Last March when I was selecting seeds, I aimed to trial one vegetable to start realising my vision of an ornamental kitchen garden. Romanesco caught my eye because its unusual shape was intriguing and it was described as having a nutty flavour (could only be an improvement on cabbage flavour). Another attraction which I didn't recognise at the time, is that it's a vegetable which prefers a cold climate, adding interest to the winter garden .... but now the remaining broccoli skeletons are being overcome by spring bulb leaves.
Its shape is almost fractal because each floret is a smaller version of the whole broccoli head and each floret itself is made up of smaller florets with the same shape. The way that the florets are arranged in clockwise and anti-clockwise spirals follows Fibonacci mathematics (derived from a sequence of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21..... ) which recurs in nature. The missing link is that broccoli and the rest of the brassica family are cruciferous, ie. their flowers have four petals - and 4 is not a Fibonacci number.
During the past year, since I sowed the seeds, I imagined cutting open a Romanesco, counting the Fibonacci spirals and feeling the points with my fingers. Then I started having wilder fantasies where I tasted the nutty morsels flavoured with anchovy and onion or butter and lemon. However, this weekend I accepted defeat, the chances of an alien green (described as chartreuse - by a seed supplier), pointed broccoli appearing in my garden this year are pretty slim .... the weather is getting warmer and the plants will be prone to bolting anyway.
Instead I have some spring greens (broccoli leaves are edible by the way). There is no risk of these head-less plants bolting as they have totally missed the boat .....
I also have what looks like purple cauliflower which is (confusingly) a type of broccoli with purple flower heads. Both broccoli and cauliflower originated from wild cabbage, evolving modified flower heads which are edible before the flowers open and bitter after.
The difference between cauliflower and broccoli is that the green or purple flower buds seen in broccoli are replaced by white infloresence (tissue consisting of a multitude of microscopic flowers) in cauliflower. When I first saw the purpleness, I feared there were insects crawling over my broccoli, yet so far I have had no insect pests in my garden. I like to think this is due to the balance of nature resulting from my organic approach and the concept of growing vegetables amongst flowers. I wont be too smug, in case any brassica pests have laid eggs on the ground, rotating crops will ensure that the pupae wont complete their life cycle.
considering it took longer to give birth than a human baby, I don't have the heart to sever it though.
Then finally there are these two victims of pigeons. I should have covered them with netting when I first witnessed the damage, but I left them out of curiosity to see what would happen. I was toying with the idea that the slugs and pigeons are in effect doing the same job as Mr.T's father ....
What's next you may wonder ? Well, I wont be digging them up just yet, and I've just sowed more seeds this weekend ... from the same packet.
Tips for growing broccoli that I shall take note of for the future :
(1) When transplanting seedlings, plant them deeper so that the bottom leaves touch the soil (more roots will grow and add stability).
(2) Harvest broccoli before the buds open, or it will taste bitter.
(3) Cut the central spear of sprouting broccoli to induce the side shoots to grow into bite-sized florets.
(4) Rotate crops so that brassicas are only grown in the same soil one year out of three.
http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com/growing-broccoli.html
"Bolting is a survival mechanism in a plant. If the weather gets to be above where the plant will survive, it will try to produce the next generation (seeds) as quickly as possible."
"add mulch and ground cover to the ground, as well as watering regularly in order to keep the soil temperature down."
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/vegetable/what-is-bolting-what-it-means-when-a-plant-bolts.htm
This shows the damage caused by pigeons which looks similar to my shredded broccolis. "Shooting can be effective" (?) ..."The only certain way of protecting vulnerable plants from pigeons is to grow them under netting."
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=207
Is Romanesco a broccoli, cauliflower or broccoflower ?
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/11/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20110211
... the jury is out, but it's definitely a decendant of wild cabbage :
Latin Name | Common Name |
Brassica oleracea | Wild Cabbage |
Brassica oleracea alboglabra | Chinese Kale |
Brassica oleracea botrytis | Cauliflower |
Brassica oleracea botrytis aparagoides | Nine Star Perennial Broccoli |
Brassica oleracea capitata | Cabbage |
Brassica oleracea costata | Couve Tronchuda |
Brassica oleracea gemmifera | Brussels Sprouts |
Brassica oleracea gongylodes | Kohl Rabi |
Brassica oleracea italica | Broccoli |
Brassica oleracea medullosa | Marrow-Stem Kale |
Brassica oleracea palmifolia | Jersey Kale |
Brassica oleracea ramosa | Perpetual Kale |
Brassica oleracea sabauda | Savoy Cabbage |
Brassica oleracea sabellica | Curly Kale |
Brassica oleracea viridis | Collards |
"Cauliflower and broccoli are the same species and have very similar structures, though cauliflower replaces the green flower buds with a white inflorescence meristem."
http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Cauliflower
"There are three commonly grown types of broccoli. The most familiar is a often referred to simply as "broccoli", and sometimes calabrese named after Calabria in Italy. It has large (10 to 20 cm) green heads and thick stalks. It is a cool season annual crop.
Sprouting broccoli has a larger number of heads with many thin stalks.....
Purple cauliflower is a type of broccoli ..... It has a head shaped like cauliflower, but consisting of tiny flower buds."
http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Broccoli
The mathematical shape of romanesco broccoli :
The Fibonnaci sequence 1+1+2+3+5+8+13 ...
http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue3/fibonacci/index
... recurs in nature (please watch this brilliant video even if you're not interested in numbers or nature) ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2010/oct/17/5
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/fractal-patterns-in-nature/?pid=179&viewall=true
... including broccoli ....
http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html#veg
Recipes I would have cooked if my romanesco broccoli was edible :
Romanesco Broccoli Polonaise, made following this recipe for cauliflower, allows the beauty of the entire vegetable to be displayed on your plate. The broccoli/cauliflower is boiled whole and then topped with breadcrumbs toasted in butter, lemon, parsley and crumbled boiled eggs :
http://whatsforsupper-juno.blogspot.com/2009/03/cauliflower-with-butter-lemon-parsley.html
I chose this Sicilian recipe of broccoli with pasta, anchovies, raisins and pine nuts because the pictures are so stunning and make my mouth water, but I would most likely replace the raisins with chilli flakes :
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?language=2&Display=75&resolution=high
For more Blooming Friday On the Ground posts visit Roses and Stuff on 1st April.
Content created by b-a-g for http://experiments-with-plants.blogspot.com/2011/03/broccoli-28-mar-2011.html