Secrets Of Harvesting Broccoli
Harvesting broccoli doesn't seem to be a subject that should take up a lot of space. After all, all one has to do is to wait until the heads appear, cut them off, and that's that. There's actually more to it than just cutting off the head, or the florets if you will.
If that's the extent of your broccoli harvest, you've only harvested about half the edible vegetation that a single plant can produce. When you harvest a carrot, beet, or onion, or for that matter, a head of cabbage, to which the broccoli is related, that's it. The remainder of the plant goes in the compost where it will be put to use in next year's garden.
The Plant That Keeps Giving - Harvesting broccoli on the other hand is like harvesting lettuce, spinach, or tomatoes. Once you've picked the fruit, or the leaves, more will appear later, and you don't have to harvest all of the leaves or all of the fruit at once. When you cut off the head of a broccoli plant, what you've done is taken about half the amount of edible vegetation that plant is capable of producing. In other words, after the head is removed, more heads will form, on side shoots. They will be smaller, but they will be every bit as tasty and nutritious. A broccoli plant is capable of producing edible heads for up to six weeks after the initial head has been removed. The total weight of all of the follow-on heads will approximately equal the weight of the original head, although there's no rule stating they can't weigh more.
Don't Procrastinate - So that's the first lesson. The second lesson for harvesting broccoli is, don't let the heads go too long. A head of broccoli is made up of a large number of florets, flower buds if you want to think of them that way. At harvest time the florets should still be immature, that is they should be tightly closed, and packed closely together. Once they start to spread apart, or come into bloom, it's too late. Should that happen, your harvest will consist of broccoli that, while still edible, is apt to be bitter to the taste.
Cut Back To Maintain Production - The third lesson has to do with the smaller, tender heads that are produced after the main head has been harvested. These also need to be cut off before they begin to spread and blossom. If you don't want to harvest them quite yet, but want to harvest some heads later, you'll still need to cut them off. Once a broccoli head has succeeded in reaching maturity, the plant will stop producing. After all, that's why the heads form in the first place. The broccoli plant tries to blossom and set seeds, and once that's happened, its work is done. If you prevent that from happening, the plant will continue to produce new heads, for a few weeks at least. Then it will eventually surrender.
Sharp Knife, Morning - Yields Success - If you're intending to continue to harvest heads from the plant after the initial head has been removed, it's important to use a sharp knife, so as to make a clean cut and not unnecessarily damage the plant. The head should be cut of a ways down the stalk where leaves have formed. This will encourage new heads to sprout. It is also recommended that when harvesting broccoli it be done early in the morning. This not only gives one a seemingly fresher head of florets, but also causes less stress on the plant, than a mid or late afternoon harvest would.
Once you've harvested broccoli, whether it's the main head or the tender heads that follow, the adventure has only begun. There are many ways in which broccoli can be prepared. It can be eaten raw, steamed, stir fried, baked, made into soup - you name it.