Trim these at an angle, too, using either your knife or a pair of sharp clippers. More, smaller side shoots will grow over the next 2 to 4 weeks. Collect your broccoli harvest. Bring a bucket, basket, or bowl to collect your broccoli in after you have picked it. This will help keep your picking organized and allow easy storage later on. Throw away any any broccoli that has gone bad. Broccoli heads that smell pungent, is a vivid yellow color, or feels limp to the touch may have rotted before picking.
Part 3. Don't harvest your entire broccoli plant at once. If you harvest all the heads and pull your plant at the same day, you will not get the most out of your plant. If you cut at an angle, your plant will grow more side shoots within a few days. Because fresh broccoli needs to be eaten within a small window, you may want to harvest over the course of a week rather than all at once. Preferably, plan on harvesting before your plant shows yellow streaks.
If it already has, harvest as much as you can immediately but check the stalks in several days for more shoots. Picking over several days can seem inconvenient, but you are less likely to waste your harvest. Re-pick several days to a week later. Two to 4 days later, you may notice 1 or 2 smaller heads growing where you cut the first heads.
If you do not see any additional shoots, the first harvest may have caused too much damage to the plant. After a week of no shoot growth, pull the plant and compost it.
This process should continue over the next few weeks, with the heads becoming smaller and smaller each time, until the end of broccoli harvesting season for your climate. Store your broccoli indoors. Wash and dry your broccoli before storing to remove any dirt or potential insects. Store your broccoli in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Blanch or freeze your broccoli if you plan to use it later, as it will wilt after a week.
Because your refrigerator is dry, put your broccoli in a perforated plastic bag in your crisper. Frozen broccoli can be stored in your freezer for up to a year. If you had a heavy broccoli harvest and cannot use all your broccoli in a weak, freezing is your best option for long-term usage. Pull your broccoli plant and put it in the compost. After the first frosts in your area occur, pull your broccoli plant before it begins to rot.
Make sure you pull the broccoli plant from the roots to ensure it has been fully removed. If you have created a compost pile , you can add the broccoli plant to the pile with other carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials such as leaves, egg shells, coffee grounds, and grass clippings. You can then mix or layer it into your garden when planting later for richer soil. Did you know you can get expert answers for this article?
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Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. The plant is overly ripe. In the store, that indicates the plant heads are old. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 1. My broccoli head are being attacked by those green worms, thus shrinking in size. Is it too late to cut the head off, clean it really well, and cook it, or have those worms affected or infected the plant such that it is not safe to eat? Those worms are insect larvae. Broccoli and cauliflower should be grown with mesh cloth covering the plants.
That prevents the adults from dropping their eggs onto the plants. You could try a sharp spray of water from the hose to knock them off. No, they do not infect the plant. Cut off the crowns and leave the stalks for a week to see if new side shoots appear. If they haven't started in a calendar week, pull the plant.
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Choose a variety of broccoli based on your local climate for best harvesting conditions. Cruiser broccoli is harvested 58 days after planting and is best for dry conditions. Green Comet is a variety of broccoli that is harvested 55 days after planting and is tolerant of heat. In mild attacks, or if you have only a few plants, you may be able to pick the caterpillars off.
Insect-proof mesh or fine netting mm mesh can prevent egg-laying. Roots become swollen and distorted, and leaves become pale and yellow and wilt easily. Plants may die. White larvae approximately 5cm 2in long, feed on the roots just below the soil surface, stunting growth and causing plants to wilt and die. Regular sowings of broccoli can provide crops from late winter through to autumn, depending on sowing time and variety. Plants generally take two or three months to start cropping, then provide pickings for about a month.
Broccoli is ready to harvest when the heads or spears are well formed but still in bud, before individual flowers begin to open. Cut the central spear first. This is followed by a series of smaller spears on the sideshoots, which can be picked regularly over four to six weeks.
This recipe for purple sprouting broccoli with anchovy dressing is perfect to serve as a main meal or as a side vegetable dish, and can be eaten all year round.
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Buy tickets. RHS members get reduced ticket prices Join now. Harlow Carr North Yorkshire. Hyde Hall Essex. Rosemoor Devon. If your plants stay healthy and happy after the main harvest, new side shoots will continue to grow throughout the season. If, like me, you have grown more than you can possibly eat yourself in 5 days and need a longer-term solution, the best way to store your crop is to freeze it. Start by washing or soaking the heads in cool water for a minute or two, to remove dirt and any hidden insects, then rinse and drain.
Separate the florets into chunks, sized depending on your preference. I generally aim for 1 to 2-inch pieces. Cut off the tough bottom inch or so of the stem and add it to your compost. The rest of the stem can be chopped into small pieces to blanch with the florets. Prepare an ice bath, with enough ice and cold water filling a large bowl or basin to submerge the broccoli in after blanching.
Toss the cut pieces into a pot of rapidly boiling water to blanch them, and let them boil for one minute. 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?
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