| I have a vegetable garden for the first time. Broccoli is coming in great,when should I remove heads and does each plant produce another head or do es plant produce heads in other locations on the plant? |
| For best flavor, harvest broccoli heads while the buds are just starting to swell but before the yellow petals start to show. Keep an eye on the head, for when it begins to spread open, the individual buds will start to flower. Harvest the central head by cutting the stalk at a slant, about 5 to 8 inches below the head. This encourages side-shoot production for continued harvests. After you've cut the broccoli from the plant you can leave the stalk growing in the garden. New side-shoots will develop below the cut and you'll get an extra bonus of two or more smaller broccoli 'heads'. These really won't be as large as the first broccoli you harvested, but they'll help you prolong the season and get the very last morsel of your wonderful homegrown broccoli. |
