'Purple Peacock' Broccoli

Brassica oleracea

Origin: Philomath, Oregon

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~75

Germination tested 10/2023: 73%

Life cycle: Annual

Another exciting variety bred by Frank Morton and the team at Wild Garden Seeds, this gorgeous broccoli has become very popular in the organic seed trade in recent years. If you've ever tried and failed to grow broccoli, it's well worth giving this one a try — with its heavy dose of kale genetics, it is really a different beast altogether.

Here's what Frank has to say about it: "Our contribution to ongoing broccoli evolution; green beads [buds], sweet purple stems, toothy red-veined leaves that will make you think it’s 'Red Russian' kale. Young leaves are salad-rate, and mature leaves are as sweet as any lightly steamed kale. Floret stems erupt first as loose heads of broccoli, followed by prodigious side shoots. These are sweet and non-biting as raw “dippers” and salad additions. This “eat everything brockali” comes from crosses between ‘Green Goliath’ broccoli and two kales."