This week it's Broccoli

Regular or sprouting, purple, white or green, the cruciferous veg broccoli is full of nutrients and easy to grow. Choose from Graham's top six for guaranteed goodness

- Graham Rice

BROCCOLI and calabrese are they different or the same? Over the years, the two names have become muddled, what exactly are we talking about? So For most of the centuries that we've been growing these plants, we had broccoli, sometimes called 'sprouting broccoli'. These are tall, tough, winterhardy brassicas, grown for their small, prolific flowering spears - like mini cauliflowers that sprout from the tops of the plants and from the leaf joints below. They were invaluable as some of the few fresh vegetables that could be cropped outside in winter and spring.

Then along came calabrese. Originating in Calabria, at the foot of Italy's boot, calabrese produces a single, much larger, head - rather like a green cauliflower - at the top of shorter, unbranched plants. Although the plants are hardy, the developing heads can be damaged by frost.

Thinking that the term calabrese would put people off the new veg, supermarkets called it broccoli - as distinct from sprouting broccoli.

Optimum sowing time

So sprouting broccoli is a biennial crop; seed is sown in summer (about now), in pots or in a short row outside, and young plants are grown on and transplanted about 2ft (60cm) apart in autumn. Large and multi-branched, they can reach 3ft (90cm) in height, so sturdy support is wise. Purple or white spears are produced from to late spring. White is thought to have a better flavour but plants are smaller and less productive - and they sometimes discolour - so there are far more purple-sprouted broccolis available than white types.