Focus on… Calabrese

Next week: Focus on raspberries, harvest globe artichokes, dry and store herbs, thwart cabbage whitefly, grow prickly pear

CALABRESE, also known as Italian or green broccoli, is an anomaly in the large brassica family, preferring to develop its harvest in summer rather than winter. Early sowings should be ready now. But how do we get the best from it? month from March until June; you can even store transplants in a fridge to plant out once a fortnight. Opting for early-maturing varieties (like ‘Green Magic’) and late-maturing kinds (like ‘Spiridon’) helps stretch the harvest window further. Generous spacing will also encourage side-shoots to form; I’ve found ‘Ironman’ especially keen to side-shoot.

Successional success

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