Broccoli 

Companion planting:
Likes: beans, chamomile, celery, coriander, cucumber, dill, marigold, lettuce, marjoram, mint, nasturtiums, onions, peas, potatoes, tomatoes
Dislikes: strawberries

Purple sprouting broccoli:
Sow February, harvest August to October
Varieties used:
Purple sprouting early (The Lost Seed)

Green sprouting broccoli:
Start in greenhouse in August, plant out mid September. Sow September to mid February, harvest December to Juli or much longer.
Varieties used:
Waltham 29 (The Lost Seed)
DeCicco 
Green sprouting calabrese (The Lost Seed)

After central head is harvested, side-shoots will develop over a long period. Broccoli can be cut back severely several times to encourage new side-shoots. Some of our broccoli plants are in their second year and still produce tasty side-shoots.

Sow four or five seeds in a clump, space clumps at least 60 cm apart. Then gradually thin out seedlings. Thinning should be completed when the best seedling has made three true leaves. Side-dress heavily to encourage side-shoots

All brassica are attacked by the cabbage moth and the cabbage white butterfly. Companion-planting with marigold, dill, celery, sage, oregano helps, also scattering crushed eggshells around the plants. If infestation is heavy spray with Dipel (try mixing in a drop of detergent to help the droplets to cling to the leaves).

We don’t preserve any of the Brassica as we have a steady supply throughout the year.