Clearwater Middle School’s square-foot garden has produced some pretty good crops this year. I got first prize for beans and third prize for my thyme and parsley. One of the vegetables I have grown is broccoli. It grew big heads way before the Exhibition so I could not enter it.Broccoli belongs to the mustard family and grows to about 24 inches in height. It grows well during the months of August-April.One seedling is required per one square foot to plant. Broccoli can also be transplanted and requires a lot of sun. It also needs to be fed regularly with nutrients. It takes four months to grow before it can be harvested.Broccoli has been grown by people since the time of the Roman Empire; that is, a few hundred years before Christ. It became popular when it was introduced by the Italians to the United States in the early 20th century. Broccoli is highly packed with vitamins A, B, B2, B5, B6, & B9. It also contains minerals such as calcium and iron. Broccoli also has cancer-fighting chemicals.We, as humans, have friends and enemies, so does broccoli. Broccoli’s friends are beet, bush bean, celery, cucumber, carrot, herbs, kale, lettuce, onion, potato, spinach, and tomato. The enemies are pole bean and strawberry.We have had three harvests from our broccoli plant! You can cut the first head when it is about 4-7 inches wide. Don’t throw away the plant; you can get more plants from side shoots. Cut them off when they are ready. Eat broccoli for good health!