First of the season broccoli, or broccolini really. I’m loving the change of season. I’m still picking the last of the beans and squash, but planting peas and cabbages now. And eating the very first of the new season crops, just as I’m starting to feel less than excited about another meal based on eggplants.
I don’t plant the supermarket kind of large head broccoli any more. It’s too slow, too short a season, too low a yield, too prone to pests and diseases. And broccolini fills the spot so much better. I have two favourite kinds, favourites for different reasons.
This first of the season is Kailaan, or Chinese, or Hong Kong broccoli. My garden notebook says I planted seeds on 16th March, so that’s just 8 weeks ago. There’s still a few cabbage moths around but I’ve only had to pick off the odd one, and already we are eating them. They will keep shooting new little heads with a thick, tender stem, right the way through till late spring. I had these ones briefly boiled in with my egg as dippers. So good.
We’ll also eat them steamed with a little oyster or sweet soy sauce and sesame oil, or with butter and garlic and lemon juice. In spring they flower with lovely, hot spicy white flowers that my granddaughter loves to forage straight from the plant. Any she misses garnish spring salads.
Kailaan is a little plant, taking up only the room of a lettuce or a parsley plant. I can plant them on the north side of beds because they won’t shade things behind them, and I scatter them around the garden to give the cabbage moths a bit of a gauntlet to fly through (and to stop aphids spreading one to the next if they arrive early in spring before the kailaan flowers are finished).
But I don’t plant a lot of kailaan, just enough to keep us going till the Italian Green Sprouting comes on. This one was planted as seed at the same time as the kailaan – 16th March – potted up in late March, transplanted out into the garden in mid-April, and it will be at least another month before we get to eat them. But it grows huge – over a metre tall and needing a metre or more of space. I have to plant it on the south side of beds or it shades everything else. And it bears so prolifically that with four or five plants we are eating broccolini in every meal, giving bunches of it to all the neighbours, taking a big bowl of broccolini chips to every party or gathering (including kids’ parties – way to get kids loving broccoli).
Between the two varieties, they’ll keep us in broccoli now all the way through until I am harvesting the first of the eggplants again, and feeling less than excited about another meal based on broccoli.
I totally agree with you on the big head broccoli, not worth the time! I also find that Wombok gets destroyed in my garden. I love the sprouting varieties though and collards. Well worth the effort.
On a different topic about seed potatoes, do you wait till they shoot before planting? The ones I get always take a long time to shoot. Might try shoot quicker if just planted before shooting?
Another question about spacing of veg in your gardens. They look really packed in. Do you plant closer than generally recommended?
My first question on another veg topic failed to send. I’ve got certified seed potatoes but they always take quite a while to shoot. One lot last year took about six weeks. Would they shoot quicker if planted now before shoots appear? Thanks
Hi Brenda, re spacing: I think the main difference is that I raise seedlings to an advanced stage on the potting bench before I plant them out. It means the garden is very full, all the time. There is none of that bare ground with newly sown seeds or tiny seedlings. For example, at the moment, I am filling the space beside a fully grown eggplant that I know is right at the end of its season with a 6 week old broccolini that is just at the start of its season. There is no-where near enough space for the broccolini when it is fully grown – if I was planting a row of them it would have to be at 1 metre spacings. But by the time it needs the space, the eggplant will be out. As the broccolini reaches the end of its season, I’ll plant a summer crop – maybe a sweet basil – right up next to it. There won’t be room for the basil when it is mature – again if I was planting a row of them, they would need to be at least 60 cm apart – but by the time it needs the space, the broccolini will be out. There’s a bit about this method here: https://witcheskitchen.com.au/tardissing-the-space-part-2-working-with-space-time/
Re the seed potatoes, depending on where you are and your climate, they might be slow because it is cold. In my subtropical climate, I normally plant potatoes in February for a crop about now, and in August for a crop in October/November. Even though I’m sub-tropical, it’s cold enough at night to knock the plants around if they sprouted now. I’d probably “chit” yours. There’s an article about chitting potatoes in Pip magazine – https://pipmagazine.com.au/grow/chitting-potatoes/
Thanks Linda. We only seem to be able to buy potatoes around this time of year from our local rural coop in north NSW subtropics near the ocean. Which is right between the times you plant yours!