Dear Future Me ....

Pearls of wisdom to the future me; if only I would have known then what I know now.

We really like fresh broccoli Brassica oleracea var. botrytis (Broccoli) .  Even Florida little heads broccoli.  All parts of the broccoli plant are edible.  The leafs and stalks are fabulous in salads. OK, we have always liked broccoli; but - this is really good.  Broccoli is a fall/winter veggie in Florida; it does best when temperatures are in the 60's.  We hit the 70's last week and ours are flowering.  Taste fine to us; but the heads aren't tight.  I wasn't terribly excited about planting broccoli because the first one I planted never did anything.  It was suggested that it was too hot and to try a hybrid Chinese broccoli.  Well, low and behold the original broccoli that didn't do anything?  It's a cabbage, miss-tagged.  Broccoli does best in full sun; but will tolerate shade; in fact ours in part shade are bigger than their cell mates in full sun.

Broccoli has its roots in Italy. In ancient Roman times, it was developed from wild cabbage, a plant that more resembles collards than broccoli. It spread through out the Near East where it was appreciated for its edible flower heads and was subsequently brought back to Italy where it was further cultivated. Broccoli was introduced to the United States in colonial times, popularized by Italian immigrants who brought this prized vegetable with them to the New World.

Other vegetables related to broccoli are broccolini, a mix between broccoli and gai-lin (Chinese broccoli), and broccoflower, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. Broccoli sprouts have also recently become popular as a result of research uncovering their high concentration of the anti-cancer phytonutrient, sulforaphane.  source

Broccoli 'Packman' - seedlings commonly available in big box stores; Johnny's has seed.  "Hybrid. Extra early, producing 6- to 10-inch-wide, solid, flat-topped, dark blue-green head. Spring or fall crop. Good side-shoot production after harvesting main head. May "button up" (produce very small heads) under stress."

In our garden, they all started maturing about the same time; and we decimated 4 in two days.  They are making very small side shoots; and we like all parts of the broccoli anyway.

Dear Future Me?  Make sure you have a half dozen broccoli going in every other week from mid-November to the beginning of March.  Oh, and you may just as well add this seed to your collection box and your Johnny's order.  Saving brassica seed is; well -- challenging -- and Packman is a hybrid.

This must either be a busy broccoli planting time, or the end of the season; because I have only been able to find 10 Packman seedlings at the big box stores.  They are planted.  In our garden.

I was able to find a package of Burpee Broccoli Green Goliath.  This is said to take up to 90 days to head; but  is suppose to be tasty.  I'm starting a half dozen; well see how they do.

Rapini or Broccoli raab Brassica ruvo - probably descended from a wild turnip relative; leafy with small green buds similar to a broccoli head.  The seeds are itsy bitsy and have a very good germination rate.  I ended up with a couple dozen after I divided them.  Planted in various spots around the yard; all are doing equally well; full or partial sun.  "An Italian favorite with a somewhat bitter taste, this fast-growing, cool-season annual forms loose flower heads similar to broccoli in the axils of lower leaves."


Rapini Broccoli - from Baker Creek - starting a dozen or so; I have not seen them cut and come again; but maybe it is the season.  They are very tasty in small portions in salads.

Oh,  and it seems that all Broccoli Raab is not created the same, for example; from Johnny's one can get Spigariello Liscia - "This variety is technically a leaf broccoli but it is grown like broccoli raab. Harvest individual leaves for continual harvest or whole plants for bunching. Forms small broccoli-like heads after 70 days. Sweet broccoli/kale flavor. Popular in southern Italy."

Green Lance Hybrid came highly recommended.  It is a Chinese Kale/Chinese Broccoli Hybrid.  We haven't actually tasted it yet.  Pretty white flowers, yes?  And they are edible.

Germination rate on these seeds was not so great.  Out of a dozen or so I put out; I have 2 growing.  I've since read mixed reports of it's palatablity in salads.  Guess we should try it.  Update!  I tried it; the stems are not good for salads.  Maybe stir fried?

