S & J Nursery Broccoli Varieties for 2016 Northeast Florida Vegetable Gardens
Broccoli Purple Peacock
Broccoli purple peacock from territorial seeds is a showy foliage broccoli and kale cross with small heads and lots of side shoots for longer harvesting! leaves are heavily serrated and have a bright fushia colored veining. Very pretty plants and a nice flavor on the foliage and the blooming heads! Plant them 12-24 inches apart in your garden. Days to Maturity 70.
Broccoli Rosalind
Heres a pretty purple broccoli bloom from High Mowing seeds that I decided we just must try! Organic non GMO Broccoli Rosalind is an open pollinated broccoli that seems to be well suited for home garden production. Although the purple color will turn to green when cooked, you can still enjoy the purple heads cut up and added to salads! 3-5 inch Purple heads are said to do best in fall plantings so we will be trying these this year in the fall garden. Plant them 18-24 inches apart in your garden. Days to Maturity 60-65.
Broccoli Summer Purple
English bred Summer Purple Broccoli is a sprouting selection of Broccoli for long season harvest. 3 ft tall and 2 ft wide, these are sizable Broccoli plants. From seed to Harvest should take 140 days. Flower heads are a lovely pink to purple color and very numerous. Keep plants harvested frequently to ensure best yields possible. This one is new to me, being touted as a heat resistant variety that will produce through the summer, I thought it may work for Northeast Florida’s latter spring month plantings! So to put this variety to the test, seeds were sown at the end of January to be ready to plant for February out into the garden. Hind site is always 20-20, and I do wish that I would have planted some of these pretty purple broccoli vegetables in September or November. ( Especially in light of the prolonged harvest dates on this selection ) That way, I could compare the growth at different times during our Broccoli growing season, but there’s always next year!
Heirloom Broccoli Raab Rapini
Broccoli Raab, or sometimes called Rapini, is actually a close relative to broccoli, grown for asparagus like early shoots. The tender young stems, buds and flowers have an excellent slightly peppery flavor. For best flavor harvest just before the flowers begin to open. Fast growing plants will be ready to harvest in as little as 45 days from sowing.
Heirloom Broccoli Raab Variety ‘Sorrento’
Broccoli Raab, or sometimes called Rapini, is actually a close relative to broccoli, grown for its superbly flavored flower heads and leaves. Unlike traditional broccoli, the stems of broccoli raab, are discarded. ‘Sorrento’ is a selection of Broccoli raab that has more uniform, blue green flower heads. Treat them as a cut and come again vegetable, removing the multiple unopened flower buds with just an inch or two of stem, and a few leaves each time you harvest. Keep plants harvested frequently for best yields. Fast growing plants will be ready to harvest in as little as 40 days from sowing.