Brassica oleracea

A traditional Italian variety producing both tender young leaves and flowering shoots with tiny broccoli-like florets. Both the leaves and the heads can be eaten together creating a robust flavour that will dazzle your taste buds and leave you looking for more. By carefully picking young leaves, stems and flower buds, the harvest period can be spread out over 2 to 4 weeks.

How to Grow

Plants mature quickly and grow best in cooler weather. Both early and late crops are possible. For early crops, start seeds indoors in a soil-less mix from late March to early April. Set out the transplants in late April and early May spacing them about 45 cm (18") apart in rows 90 cm (3') apart. Fertilizing is essential. Use a balanced NPK granular or 20-20-20 water soluble. Keep the area weeded and evenly watered. One packet sows approx. 20 m (66') of row when thinned to a 40-50 cm (16-18") spacing. When the weather becomes hot, check the plants daily. High temperatures cause the flower buds to open quickly and taste and quality rapidly deteriorates.

Approx. 200 seeds/pkt.