Italian Variety
Green Macerata Cauliflower is an Italian heirloom with striking bright apple-green heads that typically weigh around 2 pounds. Ready to harvest in just 60 to 70 days, this vigorous variety is equally at home in a raw salad or on the dinner table after cooking. The plants are fairly early and reliable, thriving in full sun with moderate water and soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
Full Sun
Moderate
2-11
?in H x ?in W
Perennial
Low
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This Italian heirloom rewards you with beautiful apple-green heads that are rare enough to turn heads at the farmers market but straightforward enough for any gardener to grow. The 60 to 70 day timeline means you can have cauliflower on the table without the long season commitment of many other varieties. Its self-blanching habit, where leaves naturally curl over the developing head, reduces the fussing many gardeners associate with growing cauliflower.
Green Macerata excels both in the kitchen and on the plate. Its delicious flavor and tender texture make it superb eaten raw in salads, where its bright green color adds visual appeal, or cooked in any dish where you'd use traditional white cauliflower. The relatively small 2-pound heads are sized perfectly for smaller households or when you want fresh cauliflower without overwhelming amounts of harvest at once.
Start seeds indoors in a warm location with temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds should sprout within 7 to 10 days. Time your indoor seeding so transplants are ready to move outdoors after the frost danger has passed and soil temperatures are stable.
Harden off seedlings gradually over a week before transplanting. Plant outdoors when soil is workable and frost danger has passed. Space plants 18 inches apart in full sun.
Direct sowing is not recommended for this variety; indoor seed starting produces more reliable results.
Harvest Green Macerata heads when they reach full size and the curds are tight and compact, typically 60 to 70 days after transplanting. Cut the main head at the base with a sharp knife when it reaches about 2 pounds. Check your plants regularly during the harvest window, as cauliflower quality is best when heads are harvested at their prime, before they begin to separate or flower.
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“Green Macerata traces its roots to the Macerata region of Italy, where this distinctive green cauliflower has been grown and refined by Italian gardeners for generations. Like many Italian heirlooms, it survived because families and small farmers valued it enough to save seed year after year, passing it down through generations who understood its culinary merit and reliable performance. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds preserved and introduced this variety to North American gardeners, ensuring this piece of Italian vegetable heritage remains available to anyone willing to grow it.”