Back in the fall of 2010 I planted broccoli for the first time. I was curious to see how it would grow. One of the first things I noticed was that because the weather was too cool for insects to thrive, I had no problem with cabbage moths or cabbage worms. That was a plus. We began harvesting 7 - 8 inch wide heads through the month of January. I didn't pull my plants up after this initial harvest, as I had read that if left alone broccoli would put out shoots which would grow into additional smaller heads.
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Here is what my broccoli looks like now! I have lots of new heads forming. This picture was taken AFTER I picked quite a number heads for supper tonight. My cabbage looks to be ready to pick. It too has been left alone by the cabbage moth and cabbage worm.  I must report that the broccoli and cabbage plants were placed in the garden bed that I experimented with last spring. Instead of trying to plant in the gumbo that was in this grow box I decided to follow the principles outlined in the book Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. I placed a 3 - 5 sheet layer of newspapers down first (I didn't even bother weeding or double digging the bed), then a layer of cut grass, then a layer of peat moss, then a layer of leaves, layer of peat moss. I repeated the layering twice cause by then the squash vines from the other bed were spreading over this bed. The contents of this grow box is friable, loose, nutrient rich (as you can see by the color of the plants), crumbly and holds moisture well. I'm impressed. Lazy gardener that I am this method is quite successful. |
