Most of you will know that I grow Purple Sprouting Broccoli every year, so this is definitely going to be on my list.
I usually go for the varieties that produce their crop in the Spring, at a time when not much else is available - in other words the "Hungry Gap". I know that these days you can get PSB that flowers in the Summer, but I have never grown any. This is mainly because during the Summer my garden is crammed full of other crops, so I can't spare any space for Summer PSB as well as Spring PSB. I did once get as far as ordering some seeds for the variety "Bordeaux", but by a cruel quirk of fate that type was just not available that year, due to a poor harvest the previous year! Just browsing around a few websites today I see that several of them say this variety is "currently unavailable", so presumably it is a difficult one to grow. I think I will avoid it...
I have in the past successfully grown some Summer-cropping types of green Broccoli, especially the multi-headed ones like "Apollo" and the oriental hybrid "Kaibroc" (a cross between Broccoli and Kailaan). The ones I choose are necessarily small ones, due to space limitations. Recently I have been inspired by the Broccoli called "Di Ciccio", which I have seen described on the blogs of some fellow bloggers in the USA - especially Michelle Hamer, who writes From Seed To Table. "Di Ciccio" seems to be highly variable in both size and yield, and can evidently get quite big, so it is one I would normally avoid, but Michelle makes it sound so attractive that I am determined to try it. Seeds for this variety seem to be quite hard to come by in the UK, but as luck would have it a friend recently sent me some seeds of this type along with a load of others of which he had plenty spare. Thanks Chris!
I wonder if any of my readers have tried "Di Ciccio"? If you have, would you please tell me how it fared in your garden, and what you think of it?
In the meantime, I am getting quite close to being able to harvest my PSB sown back in the Spring of 2014. Well, by "quite close" I mean about another 6 to 8 weeks I expect! PSB takes a long time to grow (about 10 months is normal), so 6 - 8 weeks is a relatively short time. This is what the most advanced of my 6 plants looks like at present:
This is the main head, but you can definitely see plenty of side-shoots forming too.
My plants this year are two each of "Red Arrow", "Red Spear" and "Early Purple Sprouting" - the latter being my current favourite. It is an older variety and produces its spears over a longer period than many of the more modern types, so it is more useful in the domestic garden. I don't think PSB freezes well, so I don't want a big crop that matures all at once; I want little crops over a longer period.
Who else grows PSB, and do you have any recommendations for me?
Sorry no experience of Di Ciccio. We too are finalising ye seed order
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading your blog...I just have to get back into the swing of blogging. I have a greenhouse now that my husband build for me last winter...i have used it so far for seed starting last spring, prep in the summer, and now I have it full with over the winter plants as well as Green Beans, Tomatoes, Chard, Pineapple bushes, Banana Trees, Beets, Lemon Tree. I recently had to learn to pollinate with an electric toothbrush via YouTube. So much to learn, and so little time to blog...But THANK YOU for yours. May you have a productive New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment! It's nice to know that someone enjoys what I write. Pineapple bushes and Banana trees eh? I don't think they would do well in MY garden! :(
DeleteBest of luck with your Di Ciccio broccoli next year. My one bit of advice is to give them some elbw room, I plant them at least 18 inches apart (about 45cm). I've never had much success with PSB, but I've learned recently that they should be overwintered for best results. I've always sown them in the spring and when they finally start to produce they become terribly infested with aphids which has made them inedible. Perhaps I'll give them another try and sow them for an autumn planting this coming year.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle; We'll have to swap our expertise then, and each grow the other's "speciality"! If you plant PSB in the Autumn, remember to allow time for it to grow big enough before the weather turns too cold. During the Winter here it hardly grows at all, so I plant it in May from an April sowing.
DeleteI've tried growing the summer version of PSB, but it was very slow and sprouted in November rather than the summer. It turned out to be a useful time to eat it as other things had tailed off, but I haven't bothered with it again.
ReplyDeleteA very useful and tasty summer green sprouting broccoli is Tenderstem Broccoli (that's it's proper name), which produces masses of small sprouts (on long tender stems ideal for stir fries etc), over many months, on very compact plants (approx 18 ins tall). This makes it a really useful crop when and where space is at a premium.
I have had Tenderstem a couple of times too. I found it to be amazingly productive. http://marksvegplot.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/tenderstem-broccoli-wonder-vegetable.html
DeleteBy the way, I also always grow PSB, because it is so useful and delicious. This year I'm trying some new to me F1 varieties rather than the traditional standard type, which sadly falls victim to club root every year to the point that it just falls out of the ground even when staked.
ReplyDeleteThe best PSB that I've grown is Lancer Mixed from Mr Fothergill's , sown in 2013 and which matured successionally this spring (seems a long time ago now!) and included a mid to late white variety as well as early, mid and late purple types.
ReplyDeleteI'm sowing Unwin's early white sprouting next spring and will probably do some swaps for later purple types with my allotment neighbours.
I don't like the Mixed packs - I always seem to end up with plants that are all the same, which is not what you need when you only have room for 5 or 6. Unless you mean you bought them as plants rather than seeds??
DeleteI grew Di Ciccio a couple of years. It was OK, heads were small but side shoot production was good. Never had the results Michelle has but we are on opposite coasts. Be sure to read her tutorial on how to cut side shoots to encourage more growth.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is pretty!
ReplyDelete