Purple Sprouting Broccoli

janefss2002 wrote:OMG

I just planted today my transplants of this today! I had no idea

I planted 2x squares only. WOW! If we grow it bigger in Texas, then, um!

I should have payed more attention to the fine print.

Jane

miinva wrote:I forgot to mention, I tried rapini and didn't have great results, so I surely don't know the trick to it

Review by Unknown
Overall Rating

Good for tasty, early veggies in mild winter areas. Perfect for the pacific coast and certain areas in the south and atlantic coast. Plant in Late July, early August for harvest in March-May in the pacific northwest. Needs staking for fall/winter winds. Eat the heads and leaves..

(Posted on 12/1/09)

Disappointing Space to Yield Ratio Review by Unknown
Overall Rating

It produces beautiful and tasty florets after overwintering, but I've been disappointed with the yield. I can't justify the space it takes for the total return. If space is not a problem for you then no worries..

(Posted on 6/4/10)

Good Broccoli Review by Wncliz
Overall Rating

This broccoli is very flavorful. Much tastier than the grocery store variety. Just don't plant it in the spring and expect it to do very well. I tried and was very disapointed. I tried again in the fall and had excellent results the following spring. This variety needs to overwinter so that it is harvested in the spring. My zone is 7b so some zones might be a little different. This variety was worth waiting for. It was great to get great broccoli early. I am growing it again this year, and can't wait another month or so to start harvesting..

(Posted on 2/6/11)

If more people tasted home grown purple sprouting broccoli they would surely cultivate it. You would see it on London balconies, in country herbaceous borders and standing proud in every kitchen garden in the land. Home grown does not have the slight limpness and bitterness of the supermarket stuff. It’s sweet and delicate and melt in the mouth.

The only problem with this vegetable is that it takes a year to mature. The seeds are planted towards the end of April and the long-ish wait puts people off. I reckon most people plant it, loose the seed packet and when it is not producing florets in the autumn the plants are hoiked out and thrown into the compost bin. It has the reputation of being a difficult vegetable. It is easy. Best germinated and grown on before planting out, it requires very little attention. It attracts the cabbage white butterfly and once you have dealt with this it is basically plain sailing until the harvest in the Spring. The only problem is that you don’t have enough.

Overwintered Purple Sprouting broccoli is a biennial bred from a family of brassica native to England. (Annual broccoli comes from less hardy Italian wild brassica stock.) It has smaller flowers but is much hardier. Purple Sprouting seeds are usually even more vigorous sprouters than annual broccoli and grow about like kale. Because it should not be heavily fertilized until spring regrowth, I usually start Purple Sprouting in mid-July by sprinkling the seed thinly in an unfertilized garden thinned to stand 12 to 18 inches apart. The plants are about 12 inches tall when winter checks their growth in late November. Larger plants are less cold hardy, especially if they grow rapidly under conditions of high fertility. Smaller ones may not produce much in spring. I think that if one's soil will not grow 12-inch tall plants from mid-July sowings without fertilization, the grower might be better off to start the plants a little earlier rather than fertilize and consequently have softer plants to overwinter. Then when spring regrowth begins, which is usually late in February at Lorane, (Oregon), side-dress the plants with about a teaspoonful of blood meal per plant. This provokes rapid March growth and larger, more abundant flowers.
....matures during March/April when there is not much else to eat. At that season, we make whole meals of broccoli stir-fries almost daily mixed with scallions or leeks. Where six plants a month (annual broccoli) will handle our needs in summer or fall, two 100-square-foot raised beds or about 150 row feet of Purple Sprouting seems to be required.