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