Broccoli, big surprise!

[digitS']

I have not had broccoli right thru the season and into September since I grew a sprouting type, way back when.

This is Packman, just one that matures early. You know, before the hot, dry mid-July weather ...Except that weather showed up in mid-June! Record June temps caused plants under a foot tall to bud! They were about the size of a quarter; I cut them off. The plants looked terrible.

Composted chicken pucky went down and soil was gathered around the plants. Lots of water ... nearly all came back!

This is the final plant. The others were pulled at the end of August. This one gave the zucchini, that was supposed to replace it, a lot of trouble but I could see that this Packman wasn't ready to pack it in.

Steve
Back at the end of July:

What a Season!

 

[so lucky]

That looks pretty yummy, Steve. When you said you cut them off, did you cut the broccoli plant down to a stub, or just cut off the heads? Mine didn't do squat this year, either. Nor did my cabbage. But then I didn't have the foresight to cut them off, fertilize with chicken litter and be patient.

 

[digitS']

I cut those miserable buds and tossed them, So Lucky.

I'm not sure if the plants would have survived to set seed from those first center buds. The June heat was that hard on them.

Those broccoli plants gathered their wits, turned green again, grew, and produced lots - within a few weeks!

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had years that broccoli totally fails. The initial heads are practically non-existent and the buds that come on after are pretty useless. I've had years where the first heads are huge and the buds just keep on coming. Some years are somewhere in between but most seem to hit one extreme or the other. I can't tell if that is related to rainfall or maybe a late freeze. I try to follow the same schedule and I cover them when a frost is predicted.

I've been planting Green Comet but a lady at the Mom 'n Pop garden center recommended I try Packman, so I did. Supposedly it does bud up pretty well after you cut the main head off. It was a failure this year but then practically my whole garden was. I don't blame that on it being wetter than usual, I blame it on getting a couple of frog-stranglers after the ground was already soaked, then it turning unseasonably hot. The garden just melted down.

 

[bills]

I now much prefer the budding types of Broccoli.
Sure, the heads are small, but you can continue to harvest it late into the fall, and there's always enough for adding to a salad, or a stir fry. A hard frost seems to be the only thing that halts production.
I think in the future, I won't even bother growing the other types.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

me too, bills. I love to eat the buds raw cus they are so mild.

 

[digitS']

I've been planting Green Comet but a lady at the Mom 'n Pop garden center recommended I try Packman, so I did. Supposedly it does bud up pretty well after you cut the main head off.

You have followed the same broccoli route I have, @Ridgerunner . Except, you stayed with Green Comet much later.

The seed sources disappeared for me. If I remember right, Southern Exposure was the last outfit to have Green Comet. Wow! I thought it was a big find long before there was an internet ... to totally discourage me when I still can't find something.

I came to believe that I'd better have broccoli early or not grow it at all. Maybe, I was just too much of a novice, when I turned away from the sprouting heirlooms ... I gotta say that Vancouver Island must be a good location for broccoli but if sprouting broccoli grows well near Angels Camp/Murphys, maybe I should try it again.

Steve

 

[bills]

I usually plant it in the early spring, and harvest all summer and as I mention, until a hard frost or a freeze. This summers drought was tough on many of my veggies, so I held off planting the broccoli until mid August. I'm hoping for a mild fall, so I can get a fair share of it.
I certainly won't have any shortage of arugula, or kale..it's been growing like crazy. Also I'm finally getting some nice lettuce (that I planted mid August), as the hot, super-dry weather this summer really hurt production..