Growing broccoli can be fun and very rewarding. It can also be a great way to get your finicky eaters to eat this nutritious vegetable. It so much more fun to eat something you’ve grown with your own hands. Kids barely think about the fact it is BROCCOLI!!

Here’s some tips that will have you growing broccoli like a master gardener and keeping it delicious once it’s grown.

* Broccoli seeds are best started indoors 7 to 9 weeks before the last frost, at a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees F. They can also be sown outdoors 2 weeks before the last frost. For a winter crop in zones 8 and warmer, sow in late summer. Expect germination in 10 to 14 days.

*Don’t allow your transplants to get too mature before moving them to your garden. If you do, they may become stressed by transplant shock.

* During broccoli harvest choose broccoli where the head is fully developed, but before the individual flowers start to open, cut the central head along with 5 or 6 inches of stem. Removing the central head will stimulate development of the side shoots, which will allow you to continue your harvest for several weeks.

* Store fresh, unwashed Broccoli in your refrigerator’s vegetable crisper for 3 to 5 days. Put it in a loose or perforated plastic bad, being sure not to store it if it’s wet — wet Broccoli will quickly become limp and can get moldy. Its best flavor and nutritional value will be maintained if storage is brief.

* Aphids are often found on the underside of leaves. You can wash them off with a strong stream of water or use an insecticidal soap (be sure to follow the label instructions). Check the plants regularly, as aphids can be a recurring problem.

* Cabbage worms tend to attack the leaves and heads of related cole crops. Cole crops are crops that belong to the mustard family and have similar cultural requirements. They’re hardy plants that prefer cool weather. The most commonly grown cole crops are Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Kale, Collards, and Kohlrabi.

* Beets, Onions, and Garlic are all good companions for your Broccoli.

* There are three species of cabbage worms — imported cabbage worms, cabbage loopers, and diamond back moth worms. They’re very destructive to plants, as they have a voracious appetite. Covering the plants with screening or a row cover can prevent the presence of these pests.

* Broccoli is high in vitamin C and soluble fiber and contain several nutrients that have anti-cancer properties.

* Broccoli leaves are edible and have more beta carotene than do the florets.

If you are ready to start growing broccoli, now is the time to get started!! Getting your broccoli seeds started now will give you some yummy, nutritious broccoli on your table in just 45 to 60 days!

The first year you plant a vegetable garden you will be filled with excitement. You will have energy and gusto and be excited about the whole thing. As the year moves on, the weeds encroach on your veggies and the weather gets hot you may find your huge vegetable garden is not only overwhelming, but just impossible to manage.

There are the weeds, and the weeds and the weeds, as well as the pest control to deal with.  This can be seriously overwhelming for a beginning vegetable gardener.

Your best bet to have success  is to start with a small vegetable garden. Choose your favorite veggies to plant. The ones you really eat and will use are a good way to start. Think about how big the plants will be when they are full grown. If you are thinking about planting squash (which is a great beginner plant ~ very forgiving) remember it is a BIG plant. If you plant more than one or two or them you are no longer talking about a small vegetable garden

Tomatoes are pretty big too, but you can always find smaller varieties to use. If you choose a few basic vegetables to start with, say tomato, cucumber, squash and maybe some green beans you will find you have a very nice small vegetable garden. You can also throw in some herbs to round out the garden.

If you really have a small space and want to grow a LOT of vegetables you can get the book  Sqaure Foot Gardening. It will show you how to grow tons of vegetables in a very small space by planting them closer together and using a square foot grid to plant your vegetables in.

If you are a beginner vegetable gardener, don’t really like your summer weather, or only have a small amount of space I highly suggest you start with a small vegetable garden. Having a successful garden under your belt will make it even easier next year to expand.

Every year we have a vegetable garden. The first year we lived here we had no idea what we were doing. We rototilled a HUGE area, and went crazy. That was not a good garden lol. Yeah it was great in the spring, when the weather was nice and I still had the motivation to get out there and work in the garden. Come summer, that poor neglected garden was a mess. We still got a lot of produce out of it, but it was the ugliest garden ever.

Over the next few years we tried different things, different sizes and finally found something that works great for us ~ well me mostly now. My husband’s pretty much given up on the whole vegetable garden idea.

The last few years I have had one relatively small raised lasagna bed. It has been just right. During that time I was pregnant, had a newborn and we had some veggies through all of it. This year she’s going to be 3 and loves to garden. I’d also like to have more produce to can at the end of the summer so I am going to build a few more raised beds and do them up lasagna garden style.

I also have a couple ideas I want to try out for some larger plants that I would like to grow but don’t really have the space right now, like pumpkins, and watermelon.

This blog is going to be a diary of a home vegetable gardener. I hope to give you all some tips, and hints that have helped me along the way, and answer any questions that I have had and had to answer to move forward.

If I’ve learned one thing from growing a vegetable garden it is this: it is all about the journey.