Funny Farm February Harvest
02.05.12
Just love this January/February weather. Lots of things are growing well in the garden, so it’s time for me to show off a bit and teach you something about broccoli, too. The Funny Farm is producing like mad. Fresh salads all the time and last night a real treat.
My new Garden Bag
I can’t say enough about this great collapsible, washable bag. It’s Botanica by Picnic Time and is called the Garden Metro Basket. It’s eco friendly and comes with really nice tools. Plus it’s large, not like some of those gardening bags. I won it through Stouffer’s. If you buy certain dinners, you can collect points. DDM loved Stouffer’s so I got lots of points. Thanks Mom for the gift!
Time to harvest the broccoli!
I’ll teach you more about broccoli in a minute, but just because you cut off the main piece, it doesn’t mean the plant is done.
Looking good, just not quite big enough
It’s so rewarding to grow your own vegetables, especially with the price of everything these days.
Cabbage is coming along
Still not big enough to cut, but I need to head to town to get some corned beef to go with it first!
And now for some interesting experimental things I grew this year. Found a plant of each at Northaven Gardens in Dallas and just couldn’t resist these.
Purple Broccoli
Actually, it tastes the same, but isn’t it a gorgeous color? It gets harvested later this week.
Cheddar Cauliflower
It said it was orange, so I was thinking the color of cheddar cheese. It’s lighter than that, but still unique.
Yellow Cauliflower
Just starting to peak out of the leaves. We’ll let it grow a bit longer. Pretty, isn’t it?
Today’s harvest
Regular broccoli, white cauliflower and yellow cauliflower. It’s going to be part of dinner tonight.
Now on to broccoli and harvesting.
Look close
See the main head of broccoli at the top? Now look at that small little broccoli at the base of the plant. It will keep growing even after the main head is cut. Then you have more broccoli!
A better view
After I cut off the main head, you can see lots of little shoots coming up. I count five more. They will keep growing and you can harvest them as they grow. Unlike cauliflower and cabbage which are done once you cut the main plant, broccoli keeps growing! Plus these smaller shoots are packed with even more nutrients. Thanks to my friend Susan Tefft for teaching me this.
So how did a mutli-color dish of vegetables look at the table?
Delicious and colorful roasted fresh veggies!
Tomorrow? I’m going to show you a great recipe for Valentine’s Day!
Spreading laughter throughout the world…one chuckle at a time.
Mikie Baker
www.mikiebaker.com
Tags: Baker, Basket, Beef, Botanica, broccoli, by, cabbage, cauliflower, cheddar, colorful, corned, Farm, February, Funny, garden, gardens, harvest, harvesting, Metro, Mikie, Northaven, Picnic, purple, Roasted, shoots, Stouffer's, The, Time, vegetables, www.mikiebaker.com, yellow
Hey Mikie, That cabbage plant will put off two more heads where you cut off one. Don’t pull it up! My kids loved it when they were growing their kinder-gardens. You just cut the head off at the base, just like the broccoli, and leave the big stuff there. In a few days you’ll notice two little nodules coming up. That’s the new heads. If it stays cool long enough you’ll get a stalk about 2 foot high, with scads of heads coming in. You’ll have to prune some off in order for the others to get big enough to eat. Yep, the things you learn in a garden! Brussell sprouts do the same. Baby cabbages, what would we do without them! I am thinking cauliflower did it, too, but it is harder to find the new growths, as they tend to hide down the stalk farther, under the big leaves.
Have fun over there! Brenda
See, gardners always learn new things. I’ll try experimenting with the cabbage and cauliflower! thanks, Brenda!