Here is a pic of my 2nd head of fall broccoli, the best broccoliI I have ever grown. I never tried growing a fall crop in NH, but Shoe recommended it here in KY so I gave it a try. This head measures nearly 10 inches acoss and the first was just under 8 inches. I had a pic of the first but it accidently got deleted (I ate the proof so I couldn't take another)! Delicious!
Red, If you ever thought about running for President, I would vote for you! That is a beautiful head of broccoli!
Gary/Louisville
Red you have broccoli growing nailed. So far ahead of the Packman I am growing as a fall crop it is pathetic. Of course mine should be ready about Thankgiving when you all are shivering in the snow.
Wow! My Early Dividend (grown this past Spring) was delicious but only half that size.
simply beautiful!
Bet you will be growing lots more next year, eh? I luv a Fall garden for brassica plants!
Ya done good!
Now Gary, you know there's no discussing politics here on DG! ;o) hehe
Farmerdill, I didn't do anything special, just stuck it in the ground. The soil and great fall weather did the rest. Great luck with yours!
Eileenmlamb, my spring broccoli was about the same as yours, 4 to 6 inch heads along with side shoots, but the cabbage worms got so bad I finally gave up on it. Hardly a worm this fall though, I only picked off two.
Thanks Shoe, for the advice and the encouragement!
Early Dividend got a try here this year but I think I will go back to what I was growing before (Comet I think). The early dividend didn't like our hot weather even though we had a cool damp spring, then when it got hot I had very small heads that tasted bitter. Didn't get any for the table or the freezer. I live on the hot, dry side of Oregon that you never hear about. I'm glad it does good somewhere else.
Ok, I'm definitely going to try this again next year - but I'll wait for fall!
Nice Big_Red. I think I'll try those also. I grew De Cicco and was very pleased here in Massachusetts.
gardening101usa, In NH I always grew De Cicco, had moderate luck with heads about the size of your smaller ones. De Cicci does produce more side shots than other varieties, though.
Nice lookin' broccoli, bet they were delicious!
Picked these yesterday, for the freezer.
Man...looks delish! Are those more of the Early Dividend? and didja note the date from planting out to harvest? Just curious if they lived up to their name.
Yup, more of the Early Dividend. Picked my first head @ 49 days from setting out plants, these three were picked @ 53 days. Going to pick 3 more tomorrow @ 55days.
I believe they're advertised @ 49 days so they're right on target. I could have picked the first ones a little earlier but I wanted to see how big they'd get before the heads started to seperate. :o)
Okay...that does it! I'll definitely try them next year.
Thanks!
ahh yess...brocolli with a cheese sauce; steamed broc with lotsa butter!; broc casserole!; broc, raw, with Ranch dressing dip; Yummy!
Need I say more!?
Hey Red,
Packman is closing in the homestretch!
How is the cauliflower coming along?
Hi Farmer, nice broccoli (and sweet 'taters)!
Cauliflower is started to head with baseball sized head to date.
What variety are your swet potatoes? Mine didn't do well and what I did have were dug into and eaten in the ground by critters, chipmunks I think. I did get a couple of feeds though.
Nice head of broc, F-Dill! Lookin' good! Cauliflower looks good, too! (Wish I had set some out now!)
Red Sweet taters this year are Jewel, Oklahoma Red, Poplar Root and Violetta. Jewels are my main crop (12 bushels) Okey Reds (2 bushels) and Poplar Root and Violetta (a handful). Jewels are my best for both taste and production.
Farmerdill - Thank you for that infomation - was a jewel in itself
My spring broccoli was pretty much devoured by pests. Got a half dozen heads that were nothing to write home about. They were small and tasty, but I fought every brassica eating pest imaginable.
I'm going the fall route next year. Going to use the space in my spring garden for something better.
Melody; I grow broccoli both spring and fall. Have to use a short season cultivar both times but no discernable difference in yield or size. Do have to apply Bt often and late for the spring crop to stop the cabbage worms. Fall crop, only early as they stop coming as the weather cools.
Thanks Farmer for the info, I'll see if I can hunt some plants down for my next year's planting.
Mel, I had the same problem with my spring planting, just couldn't keep up with the bugs. Next year I'll start a half dozen plants in the spring but my main crop of broccoli waits until fall. What a difference! BTW I set out plants on August 22nd and had plenty of time to develope some hugh heads of both broccoli and cabbage. My cauliflower is starting to develope some nice sized heads now and looks like they will be as successfull as my broccoli.
how cold can they stand without hurting them
They stand frosts and light freezes so I would guess temps in the upper 20's F.
Just returned from the grocery store ...... plain green bell peppers 1.99 ea. , gotta the greenhouse thing going right away.
thanks farmerdill good in the in the hoop house till thanksgiving here then at least most years are supose to have the first hard freeze this weekend not looking foreward to either
Farmerdill, here's a pic of my Snowball cauliflower that I took a couple of days ago. Others have started to head up but are smaller in size.
Looking good Red. You did add the pic to the PDB? I have had good luck with the cultivar "Majestic" Larger and more uniform than "Snowball" Going to try "Montana" next year.
Farmerdill, yes, the picture is posted, should be queued up in a day or so. How big should I expect these heads to get? This one is about 4 inches across now.
Perhaps I'll try Majestic next year. How many days to maturity?
Majestic is listed at 50 days. Its about as early as any. Snowball rarely gets more than 6 inches for me but a lot of heads are smaller. A 4-5 inch head is about average.
Thanks Farmer, guess I'll pick a couple of heads. Can't wait to try it, it's my first home grown cauliflower.
