Broccoli harvest help please

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
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p.penn
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Broccoli harvest help please

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My veg growing days are more or less over, but these broccoli plants miraculously survived the winter and have produced broccles ( {rofwl} ) and I am not sure if they are ready, where exactly to cut for eating and whether they will be in broccle again this year (or next).

Help please!

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Helen xx

3 children, 3 grandchildren, 3 chooks, 3 fish, a shrimp that thinks its a prawn and a dappy dog.
http://www.acountrygrandma.blogspot.com
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lancashire lass
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Re: Broccoli harvest help please

Post by lancashire lass »

Keep a very close eye on them but I'd say leave just a little longer until the flower buds look a little more swelled up (but not to the stage they open to yellow blossom - however, even if some do, I didn't mind them in cooking and tasted just as nice)

To harvest, just cut the flower stems and they will produce another crop of broccoli albeit much smaller sprouts. In theory you could possibly keep going for a while but how much you want to spend trimming little sprouts off will be up to you. As for how long, that's a good question - usually they are pulled up after the end of the sprouting season.
Freeranger
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Re: Broccoli harvest help please

Post by Freeranger »

If you want effort-free veg growing, you could always let one go to (self)seed, as I'd imagine the original plant will produce progressively fewer and punier broccles.
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p.penn
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Re: Broccoli harvest help please

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Thank you. Oddly this plant was from last year. My whole brassica crop got decimated by caterpillars, and this is what was left. I had no energy to clear my patch in Autumn or Spring, and have to say was pretty amazed to see them like this yesterday!

Must say that I did chop a couple of small bits off to test last eve, and very nice they were too!! I cooked them in the microwave in a spoon of water for a couple of mins and was amazed how green the water was afterwards!!! Possibly as it was so fresh?
Helen xx

3 children, 3 grandchildren, 3 chooks, 3 fish, a shrimp that thinks its a prawn and a dappy dog.
http://www.acountrygrandma.blogspot.com
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lancashire lass
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Re: Broccoli harvest help please

Post by lancashire lass »

p.penn wrote:Oddly this plant was from last year. My whole brassica crop got decimated by caterpillars, and this is what was left.


Broccoli (rather than calabrese) is usually a biennial crop (sow in year one, overwinter and crop in spring the following year) )t'
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p.penn
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Re: Broccoli harvest help please

Post by p.penn »

What a result!! Must admit the only things that are going to be grown this year are spring onions! If I get round to planting them that is!
Helen xx

3 children, 3 grandchildren, 3 chooks, 3 fish, a shrimp that thinks its a prawn and a dappy dog.
http://www.acountrygrandma.blogspot.com
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