We should probably discuss broccoli. At least where we are at, our harvest has begun and it’s very important to stay on top of this crop!
For those of us that experience a slightly warmer summers, the important thing to know is that broccoli will flower in heat. The maturity of the plant and the head isn’t important, it’s the heat. And, we’ll tell you, it can go to flower fast! Sometimes you only have only a day or two between a head and a flowered plant!
The general goal is to harvest while the head is still tightly packed, at least if you’re going for “commercial” quality. The head will start to get loose when it’s right about to flower and that’s your imminent warning that you need to harvest it immediately. You can still harvest (and even eat/preserve) slightly flowered broccoli and it’ll be just fine. You can also opt to harvest a bit early, too, as head maturity isn’t directly tied to taste.
We generally prefer to grow varieties that produce side shoots. These are smaller broccoli shoots that tend to form on the lower parts of the plant. These are also great for eating and preservation, but you can usually wait a bit longer to harvest them than you do the main head. This really helps us sustain our broccoli harvests through most of the growing season.
One of the things we also do is grow different types of broccoli that have different maturity times, typically early, mid and late season. We generally find late season broccoli to be the most heat tolerant. But, keep in mind that seasonality has a significant play here too. Some seasons, all your broccoli will mature at the same time (regardless of “supposed” maturity time) and other seasons, you’ll get a more staggered harvest like we are this season. It’s kind of luck of the draw how it all plays out.
Also, don’t be worried if some of your broccoli goes to flower. Bees absolutely love brassica flowers and their numerous quantities will bring in those pollinators. We’ll often allow a small portion of our broccoli plants to flower, just to get those pollinators into our gardens. They are like a magnet for those bees!
If you’re looking to preserve your broccoli harvests, our go-to technique is blanch and freeze. (As usual!) We like that this maintains the texture of the broccoli and once it’s steamed or stir fried, it’s practically indistinguishable from fresh broccoli. It’s always a good idea to soak cruciferous vegetables in a light salt brine before preservation, just in case any bugs have taken up residence in those heads.
We’ll be harvesting and preserving broccoli over the next several weeks, as soon as those heads mature. We keep a sharp eye on them as they will flower a lot faster than most people expect. We’ll certainly be using some for fresh eating, but the bulk of our harvests gets put up using our blanch & freeze techniques. In case this preservation technique is new to you, we’ll drop a link down below where you can learn all about it! (And we have a post about it prepped and ready to go, in a day or few!)
