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  • From: Clansgian AT wmconnect.com
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Broccoli varieties
  • Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 09:50:32 EST


> >You're living your quote. ;) Even James struggles with brussel sprouts. ;)
> Maybe this is your year.
>

I do indeed. And it's one of my most favored vegetables for the table.

Last summer I got two good decent 'messes' of sprouts, the first and only in
several years. They defied all he conventional wisdom, grown in loose soil,
grown as a spring crop, etc. The fall crop was seared to a crisp by the
ghastly dry and heat of August and September.

I sowed some in flats this morning. Catskill, I think. I've got a few Rubine
seed left for later.

Yet, I've still got broccoli in the freezer from last spring's crop. In
kinder times I would only freeze late fall broccoli, but since the drought
bade
fair to return with a vengence, I froze a lot of spring broccoli and sure
enough, the fall broccoli was sparce and of poor quality.

By the bye, this is the manner of freezing broccoli we currently use. Very,
very lightly steam blanche the broccoli and place it on cookie sheets (the
crowns not touching) until it freezes hard. Then prepare some very cold
water
with a very little salt in it and dip the frozen crowns in water (which
freezes
to it) and put them back on the cookie sheet and into the freezer. Repeat
this until there is about 1/8" of ice on the broccoli then pack it into large
bags and put it back in the freezer. From a large 2 gal. bag (or larger) you
take out only what you want at a time without disturbing the rest.

The big central crown in a minor part of the plant's production. Harvest it
when it is quite small and every joint on the plant will then make a new
crown
and the plant will continue doing this for months. 18 months is not unheard
of when the plant can winter over in peaceful dormancy. Not this winter
though, the 4 degrees we had killed all such.

I want to throw out another observation in the 'for what it's worth'
department. One hears a lot about potting soil formulae. The uber-rich
potting soil,
says I, is a mistake. I believe it was Rudolph Steiner that promoted the
breakfast-lunch-dinner pricincple of plant propogation. A seed should have
relatively poor soil, then be transplanted into richer soil in pots, then
transplanted into a still richer garden. That is, potting soil should not be
richer
than the garden where the plants will go.

The reason for this, according to the doctrine, is that the seeling seeing a
nutrient poor medium, grows an elaborate root system to make the best use of
it. When it is transplanted into a richer soil, it is equiped for super
growth. But if we plant the seed in very rich potting soil, it grows roots
suitable
for the very rich ground. When transplanted into poorer soil, the lazy roots
are not equiped to wrest the nutrients from it and the plant stunts.

So the potting soil I use is peat with a little wood ashes in it, or creek
sand with a very little compost added.

James




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