One of my favorite
projects in our work with the Organic Seed Partnership at Flanders Bay Farm
involves the continued selection of an open-pollinated broccoli for organic
systems. After three years of growing broccoli selected from a mass cross
of varieties made by Jim Myers, who is a professor of plant breeding at Oregon
State University, we may have finally gotten it right! Broccoli is not
what one usually considers an organic sustainable crop for a number of reasons
but this may change as the OSU Broccoli becomes progressively more adapted to
our Long Island soils, climate and cultural practices. One of the most
interesting aspects of this broccoli is it's resistance to disease and insect
pests which makes it ideal for organic farms and gardens. In the three
years of growing this broccoli we haven't had to use any kinds of pest or
disease controls.
This years crop shows some of the variation in the
population. It remains variable in it's maturity, something that we have
not selected out. We like the idea that one planting will result in a
harvest over many weeks. Perhaps not what corporate farms need, but ideal
to the ability of small farms to meet the needs of their farmstand
customers.
We continue to select for the "long neck" trait for ease
of harvest. Also, that vase-like long stem is remarkably tender and sweet
for a broccoli. Most people like the steamed stalk just as much as the
florets.
The smaller plants in
this photo and those with small heads will be pulled or rogued before they
bloom as part of the selection process. If I see a head where there is a
lack of uniformity in bead (flower buds) or symmetry or it has begun to bloom prematurely,
out it comes. I want uniform small beads on an attractive head. I
also want it to last in the field so I have a longer harvesting window.
Out of 150 plants, we will save seed from less than half. There is still
a lot of diversity in the OSU Broccoli and part of that is by choice, not
concentrating on one trait. For example, I like the big heads that I've
been getting this year (and some have been immense), but those larger heads
seem to lose the long tender neck characteristic typical of the smaller flared
heads that I really like too. So, I've let plants with both traits
cross. I also get very early heads in 50 days from setting out plants in
early May and I also have plants just beginning to head at 70 days from field
planting .
Saving Broccoli Seed
Since
broccoli is insect pollinated, the crop has to be isolated from most of the
other common brassicas that may be in flower. Pollinating insects do get
around (they can travel and move pollen around over many hundreds, perhaps
thousands of feet) and if other members of the broccoli species are in flower
at the same time, they will be crossed. Cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi,
some kinds of kale, brussels sprouts are some members of the Brassica oleracea
species. Breeders have crossed broccoli with cauliflower with some interesting
and marketable developments, but for the most part you will probably want to
grow only one of the Brassicas at a time, and only one cultivar .
Once broccoli starts to flower, it bolts quickly and attracts many kinds of insect pollinators. We get an equal number of bumble bee and honey bees working the flowers as well as flies and cabbage butterflies. Rarely, broccoli can self-pollinate but mostly it doesn't. Sometimes pollination is hit or miss and seed production can be erratic. Pollen will generally have to be transferred among several plants. This self-incompatibility may help to facilitate chance hybrids that show greater vigor.
Pollinated flowers develop siliques or mustard type seedpods on elongating flower stalks. When most of the pods enlarge with seeds and turn brown pull up the plant, roots and all, and allow the plant to dry in a well ventilated area until it's pods are brittle. Cut off the roots and the thrash the stalks (roll the seed pods back and forth through your hands until the sides of the pods break free and seed is released. Use a strainer or screen to separate seed from pod remains. Finally, gently blow away fine debris with a fan to leave the clean seed behind. I had some difficulting planting the OSU broccoli early enough to obtain the best quality seed. Because of the density of the pods on a single plant and the fact that seeds develop on one broccoli plant over an extended period of time, damp, wet weather can play havoc with the seeds that mature early on as you wait for the later pods to ripen. Seed harvesting in the wetter part of late summer is just not condusive to producing quality clean seed with high germination. Fortunately, this year the seed crop is coming along just fine and hopefully will ripen in the field before the late summer damp weather. For small-scale seed production, good quality broccoli seed should be fairly easy to produce on the farm but dry conditions as the seed ripens in the pods are really important. I was hoping to put up a polyhouse for drying the seedcrop out during damp weather but that remains a task for the future. When I was in the seed business I always hot water treated my brassica seed before packing; 122° F for 25 minutes, cooled and quickly blown dry (without heat on screens) just to make sure that I wasn't going to distribute any seed-borne fungus diseases.
