, and just about as beautiful a vegetable as is possible, I think.

The rules for next season, according to Joy Larkcom:
  • Sow mid to early summer in seed beds or modules
  • Plant out firmly in summer AT LEAST 2FEET EACH WAY (whooops)
  • Advisable to earth up and stake as they grow
  • Harvest from late winter to late spring
  • Pick regularly to encourage early cropping
As with all in the brassica family, a heavy feeder so lots of well-rotted manure to prep the bed first.

Do NOT overcook - steam lightly, and preferably eat raw chopped up in salads.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Shiv,
Just reading a little bit about your trials and tribulations with the broccoli gives me shivers down the spine. I am glad that you are doing all the hard work first,so if I ever get to your stage I'll just read all your posts and save myself a lot of trouble, I hope!!