Broccoli has always been a favorite of mine. But growing it in the garden always proved problematic. I would get puny heads of about 3-4 ounces. Packman was my typical choice. I always chose the early broccoli and always got tiny heads. The idea was to get the broccoli out of the garden and put in another crop. Then a couple of years ago I decided I'd try one that took longer and see how it did. Fiesta was my choice.
Fiesta 2013
Fiesta was wonderful. For the first time I was getting broccoli that had size. Now Fiesta was putting on some pretty weirdly shaped heads. They certainly weren't pretty and their big stems were hollow which was sad as I like to peel and eat the stems too. But they were big. Most were close to a pound. This year my Fiesta has slightly smaller, but more normally shaped heads. The one I've harvested this year was just over 13 ounces.
Arcadia 2014
But Michelle raved about Arcadia broccoli last year so I thought I'd try that one too. I planted five along one side the eight foot length of the bed. These plants get huge, bigger than the Fiesta plants. The heads are all a bit over a pound. They taste good and look so nice. Like Fiesta sometimes their cores are hollow, but I did find one that wasn't. Its flaw is that the skins are a bit tough. Though that cold be the warm weather we have been having.
So I've taken to peeling the ends. It is a bit more work, though it is worth it. All of the rest of the Arcadia was picked today. I have three more Fiesta out there. I'm hoping they mature over time.
Those four Aracdia heads were blanched, dried, frozen on cookie sheets, and are in the process of getting vacuum sealed. I've found that my vacuum sealer can seal eight packets before it needs to cool down and do more. It isn't the motor that has trouble, but the wire that melts the plastic gets too hot. I have plenty of brassicas frozen for the winter now. And my servings are much bigger than last year. I thought I'd rather have broccoli more often even if the servings were small. But I was wrong. When I eat broccoli I want BROCCOLI. Still they are only about half the size of what I eat given the chance.
Half a head of Arcadia got eaten one night with a yummy cheese sauce. I'm perfectly happy with a huge pile of broccoli.
And the other half got eaten the next night, just plain steamed broccoli. I anticipate more broccoli tonight. I kept the first of the Fiesta for a dinner with scallops. Yum.
And as a side note. I planted a row of Japanese turnips between the two varieties of broccoli. That worked out very well. I'll have to remember the timing as they started to come in around the time my earlier turnips were done. The last were picked today. Most rooted up fine.
Fiesta 2013
YUM! Our home broccoli has been a bust but at the community few heads sizing up very nicely so I'm looking forward to trying them. I will try to plant for fall to see how they do.
ReplyDeleteI love broccoli too! I never get large heads. I don't think it is too happy in my climate. It does better here in the fall than the spring, but it does seem to take forever to grow. The broccoli that I just harvested was started in Feb and now I need to go ahead and start seeds for the fall.
ReplyDeleteWe love garden broccoli too but we have had the same problem with Pac Man. A fellow blogger sent me some Aracdia seeds and I have some started for fall, we will see how they do for us!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the wierd shape of your first Fiesta broccoli heads was caused by something like the weedkiller contamination in compost that I have been experiencing?
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious food you had there! And broccoli look fresh and healthy :)
ReplyDeleteYour broccoli looks great.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Arcadia and how well it is doing there. Mine is just now heading up, the last of all the several varieties I planted. It is even later than the o/p Calabrese Green Sprouting. And while Packman was the earliest broccoli to head up here, it was also one of the biggest - though not as big as your Arcadia. I think the issue in my area is it gets so hot so early, and it's hard to find a broccoli that can handle that. It does so much better in fall. I will be trying Arcadia again this fall, and hopefully it will like the weather then a bit better.
ReplyDeleteI grew Arcadia for the first time this year and indeed it does produce fine heads. My only gripe so far is that is doesn't seem to produce many side shoots. I used to grow Bonanza but ran out of seed and can't seem to find it anywhere anymore which is a shame because it produced fine heads and lots of side shoots. I saved some seeds the last time I grew it but since it's a hybrid, I doubt the seeds will live it to its parent.
ReplyDeleteThomas, Bonanza is a Burpee exclusive, they still sell it.
DeleteLovely broccoli & that dish with the cheese sauce looks so good! I am growing broccoli for the first time this year as a fall crop so I needed a quick maturing type & chose Packman. I'm so excited about growing it that I think I will be happy with most any size head :)
ReplyDeleteI'm trying Bay Meadows this year because Fedco claims it does best in hot weather. I planted late so no results yet. The UMass Veg Notes for July 3 (http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/sites/vegetable/files/newsletters/July%203%202014%20Vegetable%20Notes.pdf) has an article on managing brassicas in hot weather. The uneven bead size of your heads is indication of heat stress. The hollow stems is either a boron deficiency or excess nitrogen.
ReplyDeleteI often read that newsletter but I haven't been this year. I guess too many other things to do. Thanks for the info. If I have a boron deficiency Arcadia handles it better than Fiesta does.
DeleteThose broccoli heads are pretty, I don't have luck with brassicas in spring, fall planting is a tad better but pretty much limited to sprouting broccoli or gailan variety.
ReplyDelete