As the summer harvest clears our garden beds, it’s time to prepare the garden for winter—and grow some broccoli
Grow broccoli properly
Just when a long, hot summer has thoroughly soaked us in sunshine, and all memory of last winter’s damp chill has passed, our gardens start making way for the cooler months ahead. Nights will soon be drawing in, and as continued harvesting clears our garden beds, space is once more up for grabs.
Beds can now be thoroughly forked over and nourished with a general fertiliser—fish, blood and bone meal (available from garden centres), well-rotted horse manure or home-made compost—before planting.
It’s time to start thinking about cool-season vegetables: beetroot, broad beans, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, leeks, parsnips, silver beet, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and, of course, beautiful broccoli.
Of all the green vegetables, broccoli is the superstar. It is a veritable mother lode of nutrients: gram for gram, boiled broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange, as much calcium as a glass of milk, and twice the fibre of a slice of wheat bran bread. More technically, it is rich in substances called isothiocyanates, which research has shown stimulate the body’s own cancer-combating phase-two enzymes.
Planting broccoli in late summer will give it a head start, enabling it to reach a good size with vigorous leaf growth before the cooler weather sets in. Depending on which variety you plant, your seedlings will take between six and 12 weeks to produce their edible flower heads.
In cooler areas, purple sprouting and Italian precoce varieties are recommended. Marathon and premium green are generally suited to the country as a whole. De Cicco is a highly productive, early sprouting variety available from Ecoseeds (www.ecoseeds.co.nz) and Koanga Gardens (www.koanga.co.nz).
You’ll need rich, well-drained, fertile soil and, ideally, a sunny spot that guarantees five hours of winter sun per day.
Sow seeds in trays, then transplant seedlings into the garden when they are around 10 centimetres high. Space your plants about 45 centimetres apart. As they develop, feed with a fertiliser that is high in nitrogen—liquid feed is best—every three weeks.
Even with a comparatively slow- and large-growing plant like broccoli, it’s worth making successional plantings so you’re not inundated with more than you can eat all at once. Spread your plantings over three-week intervals.
Around seven to nine plants should be enough for the average family over a season. If you cut the first flower heads, the side shoots beneath will then generate more heads, ensuring continuous production. (Cut the heads on a slant so the exposed stem doesn’t collect water and begin to rot).
Elsewhere in your garden, keep the weed population down by removing flower heads before they turn to seed.
It’s always fun to let some of your food plants go to seed though, so their seeds are spread around the garden. It’s surprising where Florence fennel, parsley and lettuces will pop up when they are allowed free rein.
