vegetable
Broccoli
A cool finisher. Spring crop if you start indoors; better as a fall crop in the heat of zone 6+.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 18 in
- Days
- 55–85
- Zones
- 3a–9b
How to sow
Start indoors 5–6 weeks before last frost, or 10–12 weeks before first fall frost. It wants cool finishing weather.
Harvest
Cut the center head tight and green. Side shoots follow.
Mistakes that waste a packet
- A spring sowing that heads in a heat wave
- Waiting until the head is loose and yellow
Three packets
Waltham 29
BeginnerOld, side-shooting, honest in a home garden.
De Cicco
Short seasonSmaller heads, faster, more side shoots.
Partner links may earn us a commission. We do not warehouse these packets. See indoor start dates for your ZIP.
Related
Tomatoes
Start indoors. Match days-to-maturity to the weeks you actually have after last frost.
Peppers
Need more heat and a longer indoor start than tomatoes. Short-season varieties matter north of zone 7.
Lettuce
The crop that makes a first garden feel like a garden. Sow in spring and again in late summer.
The sow list
A note when it is time to sow
Seasonal, not daily. We will send what to start in your zone, and skip the rest of the year.
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