This season I have grown really good broccoli.
Or more accurately, really good Calabrese, which is a particular variety of broccoli
that produces the really big heads that we usually find in the shops.
A few of the heads I tasted were really delicious, and a lot of other people agreed.
I hadn't realised that broccoli could taste so good.
In the past, a good head of broccoli occasionally came out of my gardens, but it was rare enough.
No doubt this had something to due with the fact that I wasn't so fond of broccoli,
I saw it as a finiky and overrated vegetable.
But now I am a big fan, because the crop this year was so good and so delicious.
The question is, why have I been more successful with broccoli this year than in other seasons?
The good weather we've had is part of the answer.
I think a more substantial part, is that I have finally managed to do all things that
I needed to do, when they needed to be done.
I selected a suitable variety of broccoli for the climate I am growing in.
I bought fresh, strong seed from a reputable source.
I used a good growing medium, or compost, with enough fertility for the young plant.
I used an appropriate sized container or block.
I sowed the seed at the right time of the year so that it was warm enough for good germination
and fast growth of the seedling.
I carefully watered to ensure the growing medium stayed moist but not wet.
I thinned the seedlings to one plant per pot or block.
I chose a part of the garden that didn’t have brassicas growing on it for the past
few years to reduce the chance of soil borne diseases.
I prepared the final growing beds well in advance so that it was ready for the transplant.
I added plenty of fertility to the soil.
I gradually hardened off the seedlings before transplanting.
I waited for a calm, overcast day for transplanting in order to reduce stress on the plant.
I transplanted the seedlings before they got too root bound.
I carefully transplanted the plants into the growing bed, and watered them in.
I gave each plant enough space to grow to the desired size.
I protected the young seedlings from slugs and snails.
I protected them from flee beetles.
I protected them from cabbage root maggots.
I protected the young plants from birds, chickens, and other animals.
I prevented the beautiful white butterflies from laying eggs on the plants to avoid caterpillars.
I removed any caterpillars that did hatch, to avoid leaf damage
and I really didn’t want them inside the heads of broccoli.
I watched out for a range of other diseases or deficiencies.
I continued to weed around the plants to reduce competition.
I watered the plants when necessary, especially during the dry weather early in the season.
I provided additional feeding to the plants later in the season.
I kept an eye on the plants
so that I could harvest the large central head at the right time.
I then left the plants in place for a few more weeks so that I could continue to harvest
the side shoots when they were ready.
Failing to do any of these things could be the difference between
a great crop and a poor crop.
Some of them, like letting the seedlings dry out completely or failing to protect from
slugs and caterpillars, could lead to complete failure.
But you can get away with a lot of things, because plants really want to grow.
A reasonable crop is possible if you don’t follow everything on this list, but an excellent
crop seems to rely on doing all of them, and probably more.
Most of the tasks on this list are relatively easy to do.
But, consistency is the issue here, doing what needs to be done at the appropriate time.
Weather of course is a big unknown factor that can be really hard to prepare for,
especially with the shifting and erratic climate.
But high winds can be tempered with wind breaks, crop covers can help moderate low temperatures,
dry conditions can be managed with extra watering,
and heat waves, well, thankfully they are not really an issue in Ireland yet.
So there are always things you can do to moderate the worst weather that each season can bring,
if you are willing to put in the extra effort.
Overall, this year has been a good season for growing broccoli, as they do well and
grow quickly with the moderate temperatures and consistent moisture we have had.
This fast growth makes many of the other issues less problematic.
Another way of looking at this is that poor weather, excessive heat, cold temperatures,
waterlogged soils or dry soils, or high winds can exacerbate the things that I haven't done well.
For example failing to keep the crop weed free is more of an issues in extended dry spells.
Or the slow growth during cold weather can enable the slugs that I haven’t dealt with
to really damage a crop early in the season.
Although it was a good crop this year, not everything I planted produced well.
In total I grew 73 plants of one variety of Calabrese or broccoli, in 12 batches,
spread across 6 gardens, with their different soil treatments and growing methods.
Out of the 73 plants I harvested 46 really good heads of broccoli, some of them were exceptional.
But, what happened to the rest of them?
Slugs damaged 11 of them, either eating the head or seriously damaging the younger plant,
including killing off 5 of the plants in the No-Dig garden.
6 suffered in the heat in the Polytunnel and produced a smaller crop.
Another 6 failed to produce well because of too much competition within the Polycrop garden.
I harvested 2 heads a bit late and they had started to loosen up and become less tender.
And I am not sure why 2 of them were so small - perhaps they suffered from transplant shock.
While it is great to be able to produce so many really good heads of broccoli,
I have some work to do to get closer to 100% success rate.
I also wonder how much better even the good ones can get, what factors can be improved.
Have I tasted the best broccoli I will ever taste, or is here more room on the scale?
Is what I now consider to be exceptional, merely just good?
I am not sure what happened with this year’s cauliflower crops though.
As they are very similar plants to broccoli, though perhaps a bit more demanding,
they should respond well to the same good conditions and treatment.
Last year was more successful,
but this year I have only been able to produce a few reasonable heads of cauliflower.
Most of them failed to produce the dense white curds that this vegetable is famous for.
It is possible that the variety I grew this year isn't really appropriate for my conditions.
Or that the seed wasn't good enough.
Or it may be some other factor that caused stress in the plants.
I don't really know.
I plan to conduct variety trials next year, for both cauliflower and broccoli,
growing a number of different varieties side by side, to determine which ones are more successful,
or more suitable do my gardens.
Thankfully I have the space in the Back Plot to do this kind of exploration.
The other tasks are to continue to refine the methods that I use to grow these crops,
and to consistently do all the things that need to be done.
I'm looking forward to growing a really good crop of cauliflower,
and to seeing how much better broccoli can get.
I've known for quite a while that I needed to do all of these things
to grow a really good crop of broccoli.
I read about all this stuff in books years ago.
But it has taken me quite a while to consistently,
finally do all the things that I knew needed to be done.
I believe this is the difference between knowledge and skill.
I had the knowledge, but I needed to develop the skill
in order to adequately and consistently apply that knowledge.
This of course takes time and effort,
but I’m just frustrated that it took me so long with this particular crop.
But this is what the RED Gardens project and this YouTube channel are all about.
Providing the context for me to learn a lot, and develop skills, and to share it all with others.
If you appreciate this kind of thing, please like this video, subscribe to my channel,
leave comments below and share with friends.
All of this helps me to continue with this project.
And finally, thanks for watching.