Yes, it is an annual. Annual vegetable. I’ve never had the pleasure to see broccoli bolt to this extreme. This monster plant was started in the greenhouse during the winter and planted in a container very close to maturity. I harvested one good head from it and several nice side shoots. A cluster, close to the center, started to bolt so I went along for the ride. I am anxiously awaiting inquiries about where I got that beautiful flower. Broco-flower.
This cool, wet weather has kept my brassicas happy. Cabbage, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and others in the mustard family are called brassica.
I have two of the big broccoli plants that were started in the greenhouse in winter and I am still harvesting from the second one. I planted some broccoli that I started from seed, intending they would be ornamental, since typically broccoli bolts before forming decent sized heads in the summer. Given this odd spring, however, I have small heads forming. My purple kohlrabi looks great. I will have to watch the temperature closely and harvest everything soon. Pennsylvania gardening wisdom says that typically, brassicas do best here in the fall. Never hurts to try.
Slugs are also especially happy this spring. Tonight, after today’s deluge that soaked the already soaked earth, I’m thinking the slug population across PA will come out of hiding, dress up in grass skirts, get out the tiki torches and ukuleles, break into their stash of rum and munch down hearty on our well loved plants. Slugs in my yard, just to further annoy me, will probably skip the tiki party and don tie dyes and listen to loud Grateful Dead.
I don’t know what she thinks of the Grateful Dead, but Roberta Bogash, landscape designer from Newville, told me about a product that controls slugs in an environmentally friendly way. It is an iron phosphate based product called Escar-go or another brand called sluggo. It is safe for people, pets and wildlife and improves the soil. It isn’t damaging to beneficial insects either. Think of it… we want good phosphate and iron levels in our soils. Sounds possible? I gave it a try and it has helped.
That said, and Roberta would probably agree with me, while humans often mess with nature believing we are not impacting the earth in a negative way, something down the road occurs, which is an unforeseen circumstance. I’m thinking of all the silver maple street trees we planted that break into our sever lines and tear up our sidewalks. I’m thinking of all the imported plants we brought in, later, had damaging effects. Imported plants often brought pests with them, infamously including Japanese Beetles.
And that was the only depressing part of my day…. I saw my first Japanese Beetle. Ugghh. Goodbye all you beautiful foliage.
