Broccoli, From Seed!

I harvested 21 heads of broccoli this week.  My first success with broccoli in the garden, from seed to table!

Ain't it purty?

Let's see, I spent about $2.95 on a pack of seeds -- Packman Hybrid.  Flats and cell packs I reused from last year.  About $3.50 at Wally World for a bag of seed starter mix.  I transplanted my seedlings into a particularly fertile patch of my garden where I had penned 35 Cornish X broilers last spring.  21 heads of broccoli multiplied by approximately $3.00 per head for what I would pay for them at the grocery when not on sale...equals $63.00 worth of broccoli.  I saved $56.55 growing my own.  Score!

Look how big it is!  (Sitting on an 11" dinner plate for scale.)

 Plus I still get to harvest all those little side shoots that come along later.  We eat a lot of broccoli, about once a week on the side or incorporated into the main course.

I will be starting a fall crop here soon.  I am hoping to grow and freeze a year's worth of broccoli and not have to buy it at the store.