This year the broccoli got off to a late start, but they have made up for lost time from the looks of things. My starts didn't grow well and died off within weeks of planting so I ended up planting a flat of broccoli from the local nursery. They were slow to start growing also and I was afraid that I wouldn't be getting much of a broccoli harvest this year, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
The broccoli bed hasn't gotten much attention in the past few weeks since I have been so busy harvesting the squash, beans and cucumbers. I did notice that they had started to growing their flowering heads but they were small and unripe the last time I got a good look at them so I thought it would be awhile before I could harvest anything. I am glad that I had a chance to check on them today. The heads were huge and a couple of them were on the verge of bolting so I made a beeline for my knife and a bowl and promptly harvested two enormous heads.
I think broccoli stores best frozen so I made short work of one of the heads by chopping it up into manageable florets and blanching it in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Once they were blanched I transferred them to an ice water bath so they would cool quickly.
After they cooled down enough I drained them into the sink and let them drip dry for a few minutes
This year I am only freezing the florets for myself and giving the chickens the scraps of the thick, tough stems. I think I will still have plenty for the freezer despite giving half the head to the chickens. This one broccoli head gave me at least eight servings of broccoli that I will be freezing for later.
They are so fresh and tender when they get frozen this fast. It will add nice variety to my dinners this winter and it will be tastier than anything that I could buy from the store with the bonus of costing me nearly nothing. In a few weeks this harvest will soon be over and my freezer will be fuller with many fine veggies from my front yard.
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