At any rate, I've a lot of seed; so will start a half dozen or so.  This time around though, I will start them in cups in a sheltered environment, and they really take very little space - so I will group them up together.  And they do much better in full sun.  The other seedling is in part sun and is very small compared to this one in full sun.

Piraciacaba Broccoli Brassica oleracea new to us; we just received seeds and I was going to wait till fall to plant them; but hey; why not try some now?  "This variety of broccoli is often described as being something like a cross between heading broccoli and broccoli raab. That description seems a bit misleading to me, the appearance is like that, with a loose head and tender tasty leaves, but the flavor is nothing like the bitter raab. Can you see in the photo that the beads in the heads are larger than typical heading broccoli? They're supposed to be like that and I've picked looser heads and still found the broccoli to be tasty." 


I will plant up half dozen of these also.

What the heck is this plant?  Important Note to Future Me!  Label stuff you do not know what is; and then label it again and again.  Heck, just label everything.  Now that you have cut up the thrift store mini-blind you have no reason to scourge on plant labels.  I have no clue; I've gone back through my log and can't find it.  I know when, but not what.  I thought it was a variety of Mizuna, but today I found it creating a loose broccollini looking head.

I can't find a picture of Mizuna setting buds; but I did find pictures in bloom and the blooms do look a bit like they might belong to my mystery pods.  It is a brassica after all; so I would think the blooms would be similar. 

So, yes; it looks like Mizuna, tastes like Mizuna, but is making a loose broccollini looking floret.  A really bad cell phone close up; must get out with the 'real' camera soon.


My MIL is coming end of March for hip replacement revision.  She and I went the same day to see my; now our, super surgeon.  Dr. Dean Cole, the miracle worker responsible for putting the broken pieces of me back together.  Nothing he can do for me right now, other than to tell me to wear my brace regularly.  I'm too young for knee replacement, and the technology isn't there yet to deal with the soft tissue loss.  In reading around about how to make high energy damaged bad joints last longer; I first found out about how good health wise brassica's are for you.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who ate at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day had a 30 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke. Each daily serving reduced the risk by six per cent. The most protective choices included the brassica vegetables. The protective elements noted in these foods were folic acid, potassium, vitamin C and the flavonoid pigments mentioned above.

Given the large amount of calcium-containing plant foods on the market these days, milk is no longer the golden standard for calcium. Dark green leafy vegetables are high in calcium and iron. The bioavailability of calcium is actually higher in kale and other dark green leafy vegetables (like broccoli) than in milk. The trick is, you have to eat a large variety of calcium-containing plant foods to ensure you are getting enough, especially if you don’t consume dairy products.

The bioavailability of iron in brassica vegetables is improved by consuming vitamin C with them. This is not difficult considering almost all fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamin C. A small dash of lemon juice over lightly steamed kale is a favorite with our family.
In addition to calcium, the vitamin K found in leafy greens can also improve your bones. In a recent study of 72,000 middle-aged nurses, those who consumed moderate or high amounts of vitamin K had a 30 percent lower risk of hip fractures than those who did not.

 For Post-Op orthopedic surgery; brassica's are outstanding at helping you build bone and restore lost blood.  And, broccoli - all fresh cut brassica's; steamed or raw - taste good.  And regaining your appetite and digestive function after major surgery is equally important as building bone and growing red blood cells.

My FIL was here for a day; stopping over on his trip.  He walked the garden with me, commented on how nice it looked and that it looked like a flower garden - not a veggie bed.  And he says - 'what's that?'  As he points to a broccoli.  He specifically requested we have some to feed him when they both return end of March.

On this cold sunny Seedy Saturday - I'll be planting up broccoli seeds.  Bringing out the big guns - seed starter mix and added time release fertilizer.  I'll start them in cell trays under the lights in the garage.  Water them with the baby formula*  from the rain barrel.  And coax them along to be ready for April.

Then dash out to bring the newly potted up tomato teens inside for the chilly willy night.

What seedy adventures are you undertaking on this lovely Saturday?

This post is dedicated to Seed Sowing Saturday, where the seedy get down and dirty!  This week, one of my fav's - recycled and re-purposed food containers.

*baby formula - rain barrel right outside the garage door that we add tea bag juice