The Best Tasting Broccoli Varieties to Grow in Your Garden

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The nubs on the broccoli are actually tightly clustered flower buds. Harvest the head after the flower buds begin to swell, but before they actually open.
The nubs on the broccoli are actually tightly clustered flower buds. Harvest the head after the flower buds begin to swell, but before they actually open.
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This swirly romanesco looks like something plucked on another planet.
This swirly romanesco looks like something plucked on another planet.
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This beautiful specimen is 'Violet Queen.' The purple color changes to green or blue when cooked.
This beautiful specimen is 'Violet Queen.' The purple color changes to green or blue when cooked.
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Chart: How to beat broccoli pests.
Chart: How to beat broccoli pests.

Learn about this nutritious vegetable and the best broccoli varieties to grow in your garden. See the broccoli photos and broccoli variety chart in the image gallery.

Fresh from the garden, broccoli has an unbeatable, sweet, gourmet flavor. “It’s like eating green!” according to my young son Zane. Plus broccoli is the most nutritious of the commonly eaten vegetables, loaded with vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, iron and fiber.

Although broccoli is closely related to cauliflower, brussels sprouts and cabbage, it is easier to grow and less susceptible to insect damage than any of those crops. Even the novice gardener can harvest a bountiful crop of broccoli for an extended time with a few simple tips. You can freeze any extra harvest for winter soups, quiches and casseroles.

Broccoli thrives in cool weather and grows best when daytime temperatures are between 70 and 80 degrees. Where summer temperatures rarely top 80 degrees, you can grow broccoli all summer. Here in northeast Iowa, we plant in spring and again in late summer to avoid having broccoli mature during the hottest part of the summer. In hot, southern locations, a winter crop may be your only option.

To beat the heat and get a jump on spring weeds, we start our spring crop in soil blocks or individual plant cells around March 7, a little more than five weeks before the last hard frost here in our valley (USDA Zone 4). In coastal regions of the Southeast and Southwest, where winters are mild and summers are hot, growers start transplants in early January for transplanting in mid-February. Organic farmer Andres Mejides of Elfin Acres in southern Florida starts his broccoli transplants around September 1 for a winter crop that matures in the coolest part of their season. Whether you plant your seeds indoors or out, cover the seeds with 1/4 inch of soil or finished compost, and keep the soil moist for the best germination.

  • Published on Apr 1, 2002
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