There’s nothing tougher for a gardener than trying to enjoy a vacation while worrying about their garden! That was the case for me: we took a lovely trip to the Provence region of France. It was wonderful but I was also wondering about my broccoli plants. And more specifically, I knew it would be time to harvest broccoli. (yeah, I know: that’s just plain silly)
I did my best to put it out of my mind but as soon as we got back home, I headed out to check on them. Fortunately, they were in pretty decent shape but definitely needed to be harvested. And that’s what prompted me to shoot this video. Why?
- I know there are a lot of brand-new gardeners out there who are wondering when to harvest broccoli
- There are probably also folks who are growing broccoli for the first time this year
Those were two good reasons to share what I’ve learned over the years. As you watch this week’s video, you will see that the heads from our ‘Belstar’ broccoli plants aren’t perfect. But it was completely out of my control. Fortunately, the heads were still in good shape.
Harvesting vegetable crops at the right time is important. That’s because the veggies will taste their best. But it’s a learned skill and I always enjoy sharing my best tips.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this week’s video:
- What to look for when you want to harvest broccoli
- Where to make the cut
- Why you should let the plants keep growing after the harvest (spoiler alert: they’ll produce more for you!)
- How to tidy up the plants so they’ll continue growing well
- A helpful tip about adding the leaves from any cabbage-family crops to your compost pile
I also want to reiterate that ‘Belstar’ is my favorite broccoli variety. This is the 3rd year I’ve grown it and am so impressed with the high yields and delicious flavor.
Bill and I like to eat the broccoli fresh, add it into various dishes, and freeze the remainder for later. It’s so nice to have some veggies in our freezer again since we’ve just about finished everything from last year!
Here is my “Harvest Broccoli at the Right Time” video:
I hope you enjoyed the video and picked up some helpful tips. Did you know I have over 620 gardening videos on my YouTube channel? They are designed to help you be successful at gardening! My videos come out every Thursday. I even have a Vegetable Gardening playlist, so you can pick and choose what you’d like to watch.