The Broccoli

Broccoli belongs to the Brassica family of vegetables, the largest vegetable family known which includes cabbages, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, kohlrabi, turnips and rutabaga. In fact, broccoli is nearly identical to cauliflower, the only differences being the green color of broccoli and the fact that cauliflower tolerates heat while broccoli does not.

There are fundamentally two types of broccoli: the older variety called sprouting or asparagus broccoli belongs to the Italica group and the heading variety belongs to the Botrytis group. The Italica variety is thought to have developed from a form of European wild cabbage and originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. It made its way to Italy by the 17 th century. As it spread to Northern Europe it became known as Italian Asparagus. Italian immigrants brought broccoli to the United States in the early 1800s. The heading variety named calabrese forms one dense head which can be purple or green. Broccoli Calabrese often will not form sprouts once the main head has been harvested.

David Landreth loved broccoli. He called it the “exquisite vegetable”. As early as 1848, he sold seeds for the purple headed, sulphur headed and green headed varieties.

Broccoli is a cold weather vegetable. In spring, start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost. Transplant, after hardening off, when each seedling has four to five leaves, setting seedlings 12-18 inches apart. In fall, direct sow seed 6-8 weeks before the first frost. Plant seed ½ inch deep in rows 18-24 inches apart. Thin seedlings so that they are 12-18 inches apart. Broccoli likes rich, heavily-mulched soil. When transplanting, add bone meal to the soil around the plant. Broccoli can tolerate several frosts and temperatures down to 20 degrees.  

With sprouting broccoli, harvest frequently. The more sprouts that are harvested, the more the plant will produce. With heading broccoli, harvest the heads while the florets are still tight. Once the head begins to produce yellow flowers, the broccoli turns bitter to the taste.