It probably won’t take too much convincing to get people to grow broccoli. It’s a favorite of the garden and almost never goes to waste. But in case you need convincing: broccoli has about twice the vitamin C that an orange has. It is also loaded with calcium, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin E, has incredible anti-oxidant properties and is considered a good anti-cancer vegetable.

Prepare soil for broccoli well: lots of organic material. Fish emulsion is an excellent food. Start seeds as early as August to be ready to be planted in September. This is a cool season crop. An early start won’t create perfect plants because they really like cooler weather but it will give you a head start and will produce some decent heads and you should keep planting successional plants (if your first crop doesn’t keep making heads). You will need lots of room for broccoli so don’t cram the plants too close together—if you plant about 18 inches apart you should have enough room. Planting broccolini and rapini is a little different. They are planted closer together because they do not get as wide. Follow instructions on seed packets for each variety. As with most of my vegetables, I grow this in the full sun, but if you feel the need to add some shade, make sure there is at least half a day of sun. Plants that are too shaded get destroyed by aphids and other pests.

Some varieties, once you cut off the head, will produce more off-shoots or buttons. Some won’t. Usually the larger-headed varieties are less likely to sprout buttons.

Side shoots produces after the main head has been harvested. These can keep producing for some time and are just as delicious as the large heads.

Many cool-season plants I like to direct-seed. With broccoli this is not as important so long as you don’t molest the roots while planting. Be gentle. And it’s advantageous to put transplants slightly deeper in the ground than they were in the containers. This is death to other types of plants so don’t make a habit of this, but for broccoli it helps.

Usually the part of broccoli we eat is the thickened stalk of flower buds. Many people who haven’t grown broccoli don’t realize that the green stalk you are so familiar with is a FLOWER stalk, and will, if allowed to, produce many little yellow flowers. Pick broccoli when the individual buds are still tight and the head is at the mature size each variety is determined at. The exception to this is Rapini (discussed below) which is often used with open buds and flowers. Asian broccoli, also discussed below, is often used before it even buds (the leaves are more important).

Besides the more familiar broccoli varieties you might try broccolini. It possesses all the same nutritional benefits as regular broccoli but you can also eat a larger portion of the the stems (with regular broccoli, stems are more tough unless you trim off the tough skin). They are delicious cooked up with asparagus.

Rapini or broccoli raab is an unusual alternative. It really looks like it is related to broccoli, but it is actually it’s own species (Brassica rapa) a closer relative to turnips! This is interesting because broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel’s sprouts, and collard greens are all the same species (selected by humans over thousands of years), Brassica oleracea. That Rapini would look so similar to broccoli just makes you realize you can’t trust your eyes with it comes to understanding genetic relationships between species. Originating from the Mediterranean, Rapini is usually sautéed with garlic and butter or used in Asian stir fry.

Purple broccoli is gorgeous in the garden and raw and there are several varieties available, but the color doesn’t hold well after cooking . I usually only grow a few of these just for a nice raw broccoli to dip.

Romanesco is probably my favorite variety. It is straight-up gorgeous. Technically it’s really a cauliflower but I am including it with the broccolis because it look cool and because I can! At some point I will address cauliflowers. I intentionally didn’t want to mix the two.

Asian culture always finds unthinkable things to do with the more familiar crops. Asian culture makes more use of the entire plant—including the leaves and the flowers, and many selections may emphasize those aspects of the plant.

Beautiful Broccoli

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