My broccoli started forming those beautiful little heads of florets last month.
And now it's already flowering!
But, while it lasted, it tasted soooo good. Almost sweet. I like broccoli, and have always loved store bought broccoli. But now the store bought kind tastes bitter to me.
Mine also had a wonderful blue-green color. In my mind, I imagined that the dark color was due to all the vitamins and nutrients stuffed in every cell.
I think that's why a lot of people grow their own vegetables. Not only for the fresh taste, but for the added nutrients. After all, this broccoli only had to travel from the garden to the kitchen. It never spent a second on a truck. It never waited in the grocery store. It was never stored in the refrigerator. Instead, it was eaten fresh, with pride and appreciation.
Thanks, broccoli! You didn't last long, but you were yummy while you lasted!
I'm joining The Gardening Blog for Garden Bloggers Harvest Day.
Hello There, Since I've been away from blogging for a week, I have alot of catching up to do. We had a wonderful trip to Arkansas --but it's great to visit with my blog friends. Hope things are going well with you.
ReplyDeleteYour broccoli looks GREAT.. Bet you plant more of it next year!!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
It's a busy time of year! Glad you had a wonderful trip to Arkansas. I bet it was beautiful there. Yes, I want to be sure to grow broccoli, spinach, and lettuces next fall!
DeleteI have never grown broccoli, but I love to eat it. Maybe I'll give it a try
ReplyDeleteOnce you try home grown broccoli, you'll be spoiled to its taste! I hope you do give it a try.
DeleteHi Holley, I had a similar experience eating broccoli that my friend grew in her garden. It was almost sweet and nutty and tasted quite different from the store bought ones. Super delicious. I guess, growing your own vegetables is hard to beat :-)!
ReplyDeleteChristina
Yes! That's exactly right - sweet and nutty tasting! Very different flavor from the store bought. It's amazing to me how freshly grown veggies taste so different than what is offered in the stores.
DeleteI don't grow any veggies of I'm envious of your long growing season. The broccoli looks so fresh!
ReplyDeleteI don't grow a lot - they're something I'm still learning, but the payoff is fabulous!
DeleteI wish someone would invent every growing veggies.. half my problem is that they are available for such a short amount of time in such large quantities... feast for famine.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, and if you can't can it, there does seem to be a lot of waste. I'm learning to plant fewer plants and enjoy smaller quantities.
DeleteGosh I'm jealous! I can't even begin to think about growing veggies in February and March. It will be May before I get mine in. You're getting me excited about planting, though!
ReplyDeleteIn May it will be too hot here for anything to make! Then I'll be jealous of your harvests! :)
DeleteYour broccoli is ahead of mine. I planted 18 plants and my husband said that was 17 too many. I love broccoli.
ReplyDeleteNot too many at all. You can always freeze the extra!
DeleteI find the same - you need to pick it quickly to get the full yummy flavour before they flower - and before the aphids hit it. Now I have such respect for this vegetable when I see it in the grocery store - how long it takes to grow and how quick it is to eat! Enjoy all its goodness!! Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how fast it started flowering! I'm still learning!
DeleteWe just keep picking ours to stop them flowering. You don't get more big heads, just lots of smaller shoots, but they taste the same. You can keep them going for months if you pick every day. But once you let them flower, they're done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pointer. I'll remember that, as I hated for them to start flowering so soon. Next year you can bet I'll be out there every day!
DeleteLooks delicious! I've never tried growing my own brocolli. I've been amazed at how fast things 'bolt' here in Texas - cilantro and parsley come to mind...
ReplyDeleteYes, things do bolt fast here. :( It seems it's either too cold (freezing) or too hot!
DeleteHome grown veggies almost always tastes sweeter and much better! A great incentive to growing your own :)
ReplyDeleteSo very true! It's amazing the difference in taste!
DeleteThat broccoli does look delicious. By the way there's a weekly harvest meme at Daphne's Dandelions http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/. Have you posted there before?
ReplyDeleteI think I posted once there. I'm not a very good vegetable gardener, so I don't have much to contribute in one week's time! I'm learning, though! Daphne is amazing! She grows so much, it really boggles my mind!
