I thought I'd pop in to show off my bigga broccoli! And what's great is there are three more heads that are ready to be cut. This head of broccoli measured 8" at its widest part! So guess what we are going to be eating? Broccoli salad and stir fry with broccoli. Homegrown broccoli is so tender and mild. We really love it. After I cut these large heads, the plants will produce more side shoots. They are small and usually develop continuously through the summer.
Another thing I'm growing this year is Kohlrabi. It belongs to the same family as broccoli and cabbage -- cruciferous. My dad always grows it and his parents and grandparents grew it too. It's nicknamed German turnip, and now I know why my German ancestors grew it and loved it. My dad likes it best raw. You peel the kohlrabi and slice it into disks and then sprinkle it with salt. It goes great with cold beer! There are lots of recipes for kohlrabi out on the web, but I'm going to do it simply -- sautéed in olive oil and butter with a little chopped garlic, salt and pepper -- just like I would cook cabbage. Not only is kohlrabi delicious, it's also very good for you. It's nutrient dense with lots of vitamins and minerals. Check it out here: 10 Surprising Benefits of Kohlrabi. Another great thing about kohlrabi is that it's very easy to grow. It does like cooler weather so it's best to grow it in early spring or in the fall, or if you live in the south, perhaps you can grow it as a winter crop! I'll probably plant some more seeds now for a fall crop.My lettuces are still doing great and I've planted them at various times so that there are lettuces that are ready to pick now and others will be ready for picking a little later. We love garden lettuce, so I keep planting a little bit here and there all summer. That way we are never out of fresh lettuce.
As I mentioned before, the tomato plants continue to curl and look terrible -- all except 2 plants in the fenced garden and two plants that I put down in the lower bank garden. The garlic and onions are ok, but not looking as good as I'd like them too. They simply need far more sun than they are getting and I think that's part of the tomato issue too. The row of flowers I planted are doing terrific and will start blooming very soon. There are zinnias, cosmos, bells of Ireland, and marigolds.
The squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and potatoes are going gangbusters in the bank garden and the cucumbers are blossoming. I just love gardening.
How does your garden grow this year?
Thanks for stopping by!
Hooray for your bounty, Jody! The sunshine here has made the seeds turn into hearty plants! Yay!
ReplyDeleteI hope the tomatoes decide to come around.
Happy fresh eating! (BIG HUG!)
We're blessed with sunshine, and now a little rain too!
DeleteI only tried growing Broccoli once. It was so full of bugs that even after I soaked it in salt water there were still lots more.
ReplyDeleteTomatoes are disappointing this year.
I remember eating raw Kohlrabi as a child.
My first round of broccoli last year was buggy, but this year it's not. I haven't even seen a cabbage moth. Glad to know I'm not alone eating kohlrabi!
DeleteDelicious! I have never seen a broccoli fresh from the garden that big. I have never tried kohlrabi, but will now thanks to your guidance. My garden is abysmal. Things didn't germinated and what did the deer ate. Thank goodness for volunteer tomatoes or I would have none this year.
ReplyDeleteI planted broccoli last year (seedlings from Running's) and they did so well that I planted them again this year. I found that everything I tried to plant early, didn't germinate. Most things that I planted later did ok.
DeleteThe first time my daughter had a little vegetable plot of her own, she grew kohlrabi, and we have a lovely photo of her holding up a good-sized specimen after pulling it from the ground. She is the daughter who reads your blog; I wonder if she will read this. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are having fun trying new vegetables in the garden! That broccoli is gorgeous! I walked around my garden for a while today and noticed thin little green beans hanging down - maybe in a few days they will be big enough to pick, and I'll be in heaven with eating them!
Cool story about your daughter and the kohlrabi! I hope she's reading. I love green beans from the garden. A few bean plants made it in my garden, but not as many as I wished. Oh well. Eat beans for me!
ReplyDeleteThat's some gorgeous broccoli! We really struggle to grow it here -- so many bugs, and it gets eaten alive before we can harvest it. I'm beginning to dig up a few carrots but they need longer. Onions are good, sunflowers are getting tall, basil is fabulous. Beans and pepper plants are still coming along.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm reading...Gretchen's daughter who reads this wonderful blog! It is always inspiring and comforting. I remember that when I grew the kohlrabi way back then, my mother sauteed it with butter, and it was delicious. My garden this year is all herbs and flowers. But it is doing really well! Japanese beetles and rabbits take some nibbles, but aren't spoiling anything entirely. My first year growing dahlias, and they are huge!
ReplyDelete