I have a winter garden, and now planting the summer one. I planted broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and celery in the winter garden. Lettuce and spinach did great. But, those all grew with great appearance, but never produced. The broccoli made small tasty chutes. As did the cauliflower. But, never a head. The carrots grew great stocks, but small carrots that never matured and just hardened. Celery looks beautiful. Full of leaves. But, never made a group. Just spread out and leafy. Stems single and tough. I used worm castings and bone meal. Some of the soil conditioners, also. What am I doing wrong??

Can you post pictures of your garden? Taht can tell a lot. Otherwise, might need to know more about how you are growing- in pots, in ground, raised bed with purchased mix, etc.

Lettuce and spinach, Broccoli and cauli are demanding, need to be well fed, need a lot!! of room for each plant to make those big heads we buy at the market. Celery, also tricky, needs a lot of water, not an easy one at all. But celery leaves are edible. Carrots, IDK. I had luck with mine finally, as a fall crop here, which is a very different climate and soil.
Worm casting, bone meal and soil conditioner may not be enough food for broccoli and cauli.

What about timing?

Many of those plants are difficult to grow... requiring precise timing of seed planting and constant provision of moisture, nutrients, and even potentially shading.

In my area, broccoli seems to produce small heads... Cauliflower? I wouldn't even attempt! To get those white florets, I think they have to tie the leaves over them...
Carrots can be grown here... If we plant them in the sand!

According to the vidalia onion people, the sand allows the sulfur to be washed down through the soil, permitting us to grow a sweeter crop.

I can't tell that you are doing anything wrong... Except trying to grow specialty crops...
I usually try to avoid planting the difficult plants until such time that I'm ready to be challenged.

Again, It could be a simple matter of starting the seed earlier.
And... The need for a sandy soil structure in the case of carrots.

geanine said: I have a winter garden, and now planting the summer one. I planted broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and celery in the winter garden. Lettuce and spinach did great. But, those all grew with great appearance, but never produced. The broccoli made small tasty chutes. As did the cauliflower. But, never a head. The carrots grew great stocks, but small carrots that never matured and just hardened. Celery looks beautiful. Full of leaves. But, never made a group. Just spread out and leafy. Stems single and tough. I used worm castings and bone meal. Some of the soil conditioners, also. What am I doing wrong??

Auburn California is listed as zone nine so should be perfect for winter gardening. Broccoli, Cauliflower and carrots do well in Zone 8 here, but they are cool weather crops. Temps above 90 degrees and the brassicas will not head will not head. Most often, folks crowd the plants , they need space. They are also heavy feeders. I would suggest a more balanced fertilizer. Celery is more difficult so other than a few marginal trials I don't grow it here.

https://gardenerspath.com/plan...

Give it a read, maybe it has at least a partial answer.