Fall Contest - Show us your Biggest Brassica, Broccoli!

I think you should bite the bullet and get some calipers! You'd really look like a pro then!

If I hang Christmas tree lights on my hoops, will they bring me good luck too?!

Curious: What was the temperature range during their development?

Staff74 I am blown away! Fantastic!!!!!
On the video I think you said 9 and 1/2 inches, minus a sixteenth. This means your final measurement is 9 and 7/16th's. So yes indeed you are the current leader and you are now the one to beat! Unless myself and anyone else is still keeping our broccs going as far as possible to the Dec 31st cut off date. The pressure is on! Enjoy eating your monster brocc and thanks for the fun video!!

oops correction. 9-1/2 minus an 8th ( not 16th as I just incorrectly stated ) would be 9 and 6/16ths.....sheesh, right?? Help me guys and girls!
llama momma

The arithmetic in both your posts is correct. Somebody with better ears than mine will have to help you with what Staf said in his video. I didn't pay close attention because he's now ahead by about an inch; that will be tough to beat at this point.

Yes it will be hard to beat, Staff did really well. Since I started this thing I will see it through as long as the weather allows and keep cheering on my broccoli kids. Who knows we may have a lurker come forward and surprise us too.

well, my PLANTS are only about 10" tall, so I don't think I'll have much be 12/31, but we'll see! Found a big old slug sucking on one last night, he paid with his life tho LOL! Happy Thanksgiving all!!

Thanks y'all. Special shout out to Squat for getting my competitive juices flowing and I yield in respect of your garden. I don't count out a late lurker / contestant taking the prize but whatever the outcome, it has been fun and I certainly have enjoyed myself. That monster head is earmarked for a steamy end tomorrow as it feeds the family at Thanksgiving.

nkedr0o - The scale is the "good cook" brand regular kitchen electronic scale. Comes with a tray also for measuring flour etc. It is very accurate and I've had it for years now.

Boffer - Here is a link to the weather channel for my zip code with observed temps for the month of October when the Broccoli was starting to head up. 4 were from seed direct planted myself but the other 12 in that box were bought as 6 week transplants and went in on 9/11 (same day as the seeds). The transplants began to show signs of heading up around mid october. We had a relatively cool fall for here after a very hot september though. You can see that we had many observed temps around heading time (Oct15th) that were in the upper 60's to upper 70's. I never really let them go two days in a row without rain/manual watering. I think this really helped. They were my biggest so far since starting SFG'ning. Packman was the variety.

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/29745?month=-1

Hope this helps !

@staf....were they in 6" of MM?

nice job staf

My beds are all a foot deep but I have about 10 inches of mel's mix in each. I leave some room so in heavy rains I don't lose the mix. I did add my own blended compost this year for the first time. Perhaps that was the difference??

WOO HOO! Great job Staf! Congrats and enjoy your steamed prize.

I wonder if anyone else is still holding out for the Dec 31st deadline????

Pretty sure my broccs won't be competitive size but I'm still letting them go just to take advantage of any warm spells.
I am also testing Boffer's theory? or advice? they will become sweeter as they get chilled too!

Staff -- King of Broccs 2011 !!!!!!!

Most of mine have peaked at a loose 4 inches but there are one or two that may run true into to Newyears Eve.


Re the sweetness thing . I understand it as ......

The plants produce more sugars as a form of antifreeze to stop damage to the plants cells in frost but if the frost is hard and prolonged for much more than a coue of days then the plants usually sucumb to it.

Aahhh I see, that is so good to know. Thank you.
You have to love this forum!

I have at least 5 tiny broccoli heads growing - my beds are covered with insect covers, so I could have more that I just haven't found yet. It's a jungle in there - plants gone wild!!! I think I got the Mel's Mix right this time!

I'm not really any competition for the championship, but I consider myself a winner anyway just because I've never grown broccoli. And I'm thrilled to have succeeded thus far in growing some this year.

staf74 wrote:Okay Llamamomma......I need your official judgment ....

What makes me laugh is that my daughter is similarly unimpressed by vegetables that come out of the garden....

Gardening in December in Indiana - a hope and a prayer.

I have a few small heads forming, and one head went to flower, despite our low temps. I used a Martha Stewart brand broccoli seed (organic) - no other info about it. I had a terrible spring harvest and no fall harvest. Cauliflower didn't do anything either. The date on the photo is wrong; these were taken last week. As you can see our community garden looks a little bleak. I thought about adding hoops and plastic but I don't go to my garden everyday, so I skipped that idea.

Weather was getting too cold so I had to cut the broccoli today and drum roll please...............the largest head was a proud five inch diameter cutie-pie. (Steemed lightly and delicious)

Staff74 will stand as our 2011 esteemed Biggest Brassica Winner!!!

Squaredeal - my brocc leaves were drooping too so thats when I decided to throw in the towel and eat the little darlings. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Okay, all of my broccoli measured a total 8.0 in one bed and the other bed anywhere between 6-7.5. I still have broccoli out in the garden as of today.

I took 2 pic's as I was very busy during Thanksgiving and even almost forgot to take a pic'. Has then been a winner yet?

I believe if you got something big enough to get out your tape measure, YOU ARE A WINNER! Congrats to all!

Well said squat. As fun as this has been and I'm proud of my heads for sure, the real winners here are all who took part. Growing your own food is an empowering process and no better reward than eating your hobby !!!

Well done all

And at $3.50 a pound today, I'm feeling pretty smug about getting in the freezer and grabbing some broccoli for dinner that I had put up earlier in the year

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April..

Our current leader Staf74 came in at 9 and 6/16's inch diameter. Your current 8.0 inch is Greatttt. Maybe 11 days to the December 31st deadline is enough time for a final measure? ???
LM

Just found my first head... it's probably a an inch right now.