I might be the dumbest first time gardener ever. Wanted and planted broccoli -> completely misread the flowering schedule and when to harvest -> it has now bolted and I realized we probably won’t get anything out of these until next season?
by slimthickergo
15 Comments
Now you have a wonderful butter yellow bouquet to decorate the kitchen with
Definitely nothing good from it now but I don’t think next year either. Not sure what you mean by next season. They aren’t perennials from what I know.
Did you just not ever look at it? Because it takes a while for it to get from “looking like broccoli” to “looking like that”.
The flowers are edible, so you might as well try it like this. Or let it keep going and save the seeds to grow more broccoli next year.
The whole plant is edible, harvest what you can and you might get a side shoot or two. Young leaves are good to eat.
Or you have grown some nice compost. Your choice
You can still eat it like this, it just might be a little more bitter and looks, well, like this.
On the bright side, you just made a lot of bee friends very happy!
Leave the flowers for a bit. Pollinators love them!
I found that with cabbage, broccoli, etc… that using a flat slow soaker hose works great. Keeps mine from bolting too fast
First, you’ll have to plant it again. Second, it’s crowded and that leads to small heads. Third, next time remove the bottom leaves after a month of growth, eat them, and give the plant some fertilizer with a good amount of phosphorus for better head formation.
If you grow them from seed, collect the seeds from the dried flowers. You either have to start them early(mid January)and get a plant into the ground in early March to beat the heat or do the opposite. I start them in June plant them late August and harvest them in October. Less pests , less bolting.
You can put in a fall crop.
Between bolting and cabbage moths, I’ve quit growing cole crops altogether.
The flowers are beautiful and attract pollinators! And you can save the seeds to plant next year. Depending what part of Oregon you’re in, you may be able to plant them in the late summer/early fall and grow them in the winter— that’s really the only way I’ve ever successfully grown broccoli here in coastal California, but I know some parts of Oregon have harsher winters than we do.
h don’t beat yourself up, we’ve all been there. My first year I let a whole row bolt because I was waiting for bigger heads lol. You can still eat the leaves and the stalks, they’re delicious sautéed with garlic.
This will make a great pot of greens!
Leave them for the pollinators, then in late summer / early fall plant more (you can start them indoors earlier and transplant). You’ll have broccoli before frost.