DeleteI tried growing broccoli once and found it went to seed too soon...it tastes so incredibly sweet ...hard to go back to store bought.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I'm going to have to wait a while before I buy broccoli again- just so I can forget how fabulous fresh grown tasted!
DeleteI'm always jealous of people who can grow veggies as I just never have any luck it seems with them. My grandfather had a massive garden for as long as I can remember and we always had fresh veggies from his garden. His specialty was maters though and at one time grew over 300 of them, the paper came out to do an article about it and got his picture in the paper. He's gone now and I wish I got his talent for growing them but I can grow flowers and herbs so all isn't lost I guess! I love broccoli though and I bet yours tasted yummy!!
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was a farmer, too - watermelons were his specialty! Loved hearing about your grandfather. They had a lifetime of working in the fields, learning. I'm slowly learning about vegetables. To me they're harder than ornamentals because they only last a short while, and the timing is so important.
DeleteIf it was me, I'd rather prefer to spend some time on a truck and sit and wait on a grocery's store before being eaten but in the case of broccoli a quick death could be ok. I love small and fresh broccoli like yours, I cook them with pasta: you put the broccoli on the same boiling water with pasta, about 3 minutes before the pasta is ready. Then you drain all together and pour it on a large pan with some oil, bacon (pancetta), crushed garlic and a pinch of chili (you heat them a little, before). Simple but the most delicious dish of pasta you can have. Try it!
ReplyDeletehaha - I hadn't thought about the broccoli's point of view! Your recipe sounds wonderful - you can bet I'll be trying it!
DeleteI never even got as far as eating my broccoli. That photo shows the broccoli in my dreams.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it was going to do anything. Just sat there all winter. Finally, I guess it got warm enough for it to start making. As soon as it started doing well, it started bolting. :( But, it was good while it lasted! Good luck on your broccoli in the future.
DeleteI grew broccoli once. It really was a race against time to harvest them before they burst into flower though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I thought maybe it was because it was so warm here, but I guess that's just what broccoli does!
DeleteThat is the best part of growing food in the garden--from the dirt to the table in minutes!
ReplyDeleteSo true! Yum, yum, yum!
DeleteHi Holley, do you happen to know the name of the broccoli ciltivar? One year we bought some young plants from Lowe's and they were a dark blue-green too. *The best broccoli ever*. We haven't grown another broccoli that I liked as well as that one.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry - I don't know, and I'm not sure where I bought this, either. I'll make a mental note, though, to try to look for blue-green broccoli from now on!
DeleteMy broccoli just started producing flowers, too! I quickly picked all the florets and didn't mind if a few flower buds made it into the pot. They taste good, too! After picking all the remaining broccoli, I cut the plants back severely. I am hoping I may get some more out of it, if the weather doesn't warm up too quickly.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about cutting it back. I think the weather here is consistently too warm (high 70's). But, I'll try to cut it more often next year and I'll be watching for it to start flowering. This was the first year for me to grow broccoli, so I'm just happy I got to eat some!
DeleteFresh is by far the best, no matter how much it produced. It all depends on the weather. I grew it one year and it kept producing all summer. Last year it would have went to flower so quickly, just like the lettuce did.
ReplyDeleteIt did get hot here very quickly. It must have been wonderful to have had fresh broccoli all summer! I've noticed the few lettuces I have left are also flowering. A new season, and time for new plantings!
DeleteHolley, your broccoli is (was) beautiful, even in flower! I wouldn't have expected the taste of homegrown to be that different with broccoli for some reason--not like tomatoes or sweet corn. I don't have room to grow it, but I'll look for it at the farmer's market when they open!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't expecting such a difference in taste, either. I wonder what other vegetables we like, but would *love* if we could get them fresh!
DeleteThose Broccoli flowers look really pretty. I never saw them before; and seeing it first time in your blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bees are loving them!
DeleteMy broccoli often does that. But I quite like it when it produces a lot of little heads, it means you can just snip them straight off the plant and you don't need to chop it when you get back in the kitchen! Nothing beats freshly grown broccoli :)
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing to me how different the taste of home grown anything is compared to store bought!
Delete:) I'll definitely be planting them again next year! Just maybe more!
ReplyDelete