Not only is growing your own produce a fun gardening hobby to keep you busy but it's also brilliant for the environment too.
Whether you're new to growing your own fruit and veg, or you're looking to increase your patch, read our top tips for growing broccoli in your garden.
How to grow broccoli
Begin with moisture rich, fertile soil that has been well-drained and ensure the soil stays moist by spraying with water during germination. For less experienced gardeners, planting between April and June is the easiest time to grow.
Broccoli likes its own space – allow 35cm between seeds and 45cm between rows. Sow seeds in drills of about 1cm – 2cm. Cover seedlings and seed beds with fleece to exclude cabbage root fly, removing fleece in May when risk of damage less. During dry weather or while covered water every 10-14 days. A high nitrogen fertilizer will help too.
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Best time of year to grow broccoli
Broccoli and its varieties can be grown all year round, with the sprouting types able to grow throughout the winter months and other varieties sown in the spring for harvest in the winter. For the best results, it’s best to grow them in a greenhouse until April, and then move them outside from April onwards.
How does broccoli grow
Growing your own vegetables is a skill that’s well worth acquiring, purely for the satisfaction of sitting down at the table to enjoy your own hard work.
And broccoli is one of the most versatile of the leafy greens. It grows 18 to 36 inches tall and has broad, thick leaves and a thick main stalk. Broccoli forms single or multiple flower “heads ” of tiny blue-green flower buds. The flower heads are eaten before they bloom; buds open to tiny yellow flowers.
Broccoli goes great alongside most tasty dinners, making it a great veg to grow for the whole family. It's recommended that (depending on how much broccoli you eat), you plant 2 - 4 broccoli plants per household member.