How to grow broccoli and calabrese

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Seed Sowing

There are many varieties of broccoli and calabrese that can be sown at different times of the year. It’s best to grow them in deep modules earlier in the year, then transplant them out later. They do not like root disturbance, so handle them gently. Direct sowing is better later in the year, as they do not respond well to being transplanted during hot weather.

Transplanting

Transplant your seedlings into their final growing position in full sun or part shade around 6 weeks after sowing. Ensure the area is weed-free and enriched with plenty of organic matter before planting. Spacing depends on the variety; there are smaller varieties available that need less space. When transplanting, firm them in well, as they prefer to be tucked in tightly. Protect from frost if necessary.

Plant Care

Keep them consistently watered; hot weather and dry conditions encourage bolting. Mulch with straw to retain water and prevent weed growth. Taller plants in windier sites may need cane support to avoid root rock.

Challenges

Protect them from slugs and snails; use mesh to ward off pigeons and caterpillars. Copper collars can be effective against cabbage root fly. Clubroot is a disease affecting brassicas, causing root deformities and stunted growth. If your soils have clubroot-causing organisms, improve drainage and add lime to reduce infection. Otherwise, consider growing in pots.

Harvest

To harvest good calabrese or broccoli, pick them when the head is compact and before it starts to flower. Cut the central head first, leaving the main stem to produce smaller heads continuously for up to two months.

Culinary Ideas

Broccoli and stilton soup is a classic, and it’s great for adding to pasta dishes, stir-fries, ramen, and curries. It can be eaten raw in salads and used as crudités. Lastly, try fritto misto, an Italian dish of battered and fried vegetables, herbs, and other foods with garlicky aioli. Whatever you do, avoid overcooking, as broccoli and calabrese are both rich sources of vitamin C, B6, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, and fiber.

Seed Saving

Calabrese and broccoli belong to the species Brassica oleracea and will cross with all other varieties within this species; therefore, isolate them from each other. It’s best to grow them in a block of at least twelve plants. Choose specimens that are true-to-type, healthy, and have show traits you’d like to see in future crops. Allow plants to flower and be pollinated by insects. When the thin green seed pods turn brown and the seeds black, cut the stem and leave them to mature further on a sheet indoors. When fully dry, the pods will easily open, and the seeds will fall out. You can stomp or stand on the material, then sieve or winnow to remove the chaff.

Varieties

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  Cima di Rapa – San Marzano (Organic)

  £2.10 – £3.00 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

  Cima di Rapa – San Marzano (Organic)

  A really easy to grow broccoli alternative producing tender flowering shoots around 60 days from sowing. Cima Di Rapa (also known as broccoli raab), is actually botanically a type of turnip rather than a broccoli. As such it is very quick to grow and unfussy in terms of its water and nutrient requirements.

  The flowering shoots are harvested like sprouting broccoli and if you take care not to remove the lower two leaves you can get a few cuts off them.

  In Italy there are many different varieties of Cima Di Rapa, maturing at different times and with different culinary uses.

  

  SKU: CRMz Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Cima di Rapa, Unusual vegetables, Vegetable Seeds Tags: Easy to grow, Greens

  £2.10 – £3.00
• 

  Broccoli – Fiolaro di Creazzo (Organic)

  £2.20 Add to basket

  Broccoli – Fiolaro di Creazzo (Organic)

  A traditional Italian type of broccoli sown in summer and harvested in autumn and winter. Broccoli Fiolaro di Creazzo has been cultivated for many centuries in Italy and is on the Slow Food Ark of Taste list which is a living catalogue of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction.

  It is sown in July through to early September and harvested November to March.

  It does not grow a large central head, but produces side shoots – “fiois” – from its stem which are harvested and cooked with the leaves – not too dissimilar to Kalettes.

  (Approximately 70 seeds / packet)

  

  SKU: BrFi Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Unusual vegetables, Vegetable Seeds Tags: Greens, Winter veg

  £2.20
• 

  Broccoli – Piracicaba (Organic) ***NEW FOR 2025***

  £2.25 Add to basket

  Broccoli – Piracicaba (Organic) ***NEW FOR 2025***

  A heat-tolerant variety with small heads and abundant tender stems for extended harvests. Piracicaba thrives in warmer climates allowing you to extend your broccoli growing season. It doesn’t produce a large central head, instead offering a continuous harvest with long tender stems that makes it an excellent choice for home gardeners.
  (Approximate seed count – 150)

  

  SKU: BrPi Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Vegetable Seeds Tags: Fun for kids, Winter veg

  £2.25
• 

  Broccoli – Early purple (Organic)

  £2.09 – £4.00 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

  Broccoli – Early purple (Organic)

  A very popular and traditional variety of sprouting broccoli, producing an abundance of tasty spears from late March . We love Early Purple broccoli, it comes at a time of year when we are in serious need of some green vegetables that are not kale, chard or leeks! We can quite happily eat it with every meal during its harvest window. It is very versatile, being great seamed, stir fried, roasted, added to soups and stews, put in omelettes… the list goes on.

  It is slow growing and takes around one year from sowing to harvest but it is well worth the wait with each plant producing a lot of food. Plants can grow up to 1m in height.
  (Approximate seed count – 250)

  

  SKU: BrEP Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Large pack, Vegetable Seeds Tags: Fun for kids, Winter veg

  £2.09 – £4.00
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  Purple Sprouting Broccoli – Rudolph (Organic)

  £2.20 Read more

  Purple Sprouting Broccoli – Rudolph (Organic)

  A famous extra-early variety producing delicious tender spears as early as October . Rudolph is a fantastic variety and we are really happy to be offering it in our catalogue. Our selection was from a huge population we had access to so the genetics are extremely strong.

  It is one of the few open-pollinated broccoli varieties which large scale veg growers still use, along side their hybrid counterparts.

  (Approximate seed count – 100)

  

  SKU: BrRu Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Vegetable Seeds Tags: Fun for kids, Winter veg

  £2.20
• 

  Calabrese – Green Calabrese (Organic)

  £2.36 Read more

  Calabrese – Green Calabrese (Organic)

  A great open-pollinated calabrese variety, producing a large central head along with smaller side-shoots. Ready for harvest from late summer and into autumn, this is a wonderful variety. Calabrese like other broccoli varieties is hungry and benefits from a good dose of compost for best harvests.
  (Approximate seed count – 100)

  

  SKU: BRGC Categories: Broccoli Seeds, Vegetable Seeds

  £2.36