
It's harvest Monday, and two weeks since I reported on mine and linked with the others at
Daphne's blog. Late November is officially here and I'm pleased that there is still a broccoli harvest to report. Here is what I picked last Thursday, though the side shoots are getting smaller and smaller. I filled a 9-ounce cup, and for dinner later I stirred some into some leftover chicken soup. Just reheating the soup for a few minutes cooked the broccoli to the right texture. I haven't been to the Minton Stable Garden since then; I hope to make it today. I need to cut back the raspberries, which are done producing desirable fruit, and may be able to pinch off a few more sideshoots, though some are starting to produce yellow flowers, a signal that the end is near.

Along with the pole beans and romaine lettuce, the Fiesta organic broccoli seeds (from Fedco)
I had sown back in March have grown into my most successful crop of the season. This was likely due to several factors: 1) the sunny location in the Minton Stable Garden (the ones in my back yard failed to produce), 2) the well-drained soil with added compost, and 3) the cooler-than-average conditions prevented the plants from bolting sooner. Starting and planting them out at the right time, and using a potting medium with fertilizer also played a role, of course.
This morning I poked around online to determine what I could do next year to improve my broccoli growing practices. Some sites, including
this one, stressed that crops should be rotated every few years to avoid diseases, and instructed me to cut stems at an angle when harvesting. I had done the quickest thing by snapping off sideshoots with my bare hand, which probably wasn't such a big deal, but had I cut off the initial heads at an angle I may have been able to avoid
this. Leaving a flat stump allowed rainwater to pool up and cause rot, though it didn't harm the whole plant and I was still able to harvest side shoots. Broccoli roots tend to be shallow, so mounding soil around the base of the plant may help. One of my plants became uprooted and died, but I didn't bother to check for clubroot, which could have also been a culprit.
I'll definitely grow it again next year, and perhaps try some Romanesco or Broccoli Raab for more variety. I may also save the seeds of what I have grown, also highly recommended. I'd be curious to find out what other gardeners took away from their growing experience this season.