Fall Gardening, Gardening, Gardening 101, Winter Gardening

Raab Broccoli- A container-growing vegetable!

Raab Broccoli is a sprouting broccoli, producing small heads on shoots that can be picked regularly for a long crop season.

For small space gardening and container gardens, sprouting broccoli is a must-have for a lovely and continuous food supply. Having a large container or two thickly planted will provide you with daily fresh greens for weeks or even months, depending on your weather.

Like most broccolis and mustards, this type of vegetable loves cooler weather and does well in the cooler days of spring and fall. Or, if you are in a more temperate climate, it may be a good winter crop for you.

You can see all the multiple little shoots coming off this one plant. Snipping the shoots just before a set f leaves will encourage more shoots to grow.

Like most mustards, because these are actually part of the mustard family, and brassicas, these plants like well-amended, well-draining soil. Beyond that, they like water, and dampness. I’ve found that once it starts getting too warm, they will immediately go to flower and seed.

There’s nothing wrong with this as you can eat the flowers, and seed pods too if you like. They will self-sow, if you let them be, and you will have volunteers all over your garden! Which is lovely, because all you need to do in the late spring, is transplant them to the corner of the garden, or into the pots that you want.

A nice handful of these makes a great stirfry addition, or can be put in your green drink in the morning.

Some of the ways to use your Raab Broccoli

You can use it any way you would regular broccoli.

  • Soups
  • Stews
  • Stirfries
  • Smoothies/green drinks
  • Steamed for wraps or with rice

The list is up to you and your imagination.

And because these are a smallish plant-mine grow to about a foot high as I’m continually harvesting them- they are ideal for patios in containers, or on window sills in apartments!

You can easily have a continuous supply of your own greens handy with this plant.

Let me know what you think in the comments below! Have you grown these before? Maybe you’ve never heard of it, and will give it a shot now. Looking forward to your thoughts below 🙂

 

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