This spring, I decided that broccoli is our most productive cool season crop per unit space, so I decreased our planned pea plantings and increased our broccoli plantings for the fall.  The broccoli came up quite well, although I did have to transplant a few seedlings that were too close together, filling in gaps where dry soil had prevented any broccoli from germinating. 

Since we gorged on broccoli this spring and still managed to put away two gallons of the florets, it feels a bit decadent to have planted half again as many broccoli beds for the fall.  However, the later in the year we can eat fresh produce, the healthier and happier we'll be.  I also like to keep the garden full and productive, and I know that my usual recipients of excess garden produce all love broccoli.

As a side note --- the freezer is nearly half full, and we're also halfway to our winter goal.  We've put away 9 gallons of vegetables as well as a good deal of pesto and homegrown chicken.  I can tell we won't be reduced to buying produce from the grocery store in March of 2011.

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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