Have you seen this, very interesting. Found this on http://greenthumbs.tribe.net/thread/b19558de-275c-4ac9-aa39-dc9d12b91872 'What is it: Cima di rapa (aka broccoli raab or broccoli rabe or rape by Americans) literally means turnip top and that what it is-a turnip green. it is not related in the slightest to broccoli (which in Italian is called cavolo ___, e.g. cavolo broccolo for true broccoli, cavolfiore for cauliflower, cavolo verza for savoy cabbage, cavolo laciniato for tuscan kale) Here in the United States it is often referred to as broccoli rabe. The rabe is obviously a corruption of rapa; the broccoli probably comes from the little 'tops' you find on most varieties of cima di rapa that somewhat resemble a broccoli head. There are ten or so varieties of cima di rapa in Italy. Franchi Sementi carries Quarantina (40 day), Sessantina (60 day), Novantina(90 day, centoventina (120 day) & maceratese. All but the maceratese have the little 'tops' that most people associate with cima di rapa. Maceratese has no tops. In addition to those that Franchi Sementi carries there is a foglia d'olivio (olive leaf). You may also see some called riccia san marzano (sometimes these are called cima grosso or large top) and they tend to have more in the way of tops which are a bit bent over or curled, hence the name, riccia (curly). They come in the 40, 60, 90 & 120 day versions. So what is the difference. Size mostly; the longer they take to mature, the larger the plant. The 40 day one is 10-12 inches high; the 90 day one will get to 16-17 inches with some pretty huge leaves and stalks. None of the Italian varieties have as many tops as the Andy Boy Brococli Rabe you find in the supermarkets; that is a variety developed by the grower and I do not believe the seed is available for sale. 'How to grow cima di rapa (broccoli rabe). First, forget the folk wisdom that these need to be grown in cool weather, otherwise they will go to seed [send up the dreaded yellow flowers]. That is not so. You can grow them throughout the growing season. On the other hand, they will bolt almost as quickly in the spring as they do in the summer. Another piece of folk wisdom is that their names describe the number of days until maturity. No so. I can guarantee that if you plant quarantina & wait forty days, by the 40th day, you will have a lovely patch of yellow flowers. In fact, quarantina generally takes about 32 days; sessantina about 40-45 days; novantina & foglia d'olivio about 50-55 days. In order to grow cima di rapa successfully, you need to follow two simple rules. First, give them plenty of space. The seeds are tiny and it is hard to drop one seed. People almost always sow them too thickly. What I do is plant in a row and space rows ten inches or so for the 40 day, 12 inches for the others. I try try to drop one seed per inch; of course I never do. No matter. The cima di rapa germinates in a few days and in 10 days or so, it will be two or three inches high. Thin it to 4' for the 40 day & 6' for all the rest. Use the thinnings in salad. Secondly, as soon as the plant makes a 'top', cut it. Dont even wait a day. Cut it, wash it, put it in a plastic bag and store it in the crisper of your refridgerator. If you leave it out in the garden, it will bolt within two days; if you cut it & put it in the crisper, it will store ten days or more. Forget about multiple cuts also. It will not grow back or if it does, there is not much in the quality department. The trick is to succession plant it; replant every week or so if you are really into cima di rapa. The alternative is to plant a couple of different varieties.'' Here is a link that might be useful: Grow Italian

I just started trying to grow cima di rapa (broccolli rabe) this year. First result looks good but the patch I used was kind of small. I am growing a 40 day variety which means it will be ready in aout 25 days. I figure this will give me plenty of ways of experimenting over this summer. Cima di Rapa is italian for "turnip top." Hence there similariy in tast with turnip greens. They are much closer related to turnips than broccoli.

thanks! it does look similar to that minus that the stems are not that thick. (as are the ones in the supermarket.) When I was out there watering, I think maybe they are closer to 8-9 inches tall, not 6. It almost looks like a baby version of what you posted. thinner stalks, smaller heads. Should I be worried though that it will flower? The heads seem to just have come out because today is the 1st day I noticed them. where do i cut it? all the way near the ground or do i leave some stalks? Also- I just planted it 28 days ago thinking it will be ready for fall (sept) but it sprouted/grew so quickly...

Dorothy, It sure has been a tough year for the cole crops. Mine haven't done anything to get excited about and I am going to yank the last of them this week. There's always the fall---if it ever rains again down here---and I guess we can fall back on the motto of Oklahoma gardeners everywhere and say "there's always next year". Jammie, I always plant too many broccoli plants and most years that means we have too much, but this year we don't have any. That's the breaks. For fall, what I do or don't plant depends on whether any rain falls here in June or July. The less rain that falls, the less likely I am to plant anything for fall. It pains me to say that, but with zero rainfall so far in the month of June, I am not feeling overly optimistic about the fall garden at this point. My plan at this point is that I'll at least water enough to keep the plants producing that are in the ground now, but the longer the dry period lasts, the smaller my fall garden plans become. I'll plant fall tomatoes, but everything else is up in the air for fall and highly dependent on some moisture falling. It is hard to get the cole crops established at the right time in the summer without quite a lot of water and that has me worried right now because we don't have any water falling from the skies. It might be a moot point anyway. We're seeing a rapid increase in grass fire activity here and if it is a bad summer, my gardening time will be eaten up by fire business. Dawn