From the garden
WecontinuewiththeNationalGardenBureau’s 2023 “Year of the” plants. Each year the National Garden Bureau (NGB) selects one annual, one perennial, one shrub, one edible, one houseplant, and one bulb crop as their “Year of the” crops.
The winning plants for 2023 in each of the six classes are: annual, Celosia; perennial, Rudbeckia; shrub, Spirea; edible, broccoli; houseplant, orchid; bulb, Amaryllis.
Today’s column features the vegetable broccoli, the edible of the year.
The edible portion of broccoli is a head of dark green immature flowers. As flowers age the head loses its dark green color and flowers open, revealing tiny yellow petals.
Let’s talk about the nutritive benefits of broccoli. Broccoli is mostly water, about 90%, with few carbohydrates and almost no fat. One cup of raw broccoli contains 35 calories, some protein, high in Vitamins C [91% of the daily value (DV)], 77% DV Vitamin K, and 15% DV of Vitamin B9 (folate). It has minerals potassium, manganese, iron, and calcium. But one of the benefits of eating broccoli is the sulfur-containing compound, sulforaphane, which is studied for its cancer protective properties (healthline.com).
Broccoli, Brassica oleracea, is a member of the cruciferous family Brassicaceae. Its cousins are Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, pak choy, kohlrabi, mustard, radish, and turnip. The looks of these vegetables are very different from each other, but as members of the Brassicaceae family, all produce the pungent flavor that comes from the sulfur-compound sulforaphane.
There are several kinds of broccoli. The most common is called heading broccoli with large crowns comprised of tiny, immature, unopened flowers borne at the top of sturdy stalks. Baby broccoli is also called stem or sprouting broccoli with small heads borne on tips of long, slender stalks. Then there is Broccoli Raab, which may be the ancestor to today’s heading broccoli. Rabb is the most pungent of the broccolis. It has long, slender stems with small heads and many leaves and is said to be what the Romans ate.
Broccoli is a cool season crop that is grown only in spring and fall gardens in West Texas. Plants can be started from seed or from seedling transplants. Sow seed 6 weeks before the date to set in the garden. Plant transplants when small before they become leggy.
Information from The National Garden Bureau
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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