~SUSTAINABLE LIVING FOR CHALLENGING TIMES

[Monksdream]

The looser the soil, the longer the parsnips.

Meanwhile, the exec chef at the restaurant I sell to in uptown Charlotte wanted broccolini. I started from seed in 4 inch pots and transplanted successively starting in July. The plants attracted insects: harlequin stink bugs (first time they appeared), grasshoppers (always around) and lastly brown aphids (first time they appeared). The plants withstood and overcame the stink bugs and grasshoppers, but the aphids were a true problem that needed organic control because the sugar from the dew causes mold.

Broccolini is a hybrid developed by a Japanese seed company which crossed regular broccoli with an oriental green.

It's a fad vegetable.