Purple Sprouting Broccoli by Rachael Leverton
Purple Sprouting Broccoli is a beautiful, tasty addition to the dinner table, and the garden. It has a great flavour, a long harvesting season and is nutritionally beneficial. A single portion provides half your daily requirement of carotenoids, plus high levels of folic acid and vitamins A and C. It’s definitely a ‘plan-ahead’ crop though. If you start planting now you will give yourself something to look forward to next January, and as it is a ‘cut and come again’ crop, that long season should keep you going until April or May!
Purple-sprouting broccoli is extremely hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -12°C. You can actually start raising seeds in March, for even earlier crops. I usually start the new year with good intentions of staggering my planting like this (because it is one of my favourites veg), then forget and end up planting in April or May.
One of the reasons I love it is that I garden on fairly alkaline soil, in which it thrives. It prefers a heavier soil than mine ideally but seems to do well enough in my garden. I dig in a fair amount of leaf mould and well-rotted manure to bulk it up. Purple sprouting broccoli doesn’t like exposed sites, because the wind buffets the stems, so if your garden is more open it will need a bit of protection.
Sow seeds into small pots or multi-cell trays, using a good quality multi-purpose seed and cuttings compost. When the little plants are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out and transplant them into single 9cm pots. Watering them in well.
Once the plants have matured, fork the soil over. Remove large stones and perennial weeds. Even if your soil is heavier it’s worth digging in some organic matter to improve texture and moisture retention. I don’t need to add lime to my soil but if you garden on neutral or acid soil, you’d be advised to work some in. Transplant when the broccoli plants are 7-9cm tall. Water them well before removing from their pots, and plant them 50-60cm apart, with a similar distance between the rows. Brassicas dislike loose soil, so make sure you firm around the plants lightly with your foot. Water again after planting. Six plants will produce enough broccoli to feed a family of four. I grow more because I love it.
Harvest when the flower shoots are well developed but before the flowers have actually opened. Cut the central spears with a sharp knife first, as this encourages the side shoots to develop quickly. Then crop the side shoots regularly to extend the cropping time.
January seems a long way away right now, but a little planning and preparation will ensure that deliciousness will await when we get there.
Happy gardening,