Winter Gardening Broccoli

T’s Garden

Broccoli Good Points

•Low in saturated fat

•No cholesterol

•High in calcium

•Very high in dietary fibre

•High in iron

•High in manganese

•High in magnesium

•High in pantothenic acid

•High in phosphorus

•Very high in potassium

•High in riboflavin

•High in thiamine

•Very high in vitamin A

•Very high in vitamin B6

•Very high in vitamin C

Well it’s almost mid-winter so you could be picking your fresh broccoli. There are many varieties to grow but our favourite is Green Dragon. It is an early cropper for us with lovely big first heads and then lots of sprouting followers which keep coming for weeks so be sure to leave the plant in after the first harvest.

Our climate is warm temperate so we can start our broccoli planting under shade cloth in March and then do successive plantings in April, May and June. This gives us four crops a year.

Do you know that you can eat the big woody stems of the heads? Just peel them and slice them long like chips. They steam well and are FAB in stir-fry. Be careful not to overcook broccoli just steam it lightly or break the florets up and add them to dishes. Don’t boil broccoli, it becomes soggy and mushy and most kids don’t like it.