I am trying to choose seeds for my vegetable garden. I cannot seem to get my broccoli and cauliflower to grow like I can buy in the store. Mine turn out stringy (not bunched). I am interested in a gardening club or someone to exchange seeds in or near North Richland Hills.

Home grown vegetables don't look like what is in the grocery store because the stores only sell a certain part of the crop. They sell the large bunch or crown, they don't sell all of the rest of the florets that appear on the plant after the first big charismatic head is harvested. It's like buying a bag of potatoes that are fairly uniform in the store, but if you grow you own you know that under each plant there are some huge potatoes, a lot of medium sized potatoes, a few really bizarre shaped potatoes and lots of little new potatoes. All on the same plant.

If you check at a good feed store or seed catalog you should find different varieties that have characteristics you're looking for.

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Northwesterner

Thanks
Any catalog suggestions?

I don't usually use catalogs but I know there are some good ones out there. Someone will come along with suggestions and I'll ask a couple of friends which ones they use.

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Northwesterner

When are you planting your broccoli?

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Sandi
Texas Certified Nursery Professional
Texas Master Naturalist
Organic gardener
Tree-Hugger
Native Texan

The last couple of seasons I have bought plants already started from the big box store down the road. I have a pretty tall brocolli plant from last spring. I was trying to look ahead for next year to pick seeds and wasn't quite sure about the time to plant.

It's time now to plant the broccoli bedding plants, you would have started earlier with seed, or you could start seed indoors now and move it out when they're a few inches tall (to stagger your mature crowns through the winter).

Broccoli that sticks around in the warm season often ends up with aphids, and there is little appeal to broccoli crowns or florets that have passengers.

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Northwesterner

Everything you see in this recent photo was grown from seed. I have three broccoli plants in the middle row, peas on the outside, carrots on the second row from the left and tomatos on the left and ride sides.

I buy my seeds from the Landreth Seed Company and have been happy with them. They have a catalog available each year.

http://www.landrethseeds.com/

If you are in N.TX, here's a handy calendar.

http://nhg.com/PDF/NTxVegPlanting_fall.pdf

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Sandi
Texas Certified Nursery Professional
Texas Master Naturalist
Organic gardener
Tree-Hugger
Native Texan