A Broccoli By Any Other Name

I had success this winter with lettuce, greens and Broccoli despite the repeated hard freezes. Broccoli took frost burn on the leaves but rebounded this week with temperatures in the 70's. My spinach didn't pan out; producing only 5-6 plants that are now over ran with Scramble Eggs (Corydalis curvisiliqua). As I surveyed the plant I spotted my first floral head and like many more to follow became dinner tonight. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea) is in the mustard family – BRASSICACEA. Nearly all mustards that grow wild in Texas are cool season plants. On occasion I'll come across a species of Lepiduim in August. In higher altitudes mustard species are common in the summer. In my transient days in the forests of New Mexico I regularly plucked water cress (Nasturtium officinale) from the rivers to augment my beans and ramen noodle dinners. Broccoli is one of several cultivars of B. oleracea, a native of Europe. Over the centuries the species has been grown to enhance a specific part of its body and this cultivar was given another name.

Cultivars of Brassica oleracea:

Broccoli and Calabrese

Califlower

Cabbage

Brussels Sprouts

Kohlrabi

Kali

Collard Greens

Savoys