Growing Broccoli in Kihei

 

Piracicaba

Mahalo Julie for the seeds!

In October of 2010 I planted broccoli for the first time. Surprisingly, all of the broccoli survived the challenging warmer than usual weather and produced flower-heads.

 

Piracicaba

Just beginning to flower.

 

I planted Piracicaba, Purple Peacock and Umpqua. Piracicaba was the earliest, Purple Peacock was the most beautiful and Umpqua looked most similar to the broccoli at the market.

 

Piracicaba was developed in Brasil to be heat tolerant and is often grown in California during the summer months.

Purple Peacock

 

Purple Peacock is not a hybrid but was developed by Gathering Together Farm by crossing a purple kale with a traditional broccoli. It's sweet, tender and delicious raw.

 

In Kihei, it normally takes 3 months from seed until broccoli forms the center flower-head.

Umpqua

A traditional heirloom broccoli.

 

Solstice Broccoli

 

It was a bit tricky to figure out just the right time to cut the heads before they began to bolt and form tiny yellow flowers. I recommend checking the plants early every morning when the flower-heads begin to form.

Purple Peacock Side-Shoots

The Piracicaba and Purple Peacock don't form a large traditional flower-head. After their center flower is harvested they produce an abundance of side-shoots.

In Kihei, the best time to plant broccoli from seed is from mid-October to mid-November so the flower-heads will form during our coolest winter months.

Piracicaba

Protected from cabbageworms.

Like the other brassicas, the most serious pest was the cabbageworm - it's a good idea to protect the plants from late November through February or until the main flower-head is harvested.

The Purple Peacock and Umpqua grow aroundt 2 ft tall and can easily be protected by a row cover. The Piracicaba was over 3 ft and I covered it with a tulle net. For more information, see my post on Cabbageworms.

 

I kept the broccoli plants covered until they produced their first flower-heads. Then, I let them grow uncovered while they produced side-shoots.

 

Brassicas grow very well in 15 gallon self-watering containers and they can also be grown successfully in regular containers.  I fill the container with an organic potting soil amended with green sand and an organic all-purpose fertilizer.

 

In Kihei, broccoli usually requires daily water and twice-monthly applications of fish emulsion or a generous monthly application of an organic all-purpose fertilizer.

 

There are a wide assortment of broccoli seeds available, including many F1 hybrids. The varieties featured in this post were grown from open pollinated seeds.

 

Piracicaba seeds are available from

Fedco Seeds and Turtle Tree Seed

 

Purple Peacock seeds are available from

 Sustainable Seed Company and Wild Garden Seed

 

Umpqua is available from

Turtle Tree Seed and Uprising Seeds

Enoki, Broccoli & Kimchi Wraps

Harvest Monday

A Purple Peacock Broccoli Head

This was the first year I planted broccoli. Surprisingly, the broccoli has managed to survive the challenging, warmer than usual winter and produce heads and side-shoots.

Purple Peacock was a small plant compared to the Piracicaba but the head was similar in size.

Berkeley Tie-Dye, Cherokee Purple, Paul Robeson,

Moonglow and Beauty King

Golden Beauty, Beauty King, Cherokee Purple, Black From Tula

Green Zebra, Berkeley Tie-Dye and Wapispinicon Peach

Many of the tomatoes have cracked from the heat and that's why some of the tomatoes in the photos are side-ways or upside-down. Maybe next winter the cooler weather will return to Kihei.

The Beauty Kings

This winter I trialed 2 of the Wild Boar Farms tomatoes. Although the Beauty King cracked, it handled the heat a little better than the Berkeley Tie-Dye. Aside from the cracking, both varieties were beautiful and delicious.

The Passata Machine

Last fall I purchased this cool kitchen gadget from Seeds From Italy. The Passata Machine makes great sauce and it's such a time saver. I work full-time and it was a challenge to keep up with the tomatoes in previous years. This has made tomato season so much easier.

A Garden of Brassicas

The purple brassicas look so mystical.

Savoy di Verona Cabbage at 2.5 Months

Savoy di Verona is a much larger and later cabbage then the Testa di Ferro. The leaves have a beautiful orchid tinge but aren't very crinkled - that could be due to our warm winter climate.  Savoy di Verona seeds are available from Gourmet Seed.

Purple Peacock Broccoli at 2.5 Months

The Purple Peacock is a small plant when compared to the Piracicaba. One of the plants grew exponentially over the last 2 weeks and produced a very unique broccoli head. Like the Piracicaba, it's suppose to produce a lot of side shoots. The leaves are similar to purple kale and can be cooked or used in salads.

Purple Peacock is an ideal size for a square foot garden or a container garden - seeds are available from Wild Garden Seed or Bountiful Gardens.