Once broccoli starts to flower, it bolts quickly and attracts many kinds of insect pollinators. We get an equal number of bumble bee and honey bees working the flowers as well as flies and cabbage butterflies. Rarely, broccoli can self-pollinate but mostly it doesn't. Sometimes pollination is hit or miss and seed production can be erratic. Pollen will generally have to be transferred among several plants. This self-incompatibility may help to facilitate chance hybrids that show greater vigor.
Pollinated flowers develop siliques or mustard type seedpods on elongating flower stalks. When most of the pods enlarge with seeds and turn brown pull up the plant, roots and all, and allow the plant to dry in a well ventilated area until it's pods are brittle. Cut off the roots and the thrash the stalks (roll the seed pods back and forth through your hands until the sides of the pods break free and seed is released. Use a strainer or screen to separate seed from pod remains. Finally, gently blow away fine debris with a fan to leave the clean seed behind. I had some difficulting planting the OSU broccoli early enough to obtain the best quality seed. Because of the density of the pods on a single plant and the fact that seeds develop on one broccoli plant over an extended period of time, damp, wet weather can play havoc with the seeds that mature early on as you wait for the later pods to ripen. Seed harvesting in the wetter part of late summer is just not condusive to producing quality clean seed with high germination. Fortunately, this year the seed crop is coming along just fine and hopefully will ripen in the field before the late summer damp weather. For small-scale seed production, good quality broccoli seed should be fairly easy to produce on the farm but dry conditions as the seed ripens in the pods are really important. I was hoping to put up a polyhouse for drying the seedcrop out during damp weather but that remains a task for the future. When I was in the seed business I always hot water treated my brassica seed before packing; 122° F for 25 minutes, cooled and quickly blown dry (without heat on screens) just to make sure that I wasn't going to distribute any seed-borne fungus diseases.
I never do that for my own seed and I haven't had
any major disease problems. So you decide.
For brassica seed (that includes broccoli,
turnip, collards and many other vegetables) the dry pods are crushed to release
their seed and then cleaned. In small batches which is what we work with
at the farm, the seeds get separated with assorted strainers and screens.
The work of separating the seed from chaff at the end of the process requires a
fan or air compressor (or in this case lung power).
Sprouting Broccoli
Sure,
you can sprout broccoli seeds for salads and sandwiches. They are better
than alfalfa sprouts. But the Sprouting Broccoli we're talking about here
is a category of broccoli that differs from the kind that form big heads
sometimes referred to Calabrese Broccoli. Sprouting Broccoli is popular
in Great Britain. It is usually sown in early summer to a sizable plant,
overwintered and then the multitude of early little buds clusters and tender
stems are harvested for a spring treat. There are purple and white
sprouting kinds. The less commonly grown white one is more related to
cauliflower. Here on Long Island, it is almost impossible to get the
plants through our harsh winter. There are some new developments coming
from European breeders who have managed to develop a Sprouting Broccoli
that does not need the winter chill or vernalization in order to develope
clusters of tasty sprouts. In that respect, it is much like the
conventional broccoli that produces the crop during the same growing season
it's seeds are sown in.
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Fig: - Here is one of the newer Sprouting Broccoli which
produces in 50 days or so.
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Have you heard of Broccolini or Asparagus
Broccoli? Have you seen it in a gourmet market? Have you grown it
for your customers? Definitely Not. Broccolini was developed by Sakata Seed
Company, the seed is produced under contract by a Thailand Company and in the
U.S. it can only be grown by a California Packing Company that has an exclusive
contract. Broccolini is a hybrid between a cultivar of Gai Lon (or Kailan), a
white flowered brassica sometimes known as Chinese Kale (Brassica oleracea var.
alboglabra) and a selection of standard broccoli. We've been growing those Gai
Lon cultivars available looking for tender, brittle stems and a mild, sweet
flavor. A few years ago we interplanted our selections of Gai Lon with a rather
loose headed broccoli selection and hope that the bees will help to cross the
two. We also hand pollinated using "bee sticks" (dead bees glued onto
wood coffee stirrers) since they are more effective than Q-tips or paint
brushes in transferring pollen. A bit tedious yet effective.
We grew some of the seed saved from that
experiment this past year. It produced what looks similar to the Gai Lon
parent complete with the white flowers one would also expect of Gai Lon.
Maybe we'll save the seed from this hybrid (if it is a cross) and try next year
to see what happens.
I grew up on Raab which is
actually more related to turnip greens than broccoli (it is a Brassica rapa) so
it would be fitting that I write something about it here. I am evaluating
a number of varieties and cultural techniques and will be back with more about
these soon.