History of Broccoli, Very Dry May
I heard this on the radio a few days ago and thought it was interesting. I guess I never thought about the history of broccoli before.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/broccoli.html
Broccoli is a cultivar of wild cabbage. Wild cabbage originated along the northern and western coasts of the Mediterranean, where it was apparently domesticated thousands of years ago. This domesticated cabbage was bred into different cultivars, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts.
"Broccoli" is an Italian word taken from the Latin brachium, meaning an arm or branch. "Cauliflower" comes from the Latin terms caulis (cabbage) and floris (flower). These "cabbages" are grown for their thickened, profuse, undeveloped flowers and flower stalks instead of for their leaves.
Broccoli has two distinct forms. One makes a dense, white "curd" like that of cauliflower and is called "heading broccoli" or "cauliflower broccoli." The other makes a somewhat branching cluster of green flower buds atop a thick, green flower stalk two to two and a half feet tall, and smaller clusters that arise like "sprouts" from the stems at the attachments of the leaves. This form is called "sprouting broccoli."
Broccoli was an Italian vegetable. It was first mentioned in writings in France 1560. In the then American Colony, Thomas Jefferson grew broccoli at his home in Monticello, VA and recorded it growing with radishes, lettuce, and cauliflower on May 27, 1767.
In 1860, at the Cirencester Agricultural College in southern England, the wild cabbage from the seacoast was subjected to simple breeding and selection procedures. From these wild plants, which resembled crude kales, forms of broccoli and other related cabbagelike varieties were developed, demonstrating their common ancestry.
Commercial cultivation of broccoli in the United States can be traced to the D'Arrigo brothers, Stephano and Andrea, immigrants from Messina, Italy, whose company made some tentative plantings in San Jose, California in 1922. A few crates were initially shipped to Boston, where there was a thriving Italian immigrant culture in the North End. The broccoli business boomed, with the D'Arrigo's brand name "Andy Boy" named after Stephano's two-year-old son, Andrew, and backed with advertisements on the radio.
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Just a quick entry about how dry it has been here over the last month or so. I think here in Indianapolis we are about 2 inches below normal on rainfall for the month of May. It has also been relatively warm for this time of year. It did rain about 0.4 inches last night, but it is still pretty dry. I have been watering my garden, and will probably continue to do so unless we get more significant rain.
I have just started to see small heads developing on my broccoli plants, so it will not be long until I start harvesting broccoli. My lettuce continues to grow well despite the dry and hot weather. The tomato and pepper plants are starting to get some size to them. The cucumber plants are growing nicely as well.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/broccoli.html
Broccoli is a cultivar of wild cabbage. Wild cabbage originated along the northern and western coasts of the Mediterranean, where it was apparently domesticated thousands of years ago. This domesticated cabbage was bred into different cultivars, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts.
"Broccoli" is an Italian word taken from the Latin brachium, meaning an arm or branch. "Cauliflower" comes from the Latin terms caulis (cabbage) and floris (flower). These "cabbages" are grown for their thickened, profuse, undeveloped flowers and flower stalks instead of for their leaves.
Broccoli has two distinct forms. One makes a dense, white "curd" like that of cauliflower and is called "heading broccoli" or "cauliflower broccoli." The other makes a somewhat branching cluster of green flower buds atop a thick, green flower stalk two to two and a half feet tall, and smaller clusters that arise like "sprouts" from the stems at the attachments of the leaves. This form is called "sprouting broccoli."
Broccoli was an Italian vegetable. It was first mentioned in writings in France 1560. In the then American Colony, Thomas Jefferson grew broccoli at his home in Monticello, VA and recorded it growing with radishes, lettuce, and cauliflower on May 27, 1767.
In 1860, at the Cirencester Agricultural College in southern England, the wild cabbage from the seacoast was subjected to simple breeding and selection procedures. From these wild plants, which resembled crude kales, forms of broccoli and other related cabbagelike varieties were developed, demonstrating their common ancestry.
Commercial cultivation of broccoli in the United States can be traced to the D'Arrigo brothers, Stephano and Andrea, immigrants from Messina, Italy, whose company made some tentative plantings in San Jose, California in 1922. A few crates were initially shipped to Boston, where there was a thriving Italian immigrant culture in the North End. The broccoli business boomed, with the D'Arrigo's brand name "Andy Boy" named after Stephano's two-year-old son, Andrew, and backed with advertisements on the radio.
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Just a quick entry about how dry it has been here over the last month or so. I think here in Indianapolis we are about 2 inches below normal on rainfall for the month of May. It has also been relatively warm for this time of year. It did rain about 0.4 inches last night, but it is still pretty dry. I have been watering my garden, and will probably continue to do so unless we get more significant rain.
I have just started to see small heads developing on my broccoli plants, so it will not be long until I start harvesting broccoli. My lettuce continues to grow well despite the dry and hot weather. The tomato and pepper plants are starting to get some size to them. The cucumber plants are growing nicely as well.
posted by Tim B. | 12:13 PM
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