Amateur Gardening – 20 July 2019

22 AMATEUR GARDENING 20 JULY 2019

Pick of the very best

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Graham Rice chooses his six top RHS Award of Garden Merit winners

Broccoli

This week it’s

Regular or sprouting, purple, white or green – this cruciferous veg is full of nutrients

and a doddle to grow. Choose from Graham’s top six for guaranteed goodness

Purple sprouting broccoli is easy to grow and

looks good in the veg patch and on the plate

Kings kingsseeds.com 01376 570000

Mr Fothergill’s mr-fothergills.co.uk 0333 777 3936 (calls as per 01/02 numbers)

Marshalls marshalls-seeds.co.uk 0844 557 6700 (calls up to 7p per minute)

Suttons suttons.co.uk 0844 326 2200 (calls cost up to 7p per minute)

Where to buy

B

ROCCOLI and calabrese –

are they different or the same?

Over the years, the two names

have become muddled, so

what exactly are we talking about?

For most of the centuries that we’ve

been growing these plants, we had

broccoli, sometimes called ‘sprouting

broccoli’. These are tall, tough, winter-

hardy brassicas, grown for their small,

prolific flowering spears – like mini-

cauliflowers that sprout from the tops of

the plants and from the leaf joints below.

They were invaluable as some of the few

fresh vegetables that could be cropped

outside in winter and spring.

Then along came calabrese.

Originating in Calabria, at the foot of

Italy’s boot, calabrese produces a

single, much larger, head – rather

like a green cauliflower – at the top of

shorter, unbranched plants. Although

the plants are hardy, the developing

heads can be damaged by frost.

Thinking that the term calabrese

would put people off the new veg,

supermarkets called it broccoli – as

distinct from sprouting broccoli.

Optimum sowing time

So sprouting broccoli is a biennial crop;

seed is sown in summer (about now), in

pots or in a short row outside, and young

plants are grown on and transplanted

about 2ft (60cm) apart in autumn. Large

and multi-branched, they can reach 3ft

(90cm) in height, so sturdy support

is wise. Purple or white spears are

produced from winter to late spring.

White is thought to have a better flavour

but plants are smaller and less productive

• and they sometimes discolour – so
  there are far more purple-sprouted
  broccolis available than white types.
  Regular broccoli – strictly speaking,
  calabrese – is a quick-growing annual
  crop reaching no more than 2ft (60cm).
  Sow seeds from early spring to late
  summer (raising seedlings in modules
  is the most reliable method) then plant
  out, 1ft-16in (30-40cm) apart each way.
  Cropping continues from early summer
  until the frost; cut the large main head and
  shorter, smaller side shoots will develop.
  Remember they are brassicas, members
  of the cabbage family, so they are going
  to need protection from club root disease,
  caterpillars, pigeons and flea beetle – in
  the same way as cabbages, cauliflowers
  and Brussels sprouts (and wallflowers).
  All are highly nutritious vegetables,
  packed with flavour and easy to grow.

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited
Want to increase the
cropping season of your
broccoli? A chef friend of
mine grows a few sprouting
broccoli plants in a
polytunnel, and cuts
crops all winter.