Greetings, friends.
Today I want to tell you about broccoli. I do not know what people think about this interesting cabbage in different countries, but in Russia it is usually the subject of ridicule. For some reason, broccoli is a symbol of funny food.
My wife and I have been growing this crop for more than 20 years, but even our neighbors ask every year - what is it that you have grown? People know simple white cabbage and ... That's all, most people don't know any other kind of cabbage.
Broccoli is a type of cabbage from the cruciferous family. The unopened inflorescences, not the leaves, are used for food. The name is of Italian origin: broccoli means "branch, young shoot".
Not only the inflorescences are used for food, but also the legs on which these inflorescences are held. When we cut off the main head, after a while new heads grow in its place, of course, much smaller, but there may be several of them. They need to be cut off in time along with the shoots-legs. The main thing is not to let these legs become stiff, they should be soft and then they will be delicious.
What is the most important thing about growing broccoli? This is not to miss the moment when the inflorescences begin to open. We need to regularly monitor the plant, otherwise we can get a bouquet of small yellow flowers instead of food. For some reason, my wife often forgets to look at the broccoli and harvest if I'm not at home. On Sunday morning, while my family was still asleep, I walked around the garden and realized that it was time to cut off the broccoli heads. This head weighed about 2 kg. It's not the biggest head, but you couldn't keep it on the plant any longer.
We plant these flowers in all the beds with all kinds of cabbage. I may be wrong, but it is believed that these flowers repel the cruciferous flea and cabbage butterfly, which are the main enemy of all cruciferous plants, especially cabbage. In any case, we never treat any pest control products and eat natural, environmentally friendly vegetables.
Garlic. It's time to harvest the fresh crop that was planted last October. The attentive reader will also see the bow. This is also a winter onion. He hasn't grown big this year, although his wife says he's a good size.
Who sees 2 white cauliflower heads? These heads are always denser and have a sharper taste than broccoli.
We cooked one head for breakfast. We make it simple, we boil it for 3 minutes in salted water and sprinkle with cheese. Our daughter turned 18 a week ago and she's been eating broccoli like this since she was a year old. As a child, it was her favorite food. But my mom doesn't eat broccoli. She doesn't eat green beans either, but my wife and I adore her.
I cut 3 heads of broccoli. We dipped 2 heads in boiling water, broke them into separate twigs and packed them in packing bags and put them in the freezer. If the broccoli is left just lying in the room, it can bloom. We also cooked cauliflower
I won't be home until Friday. I have already reminded my wife to look at the remaining broccoli and cauliflower tomorrow. I think it's time to cut them off too. We must not miss the moment of harvest.
Thanks for reading...
Don’t Worry, Be Happy (C) Bobby McFerrin
Text & Photography by 
@apnigrich