2010 Annual Report for ONE09-101
Winter Sprouting Broccoli as an Alternative Tunnel Crop in New England
Summary
Five farmers conducted on-farm trials of winter sprouting broccoli, and four of these successfully harvested crops in Spring 2010. A replicated experimental planting in high tunnels and a pilot experiment to evaluate survival of winter broccoli in low-cost low tunnels were completed at UNH in May 2010. Data were collected and analyzed in Spring and Summer 2010. Several outreach events were completed: scientific presentations at both Northeast Region (January 2010, to 40 research and extension professionals) and National (August 2010, to 60 research and extension professionals) meetings of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences; the grower article “Winter Sprouting Broccoli: a crop to consider?” was published in both the Massachusetts Vegetable Notes and Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers’ News; a twilight meeting was conducted for 30 growers and two extension educators during peak harvest in April 2010; and one of our collaborating growers presented on this topic at a workshop to 80 producers and seven extension professionals in December 2010. In addition, the graduate student working on this project successfully defended his M.S. thesis and graduated in December 2010.
- winter sprouting broccoli harvested, march 2010
- pilot study with winter sprouting broccoli under low tunnels, January 2010
Objectives/Performance Targets
- Our overall goals:
• Cooperating growers guide UNH research on production of winter sprouting broccoli
• Cooperating growers evaluate WSB varieties and production methods, and provide yield and market data
• UNH researchers evaluate planting date, rowcover treatment and variety effects on yields of WSB
• UNH researchers and cooperating growers share results with other growers, extension professionals, and the general public.2009 Milestones
April: Assess 2008-9 cooperating grower experiences.
May-June: Meet with current and new grower-cooperators to refine research objectives for 2009-2010.
July: Order seeds and supplies for season. Conclude experimental design.
September -October: Distribute transplants to cooperators, transplant seedlings.
November-December: Apply row cover.2010 Milestones
February: Check-in with grower-collaborators.
March-May: Harvest, take data.
April: Hold Winter Broccoli Twilight Meeting and Inservice for extension educators (flier attached).
May-June: Interpret and analyze results from 2009-2010. Update and publish Winter Broccoli Fact Sheet (attached). Prepare and submit scientific publication.
July: Poster and/or oral presentation at national conference of the ASHS.2011 Milestones
February: Brassica School, grower-cooperators present results.
Accomplishments/Milestones
We have met all objectives and milestones to date, with a few exceptions. Two scientific publications are in preparation, but have not yet been submitted. The Winter Broccoli Fact Sheet described above has been written and provided in hard copy format to 30 growers (attached). We are currently assessing the best means of publication, and plan to make it available electronically this coming winter. We have revised our final objective, which was to conduct a “brassica school”. Instead, one of our grower cooperators presented the results of this project in a growers’ meeting that covered a broader array of topics than simply brassica production (December 2010); and we plan to present this in at least one other workshop before the end of the project.
As stated in the previous annual report, three of the six initial cooperators did not fully participate the project for various reasons, but new cooperators were identified. While the results from on-farm trials were in all cases informative, they did not all yield the data that we were hoping to obtain. We hoped to learn yield and price information from each grower, and only one grower actually sold the crop and provided us with this data. Two of the growers gave the crop away to preferred customers, and a third grower included the crop in weekly CSA baskets as an “extra”. The final grower was not able to harvest the crop. This grower experimented with growing in low tunnels rather than high tunnels, and the low tunnel covers blew off in a severe windstorm in December, so the crop was unprotected for the majority of the winter and was killed.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
Based on preliminary results, nine cooperating growers have learned about and planted trial crops of winter sprouting broccoli. Of these, two found that it fits their market well. We estimate that ten more growers are currently (2010-11) evaluating the crop on a small scale as a direct result of our outreach efforts. Our work has also been of interest to home gardeners interested in season extension, but it is quite difficult to measure the impact of home scale production. Also, as a result of our outreach and requests from growers, two regional seed companies now sell seeds of this crop. We estimate that a gross income of $1000 or more during the winter months could be produced in a typical high tunnel of 1500-1800 square feet with relatively little labor compared with other winter-grown crops. We currently estimate the dollar impact of our work to growers and gardeners to be in the range of $5000, but we are still in the very early phases of adoption of this crop. The academic aspects of this work have resulted in one M.S. thesis (C. Martin, 12/10), as well as peer-reviewed abstracts and presentations at national and regional conferences.
Collaborators:
Graduate Assistant
University of New Hampshire
38 Academic Way
Spaulding Hall
Durham, NH 03824