I planted multiple rows of broccoli in the fall, hoping for a good harvest.

They grew wonderfully, until December, when they decided to bolt instead of thickening their heads into good, harvestable sizes. We got some skinny broccoli, but it wasn’t great.

And then the hard freezes came.

That’s it.

A warm December wasn’t good for broccoli, and it’s possible the variety was day-length sensitive and wasn’t suited for late planting. They really bolted fast, yet the pak choi in our rows – which bolted like crazy in the spring – didn’t bolt at all.

That’s the way it goes.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, our ideal planting dates for spring broccoli are on the 13th and 14th of this month. We’ll plant, plant again. And we’ll probably plant a few varieties this time, just in case. We had good broccoli growth last spring and we should have it again this spring, especially with our soil improvements.

There are some vegetables I will eat but don’t care much about, and there are some I really love. Broccoli is one I really love, and would like to grow way too much of it this year. I want piles of it, beyond anything we can eat.

After the bolting in December and the freezes of January, I let the goats eat what was left of our 2021 broccoli.

Ada-Clair was thrilled to play clean-up crew.

At least someone got to enjoy the broccoli.