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This is an amazing series on vegetables that can be grown in your backyard — "backyard vegetables"! Today the featured vegetable for backyard vegetables is "broccoli". Broccoli is a delicious snack that is low in calories and provides the major nutrients that you need to add to your healthy, fitness life. It can be easily grown in your backyard within a garden bed or container.
Either way of growing broccoli is convenient, as long as you stick with the plant hardiness guidelines. It is ideal to grow in plant hardiness zones 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10. The plant hardiness zones are the areas where your plant grows the best. The plant hardiness is usually associated with a letter to find tune the location for the best growth. For example, you may see 7a, 8a, 6b, etc. The charts for climate stability and plant hardiness are really easy to read; color code on a legend/index can further help you.
Click the plant hardiness zone map below to identify the best area to grow your vegetables including broccoli!
How to Grow Broccoli!
Broccoli is ideally a cool-season plant but knowing when to plant can be a trial and error experiment for you! If you want to harvest broccoli plants in midsummer, it’s best to start it from seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date. You should plant (sow) your seeds about ¼ to ½ inch deep in a quality seed-starting mix or soil pellets. Expect broccoli seeds to germinate within 4 to 7 days when the air temperature remains between 45- and 85-degrees F (7 to 29 C). To produce broccoli from directly planted seeds, sow them into the garden in midsummer 12 to 24 inches apart. Be ready for your broccoli in about 100 to 150 days! Also ensure that your soil is moist. If you have to, water it daily during warm months.
What about the major nutrients in broccoli?
Below are the nutrition facts for 1 cup (91 grams) of raw broccoli.
Calories: 31
Water: 89%
Protein: 2.5 grams
Carbs: 6 grams
Sugar: 1.5 grams
Fiber: 2.4 grams
Fat: 0.4 grams
What are the major vitamins and minerals in broccoli?
Instead of being disappointed about running out of vitamins or being eager to take multivitamins, try eating raw vegetables! Eating broccoli in a balanced diet can add the following vitamins and minerals into your daily nutrition.
Vitamin C. An antioxidant, this vitamin is important for immune function and skin health. A 1/2-cup (45-gram) serving of raw broccoli provides almost 70% of the DV.
Vitamin K1. Broccoli contains high amounts of vitamin K1, which is important for blood clotting and may promote bone health.
Folate (vitamin B9). Particularly important for pregnant women, folate is needed for normal tissue growth and cell function.
Potassium. An essential mineral, potassium is beneficial for blood pressure control and heart disease prevention.
Manganese. This trace element is found in high amounts in whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
Iron. An essential mineral, iron has many important functions in your body, such as the transport of oxygen in red blood cells.
Source: Nutrition Facts https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/broccoli#nutrients
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