Broccoli in late August: too late?

This is an honest exploration of whether it’s too late to get a harvest of broccoli. Will the broccoli successfully overwinter and provide a good harvest in the spring? Will it survive the impending El Niño weather? I will take you along for the ride.

Broccoli is pretty easy to experiment with: it germinates in a couple of days and quickly goes from seedling to transplantable plug in a matter of weeks.

Hope springs eternal

On a whim, I started some broccoli and cucumbers in late August. I wasn’t ready to put my planters to bed just yet, and my desire to continue the garden season was burning brightly. I knew failure was a very real possibility, but there was also a chance I could pickle some cucumbers and feast on broccoli heads before the weather turned. Hope springs eternal.

Watching for cabbage moths

I diligently watched my young broccoli for cabbage moth eggs. The moths were going gangbusters in September and tried to lay eggs while my broccoli was hardening off outside. The trick is to check the undersides of the leaves, even the cotyledons (the first leaves that appear before the true leaves).

Here are my starts before they were transplanted in late September.

They have been in the garden for a couple of weeks now and are doing alright. My insect covers have saved them so far.

Grow along with me

Check out the broccoli starts in my Etsy shop. If you want to experiment alongside me, you can pick up a few for your own test beds.