Overwintering broccoli

Overwintering broccoli

Peter Norris

March 16, 2017

There is now a part that grows overwintering spit, which was sown in late summer to harvest the following year in May-June. On the other hand, it may not be so common with overwintering broccoli - not the flower-sprouting "early sprouting" type, which especially the English have grown for years, but instead the very common broccoli with large heads of 300-400 gr with subsequent somewhat smaller side shoots.

A bit unfortunate, because fresh broccoli in early June is something of a delicacy, and then it even grows so early in the season that the cabbage butterfly has not yet started to fly - in other words no risk of indelicate larvae in the broccoli, without having to establish at all any kind of protection. You sow in September, overwinter in a greenhouse under non-woven fabric, for example, and plant in a manure bench or under plastic here in March. You can probably also (without me having tried it) sow in August and plant directly in the ground in October. On top of that, the broccoli seems to survive the winter with strong plants in March somewhat better than other cabbages like kale and cauliflower. However, it is far from all broccoli varieties that are suitable for overwintering, but eg Aquiles F1 and Waltham can be recommended.

My own Aquiles managed all winter in the greenhouse and were planted yesterday. The 13 plants usually give the first harvest of heads from the end of May, and then continue to give nice side shoots for a month - and in total, about 6 kilos of larval-free broccoli usually come out of it.