Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Recipes
  3. Growing Fresh Broccoli

Growing Fresh Broccoli

By Mary Beth Shaddix August 11, 2014
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor
This brassica thrives in cool weather. We grow it twice a year, and find our autumn harvest sweeter by a head.
Start Slideshow

1 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Fall Florets

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

Broccoli gets a bad rap as a veggie that kids, and even some adults, can't learn to love. Overcooked, it's a khaki-colored, limp, gassy disappointment. But broccoli deserves a fresh look in the cooler season, when the fall florets have a sweeter character.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Broccoli Growing Guide

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

Growing your own means you can eat "root to fruit": The fresh leafy greens, crunchy center stalks, and tender side shoots all await exploration beyond the perfect tree-shaped head. This is also a versatile vegetable—it's great raw as a fresh snack with a zesty dip; steamed and sprinkled with lemon juice; stir-fried (where the florets soak up flavor); or shaved into slaw or salad. No need to hide it in a cheesy casserole: Minimal cooking and a light hand make the most of the homegrown harvest.

See More: Cooking with Broccoli

2 of 6

3 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Cool-Season Crop

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

A cool-season crop, broccoli flourishes when daytime temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees (don't we all?). Give your chosen variety ample time to mature well before the first frost date.

In areas with moderate climates, transplants are usually off to a great start in July and August, harvestable within 60 days or so. Seek varieties known for cool-season tolerance, such as 'Calabrese' or 'Waltham,' and those prized for extra harvests of side shoots after the main head is cut, such as 'DeCicco.' Most varieties cook up and taste somewhat similar, with the exception of 'Purple Sprouting', which has stalks close to asparagus in appearance and flavor.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Growing Tips

Credit: Photo: Oxmoor House

Broccoli lives large, so give it elbow room—at least 18-inch spacing—and keep it fed. Like most of its brassica brethren, broccoli is a heavy feeder and thrives in nitrogen-rich soil. Provide compost and apply high-nitrogen organic fertilizer every few weeks.

4 of 6

5 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Blue Wind Variety

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

This beauty produces smaller, tighter heads and good flavor.

5 of 6

6 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Waltham Variety

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

This is a reliable variety that performs well in cooler autumn temperatures.

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Mary Beth Shaddix

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 6 Fall Florets
    2 of 6 Broccoli Growing Guide
    3 of 6 Cool-Season Crop
    4 of 6 Growing Tips
    5 of 6 Blue Wind Variety
    6 of 6 Waltham Variety

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    Growing Fresh Broccoli
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.