Heirloom Di Cicco Broccoli

• 100 seeds
• Italian Heirloom
• Open pollinated
• Distance between plants - 18"
• Full sun
• Water every 2-3 days
• Days to maturity - 50 days
• Days to germination - 7-12 days
• Height - 24-36"
• Brassica Oleracea var. Italica
• Germination rate - 94%
• Produces 4 to 6 mini heads per plant

This Italian heirloom (1890) broccoli is ideal for our short growing season as it can give you heads to harvest in 50 days and many more pop up off the stem of the plant throughout the season. The DeCicco family name is from Perugia village, in the region of Umbria so I am going to take a jump and assume that the seed comes from this region, or atleast from a family member with that last name that brought it to the US when immigrating.

Many broccoli lovers favor the variety broccoli “Di Cicco” (Brassica oleracea), which sprouts a main head in addition to many smaller offshoot florets that mature at different rates. First introduced in 1890, Di Cicco is an Italian green sprouting heirloom, or Calabrese, broccoli with a six- to eight-week harvest window. Like other varieties of broccoli, it is a cool-season crop and requires similar growing conditions to thrive.

Sow: Indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost – transplant 1 week before last frost.

Harvest: When heads are well grown and plump