Quickly remove them with a strainer, tongs, or a slotted spoon, and dunk the veggies into your ice water bath. Shocking the blanched vegetables in this way is an important step, as it keeps the florets from overcooking. I like to spread the florets out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze them in a single layer first to prevent clumping during storage.
Once the pieces are thoroughly frozen, I transfer them to a tightly sealed freezer-safe bag or airtight container. Thankfully, I married a broccoli lover, so the tradition of broccoli-themed dinners lives on in my home. It can also add a particularly satisfying flavor and crunch to veggie lasagna. You can find an excellent recipe for mushroom and broccoli lasagna on our sister site, Foodal. I especially love making veggie lasagna in the summertime, when I can incorporate fresh garden tomatoes into the mix as well!
Take breakfast to a whole new level with sweet potato and broccoli hash, topped with a fried egg. You can find the recipe for this tasty creation on Foodal as well. This dish offers the perfect combination of savory, sweet, fresh, and rich ingredients. In only 10 minutes, you can have a perfectly delicious side dish ready to accompany just about any meal.
Every time I pile up my plate with a heap of freshly cut broccoli from the garden, I feel an extra sense of pride in knowing that I am carrying on an honored family tradition. What are your tips for picking and storing this vegetable? Do you have experience harvesting and using the leaves or side shoots? Share your suggestions and questions in the comments below! Ready to refine your broccoli-growing expertise even more? Read these helpful articles next:.
See our TOS for more details. Uncredited photos: Shutterstock. With additional writing and editing by Allison Sidhu. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Skip to content. Rosalind broccoli ready to harvest. Rosalind broccoli ready to harvest This head of broccoli, on the other hand, is just starting to loosen up, but still feels tight when squeezed. When to harvest Many people expect large heads of broccoli, like the type sold in supermarkets, when they grow heirloom varieties.
Sprouting broccoli Sprouting broccoli has a different growth habit than its cousin. Side shoots Broccoli is somewhat of a factory plant like kale and collards, which keep producing all season long.
Side shoots form tiny heads of broccoli you can harvest for at least a month. Thank you! Read the information above, Franciele. Broccoli likes cool weather. Conditions in different parts of Massachusetts as anywhere can vary widely. While we do not write seed packet directions, that time range is suggested to give the grower a wide window of opportunity to get seed started.
Ideally, you should have started the seeds six to eight weeks before the first week of May. I have killed indoor plants, so I never thought I would be able to maintain a vegetable garden.
For the past 4 years, with the help of your site, tips and the email sowing reminders, I have a garden and am able to provide fresh, pesticide free vegetables to my family, neighbors and others!
Thank you to the people who maintain this site. This year we add broccoli! I live in Amarillo texas. We have had some warmer weather this winter and was wondering when the best time to plant would be. Our days are ranging around f and the nights are still in the low 30s with a couple of 20s coming up. Should i wait about 1 more month to sow outdoors? I've been using a technique that most of the time produces a second head after a light harvest of the florets that come after the first head is harvested.
By then the plant is large and is often infested with aphids or shows some signs of stress. It might work for plants that only produce a button head as well. Simply cut the plant back to the point on the stem where there are two good leaves remaining at the base.
Yes, that means that most of the plant will be taken off, leaving only a sad looking stump and a couple of leaves. Side dress with well rotted compost and work that into the top couple of inches of soil. Water it in and just keep the soil moist. I use a 4 inch wood chip mulch to keep it moist and the soil cool. Within a few weeks a leaf bud followed by a new stalk will appear in the crotch of one or both remaining leaves.
If there are two, select the most vigorous and clip the other one. That sprouting stalk will thicken up and will produce a new head in 4 to 6 weeks. Because it is growing as an offshoot it may need staking to keep it off the ground. I have gotten 6 inch heads that are ready to harvest in early fall by doing this and it lets me skip replanting seedlings in the heat of summer.
I live in a zone 4; central Canada. I'm a new gardener. Most of my brocolli plants are doing well but one plant has a floret that has more yellow in it with brown flecks The floret is firm and it looked like this since it was a bud. I wish I can attach a picture. Is this floret diseased? Should I just toss it in our compost bin? Yes, cut it off and throw it in the compost heap. It sounds past its prime and on its way to making seed. Until the broccoli head is harvested, do not remove the leaves because this is the way the broccoli feeds itself and grows.
If you like eating the leaves which are fully edible , harvest once the main head is gone. I planted broccoli and it did grow. Got a head and then some side ones grew but not to big at all. Now I have flowers growing on top. What do I do? Pull out the whole plants or do I just cut them down? Skip to main content. For tips from our Horticultural reviewer on how to pick broccoli throughout the growing season, read on!
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Things You'll Need. Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. Mark your calendar. Schedule an approximate picking time months in advance so you get the most out of your broccoli plant.
If you live in a colder climate, plant your broccoli in the spring so you can pick in the early to late summertime. In warmer climates, you have more freedom and can harvest into autumn.
Broccoli is a cool-season crop that harvests best in most climates during the spring or fall. Remember this in advance so you can pick during an optimum season. Pick when it is coolest outside. In the morning, your broccoli will be least exposed to sunlight and fresher from a night of rest. In the evening, your broccoli plant will be least wilted from the sun's heat. Either times are the best option to pick, as the middle of the day is when your plant will have least moisture.
For best taste, pick strictly in the morning before the soil heats up. If you live in a colder or less sunny climate, you can pick in the middle of the day without major concerns. Just take care to pick when your broccoli is not wilted. Measure central head growth.
Head growth is the surest sign that your broccoli is ready to pick. The head should be firm and tight, and it should grow to around 4 to 8 inches 10 to 20 cm. Any larger than 8 inches 20 cm , and you risk waiting until your plant is overripe. Your central head will cease to grow when it is ready.
If you have not noticed head growth in more than 4 to 6 days, your plant is ready to pick. Monitor floret and leaf growth. Floret or flower size is another reliable indicator that your harvest is ready. When florets at the outside edge of the broccoli head is around the size of a toothpick, your broccoli is ready for picking.
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