The traditional growing season up here in NH is only from Memorial Day to Veteran’s Day. And, sometimes we get frosts as long as a week after Memorial Day, as we had last year.
If you limit yourself to planting broccoli (also cabbage, kale and brussel’s sprouts) only during that time frame, you will end up with only one crop per year. However, unlike tomatoes or cucumbers; these plants are fairly resistant to cold temperatures; so they can be planted out earlier and grown later.
Planting for two harvests is easy enough. Figure out when last frost is in your area; and start your seedlings indoors twelve weeks before hand; and then plant them outside six weeks beforehand. Your first crop will be ready to harvest about mid-season.
Meanwhile, on the date of last frost or a week or so later, start a new batch of seedlings indoors. These will be ready to plant within a week or so of the first crop being harvested. This second crop will be ready a couple of weeks after the first frost and will likely be of higher quality than the first.
Filed under: Broccoli, Planting, Self-Sufficiency, Vegetables
