Thursday 7 February 2013

The Broccoli nears harvest-time

My "Rudolph" Purple Sprouting Brooccoli is described as an Extra Early variety. With a name like that most people probably expect it to be ready in time for Christmas (I wish!), but no such luck. However even if it's only going to be ready in mid-February it will still be very welcome. Here in the UK the main season for PSB is probably more like March and April, although these days new varieties have been bred to extend the harvesting season and reduce the so-called Hungry Gap, when few fresh vegetables are ready for picking.


I have my PSB covered with netting just to ensure that the pigeons don't tuck into it, and foxes don't dig it up, but at the weekend I temporarily rolled back the netting so that I could give the plants a dose of Growmore fertiliser - a boost of energy to get them sprinting to the finishing-line - so I siezed the opportunity to take a few photos.


This is a vegetable that is undoubtedly just as handsome as any flower!


Can you see how the underside of the florets is a creamy colour, rather than purple like the bit that is exposed to the light?


Meanwhile, the "Red Arrow" plant next door to Rudolph is a lot further away from being ready, which is just what I wanted.


If you grow plants that are all of the same variety they will probably all mature at about the same time (especially if they are F1 varieties). Of course if you are growing for the freezer, so to speak, it may be that you do actually want them to mature all at the same time... I have six plants, three of each of the two types mentioned above, so I will have a harvest spread over several weeks. (Soon!)

17 comments:

  1. Sigh..., so jealous. Almost all my PSB have died due to exposure to rain/wind/frost and snow. I have my hopes on a few plants in a small polytunnel (which is totally covered by snow at the moment). Next year I will definitely grow (2 varieties as I have just learned here) inside my new grand polytunnel.

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  2. They look great Mark - mine succumbed to a fatal combination of cold/snow and greedy pigeons.

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  3. Looks like you will be enjoying that delicious broccoli soon, Mark!

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  4. Lovely photos as always Mark. Making me jealous, I had some really healthy looking plants on my allotment before I gave it up.

    My organic farmer friend has been harvesting PSB for about a month now. Not sure what the variety is, but she always managers to harvest PSB super early.

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  5. Looks great Mark and perfect time to have lovely fresh veg to pick.

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  6. No idea what is happening to ours as we still haven't managed a plot visit!

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  7. Mine looks nowhere as good as yours. One of my plants has succumbed to ten degrees C of frost but the others are good for a meal. I always find it a shame to spoil such beautiful plants like yours to eat them. But they are delicious, my favourite veg

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  8. Such beautiful broccoli! I'm so curious about the taste of it...Does it lose its color when you cook it?

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    1. Yes, I'm afraid it does lose its colour when cooked - it goes a dark green (leaving the cooking water purple!)

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  9. Ooh, I am so glad you posted on the PSB. I am growing purple broccoli for the first time, but being in the southern hem I am only raising the seed now. thanks for showing me what to expect!

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  10. Lucky you Mark - mine is all looking a bit sorry for itself.

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  11. Looks great Mark, I'm sure you will be in for a treat soon.

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  12. Your broccoli looks great. Some day I might have success in growing broccoli- all I got was flowers really.

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  13. I knew I'd be feeling envious when I started seeing everyone's psb on their blogs. Mine were eaten by slugs at the seedling stage, and I never managed to get any more going. I shall definitely make sure that I get some going this year so I'm not in the same boat at this time next year.

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  14. Very pretty purple. What a joy to harvest!

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  15. Gorgeous plants. I'm at the point that I wish I had some fresh produce about now. But we are still quite frozen and about to get a blizzard.

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  16. I didnt grow any last year as we have raised beds they rocked too much.But we have cleared another area where I am hoping to grow some this year,very very envious

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