Monday, February 11, 2013

BROCCOLI SUCCESS...(ALMOST!) - 2 November 2012

It won’t be long until we harvest this broccoli!  This is the last of my Yates Broccoli – Shogun to form a nice head.  And I think this is going to be the biggest yet!  I’m so excited! 
 
SIZE
I haven’t bought broccoli all year thanks to the great success I’ve had this year with growing my own.  This one in particular though, is definitely the best – it is huge!  Our raised beds are 1 metre wide and this hangs over the edge.  None of the others have been this big, but have formed excellent heads and we enjoy lots of side shoots from them once we’ve harvested the main head.
GERMINATION & PESTS
And the other brilliant thing is that I’ve had 100% germination from these seeds…no major pest problems either…but you will see there is a sprinkle of derris dust on this plant, as I noticed a lingering white butterfly earlier today and I really don’t want a caterpillar infestation.
 EATING BROCCOLI
I have two favourite recipes that I’m contemplating making with this broccoli either:
  1. Esther's Broccoli, Prawn & Blue Cheese Bruschetta (a divine recipe from a dear friend in Italy who passed away suddenly a few months ago)
  2. Broccoli, Pine Nuts and Saffron Orichette (one of my absolute favourtie dishes)
Oh and the taste and texture is utterly amazing!  All home-grown veges taste phenomenal in comparison to store-bought veges, but I really notice a difference between home-grown and store-bought broccoli:
  • the taste is more intense
  • the colour is a brilliant green
  • the texture is much crisper
From now on in, it’s Yates Broccoli – Summer Harvest that we’ll be eating though.  And thanks to succession planting, I won’t ever have to buy broccoli again I hope!

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