from Seed Savers
(48-85 days)
The Green Goliath below takes about 60 days. But I'd argue there's a big reason to grow broccoli that nobody discusses: it's a rock star of an edible teaching moment. The summer the photo below was taken we had a bunch of kids visit the roof. Without fail, seeing broccoli growing was the highlight of these visits.
"Really? It grows like this?" so many asked, as if we'd glued on the flowering stems.
My advice: grow broccoli in a SIP like we did below. Watch it thrive and watch kids get turned on to growing.
From this June 17, 2009 post...
I'm trying something new this year: overplanting a SIP that's finished hosting its original veggie. Here's the broccoli Green Goliath (with my pal Trish)...
...harvested and re-seeded with Climbing Emperor beans. These we hope will climb the arches Art designed. I didn't add fertilizer, reckoning that there might be enough remaining.
7 comments:
I read, a couple years ago, that planting broccoli doesn't pay off, for the space to cost ratio. That it was cheaper to get it from the store.
FWIW
So it looks like you got 3 decent heads of broccoli in one SIP and that was early in the season. Cool!
Hi Ben: I think that's right--broccoli doesn't return much for the time it takes. I'd vastly prefer to grow/eat kale or another of the brassicas that produce steadily. But broccoli has a fun growing form.
Debbie, somehow we got lucky that year (2009) with the weather and had that tidy harvest.
Hey there. My 2 cents: I grew Green Goliath a couple of years ago in the Earthboxes (3 plants) and really enjoyed them. You not only get the head of broccoli but also little off shoots that are great for stir fry. I would grow them again but I would stagger the plantings by a week or so. I had to harvest about 6 heads at one time and ended up freezing some of it. Like H2, I also reused the box later in the season.
Succession planting is a really good idea, Russ. Thanks. That seed must have been yours and you shared it with us. None left now. It was a nice variety.
Thanks Russ. Good information. We love stir-fry so staggering them will give us a steady supply. Look forward to growing them!
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