plant broccoli rabe in NY yet?
Orrie
Last year I planted my broccoli rabe seedling plants too late (end of April)
and they grew leggy and flowered in hours (literally!) In the Fall, I
planted seeds, and they never amounted to an edible crop.
I have some broccoli rabe seeds left from last Fall and want to plant them
for a Spring crop. I know broccoli rabe is a cool weather plant and matures
very quickly -- only 40 days from seed. Is it too early, too cold to plant
the seeds now? We have occasional frosts here until late April, but I've
heard that broccoli rabe can survive light frosts.
Thank you.
Orrie
Mixter
ground is still too cold yet and may even be difficult to dig. If they
mature in 40 days, you should have them by the end of April.
Where did you buy those seeds anyway? I would love to try it myself.
Mixter
Carol Clark
but don't know if they're down near you - I got mine on Route 46 near
Rockaway (Kenvil, I think) I've never tried them, am looking forward
to it,
If anyone is near a Franks Nursery, they had a 50% sale on all their
seeds, and they had 6 or 7 brands they were selling! I don't know if
they're still on that much of a sale, this was about a month ago.
My seed packet says Broccoli De Rapa SPRING RAAB (Rapini)
Is this the same? it looks like broccoli rabe. But packet says sow
after danger of frost and maturity in 60 days, so it may be a
different variety.
Carol
Gary Woods
>I have some broccoli rabe seeds left from last Fall and want to plant them
>for a Spring crop. I know broccoli rabe is a cool weather plant and matures
>very quickly -- only 40 days from seed. Is it too early, too cold to plant
>the seeds now?
In upstate NY, you would need an explosives license to plant anything just
now... if you're contemplating planting outdoors down on the Island, I'm
flat-out envious!
Having said that, Rapini AKA Broccoli Raab AKA Raabi needs to mature in
cool weather. I'm going to try again, but when it finally warms up for me,
it gets too warm too fast, and Rapini bolts. Planted mid-late August,
though, it does fine. It's pretty hardy stuff; it laughs at light frost.
If you're .....erm... economical, you might plant some in the spring, and
if it bolts, save the seed for fall! I've got "Cimi di Rapa" a couple of
generations old that does fine. Just make sure you have a dozen or so
plants for good diversity.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation.
Penny Morgan
broccoli rabe approx. 4 weeks before last frost. I used to live in Albany,
New York and moved to Holly Springs, North Carolina about 6 years ago. I
planted all my cool season crops, including lettuce, arugula, spinach,
radishes, carrots, onions, leeks and mustard greens on Feb. 1st. According
to NC guides, these crops should be planted between Feb 15 to Mar. 15. I
find that the weather heats up way too fast in the spring causing everything
to bolt if I wait until that time. Last week we had freezing temps. and an
ice storm that coated everything. My crops popped right back up after
melting. What's really bizarre is that I had to mow my lawn yesterday, Feb.
28th. It is now in the upper 60's to 70 and everything is blooming and
budding. I love this time of year. Personally, I would chance it. Happy
planting!
Orrie <ofru...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:97j4n0$e5p$1...@slb0.atl.mindspring.net...
Orrie
It's snowing here today, so I'm saved. Don't have to plant yet.
Actually, I think I'll wait another couple of weeks. We've had another
pretty mild winter. But it's wise to remember that the catastrophic Blizzard
of 1888 occurred in mid-March.
Orrie
"Orrie" <ofru...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:97j4n0$e5p$1...@slb0.atl.mindspring.net...
Marie's Email
I live across LI Sound from you in Stamford Connecticut. I have had very good
luck with broccoli raab.
I usually plant the middle of April and again the middle to end of August. The
first year I planted the seeds too close together and got skinny, leggy, tough
raab. The next year I gave the seeds lots of space and got thick sweet raab. So
my best advice is to give the plants lots of room to grow. You can thin them
and eat the thinnings (yummy) if they seem to be too crowded.
Keep trying, it's amazing how much better home grown raab tastes than store
bought...but isn't that true of everything we grow in our gardens!
Marie
Pahoo
http://www.humeseeds.com. Their variety does very, very well out here in
Idaho. Brassica do well in the soil and climate.
I plant first of April, depending on weather. The funny thing is I grew up
in Northern NJ and we had to add lime to the acid soil. Now out here in the
high desert with volcanic alkaline soil, I have to put SULFUR in the soil!!
Tomatoes still don't taste nearly as good out here, compared to a good old
Jersey tomatoes!
--
Happy gardening,
Pahoo
Zone 5 - South Central Idaho
High Desert, 3K ft.
Mixter" <mbea...@omega-advisors.com> wrote in message
news:97jj00$pljrh$1...@ID-76804.news.dfncis.de...
Carol Clark
instead of being threaded with all the other replies?
Carol :)
Gary Woods
>Just curious, why do some replies, like this one, come in separately
>instead of being threaded with all the other replies?
In this case, the Subject: line was slightly changed, which messed up
threading, depending on what the newsreader uses to identify threads. Mine
(Agent) showed it as a new thread.
Mixter
have two adorable house rabbits that go crazy for it!
thanks again - mixter
Mixter
"Pahoo"
> Tomatoes still don't taste nearly as good out here, compared to a good old
> Jersey tomatoes!
>
I DO AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT POINT. THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A JERSEY BEEFSTEAK!