Calabrese Broccoli

Brassica oleracea var. italica 'Calabrese'

vegetable

Calabrese is the classic Italian green broccoli, producing a large blue-green central head followed by a steady supply of smaller side shoots after the main head is cut. A cool-season brassica maturing in about 60 to 90 days, it is the standard home-garden broccoli, valued for the long secondary harvest that can continue for weeks.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Dill — Attracts parasitic wasps and ladybugs that hunt cabbage pests
• Sweet Alyssum — Draws hoverflies whose larvae eat aphids
• Nasturtium — Trap crop for aphids and cabbage pests
• Chamomile — Aromatic herb said to improve growth and deter pests

❌ Keep away from

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Imported cabbage worm →

  Cover with floating row cover from transplant to exclude the white cabbage butterfly; hand-pick green caterpillars; spray Bt if needed

• Aphids →

  Plant alyssum and dill to draw hoverflies and lacewings; blast colonies off with water

• Flea beetles →

  Row cover on young plants

🌾 Harvest & storage

Cut the central head while the buds are still tight and deep green, before any yellow flowers open, taking several inches of stem. Cutting the main head prompts the plant to produce smaller side shoots from the leaf axils, which can be picked every few days for several more weeks.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Broccoli is low in calories and very high in vitamins C and K, with folate, fiber, and sulforaphane, a glucosinolate-derived compound widely studied for its anticancer potential.