Broccoli raab, an Italian signature high-yielding pungent mustard flavor, is used in salads and cooking. It produces delicate, turnip-like, leafy flower shoots. They are collected in bunches when the first flowers begin to bloom. Rapini is fast-growing annuals, hardy, and poorly heat-tolerant. Despite the appearance and common name "broccoli rabe", this vegetable is not related to broccoli; it is from the turnip family. Traditional Italian and Mediterranean cuisine often includes Rapini.
Harvesting: Harvest before the buds bloom, when they are about 10-15″ tall. Trim the plant at ground level or where the stem is most challenging. The taste is preserved in freshly cut vegetables. Seed Saving: Allowing broccoli to produce seed will take an entire growing season, and may require digging up the plants for the winter or mulching them well. Broccoli will cross-pollinate with other members of the cabbage family such as cauliflower, and isolation of at least 1/4 a mile is recommended to prevent cross-breeding. Once the flowers have bloomed and produced seed pods, let them dry and carefully remove them from the plant. Separate organic Spring Raab Rapini broccoli seeds from the pods. Store in a dry, cool place for up to five years. Notes:
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CategoriesFDL Seed Library
The FDL Seed Library is a collection of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds that you can borrow to plant and grow at home. By saving seeds as a community we help create local seed stocks that are better acclimated to our climate and which support an abundant and genetically diverse landscape.
We ask that seeds are “returned” by harvesting seeds from a plant or two that you grow. Donated seeds will help to add diversity to our collection. Archives
March 2022
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