The broccoli has started to come in. I harvested 8 heads today and there should be 8-10 more in another few days. My family is divided on broccoli. Some won’t eat it. Some eat it with cheese and some will eat it in any form or fashion. Its for those family members that I grow so much broccoli.
This year I am experimenting with salvaging the stalks and leaves. I’ve peeled the stalks and sliced them, sliced the leaves a bit and cooked them in the same way I cook the heads of the broccoli. It just seemed a shame to take the head and leave all the rest of the plant for the compost pile. I will allow more shoots to form on the stems first and cut them before cutting the whole plant.
I’ve got a tutorial here on the site for freezing broccoli. You can dry it too. Broccoli doesn’t can too well. It gets very strong smelling and tasting and sort of mushy. Its not impossible, just not what I like so I stick with freezing and drying.
If you decide to dry broccoli, chop it into very small tiny pieces and dry on 130*F for 6-10 hours. Its good for adding to soups and casseroles.
Veg Paradise is a site that has a lot of interesting info about broccoli.
Hello and welcome! I'm Sylvia Britton, and I've been online since 1996 offering encouragement and help in the spirit of Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 at Christian Homekeeper. CHK is the original Homekeeping site on the internet
Lisa,
we have lots of critters too, but they don’t seem to bother the broccoli. Maybe they are picky eaters??? lol
Thank you for saying that. I started growing broccoli several years ago and wish I had done so very many years ago!
I love it that you live in a forest preserve! My oldest son and his family live in a state historic area.
Wow–your broccoli looks just beautiful!! Tell me, how do you keep the animals away from it? We live near a forest preserve, and have possums, raccoons, etc. around. I doubt my broccoli would last long enough to harvest 🙂