Each month the UW Botanic Gardens' Newsletter, E-Flora, posts in detail about a specific plant, among many other interesting posts about events and general information.
This month's feature is about Raab, or Brassica oleracea, grown at the UW Student Farm at McMahon Hal.
April Plant Profile: Brassica oleracea
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This time of year, you may notice your winter garden plants like kale, collards, and cabbage start to elongate, and produce new, small tender leaves and florets, soon-to-be flowers, also known as raab. Often green, yellow, or purple, these clusters of flower buds emerge when the days get longer, and signify that your plants are preparing to go to seed.
What you may not know is that those are edible, delicious, and nutritious! Raab tastes a lot like broccoli, but is sweeter and more tender, and is delightfully simple to cook: briefly sauté them with a little bit of oil or fat and garlic, and add them to your favorite pasta, stir-fry or scramble.
This year, the UW Farm is taking on a third site: the terrace at McMahon Hall. We broke ground on this site on April 1, and it happened to be covered in collard greens preparing to go to flower. We were able to harvest almost 20lbs of raab for the McMahon dining hall, just 100 feet below our garden.
Expect to harvest 6-10 clusters of raab per plant in the spring. Plan ahead and grow extra brassicas in July so that your spring harvest starts early!
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Brassica
species: Brassica oleracea
Common Name: Kale and Collard Greens
Location: UW Student Farm at McMahon Hall
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