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    Home » Home and Garden

    Easy Tips for Growing and Cooking Broccoli

    Published: Aug 25, 2015 · Modified: Apr 11, 2021 by Lois · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

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    Growing Broccoli - easy tips to use for your own garden. As well as a few recipes and tips on how to cook and enjoy this versatile vegetable. Gardening is one of the few hobbies I enjoy outside of my blog. I'm happy that my husband loves to work with me and together we grow a variety of vegetables and flowers every year.

    Stalk of broccoli from the WOS Garden ready to be harvested.

    Today I'm sharing with you today a few more photos of our garden along with tips for growing broccoli in your garden. We enjoyed our very first home-grown broccoli for dinner last night and it was delicious just steamed with a little butter.

    Broccoli is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is a good source of Vitamin A, potassium, folic acid, iron, and fiber. Because of this, broccoli has been dubbed the “crown jewel of nutrition.”

    A few of my family's favorite broccoli recipes are:

    • Copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup
    • Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
    • Scrambled Egg Muffins with Broccoli - freezing tips included!

    When to Plant Broccoli

    • Broccoli is not very hard to grow at all.
    • You can either start the seeds indoors or you can plant the seeds directly into the ground in your garden, which is what we did.
    • Broccoli can tolerate light frost, so you don't have to wait too long to start planting. 
    • You can plant broccoli in the early spring for a first harvest and then again in the late summer for a harvest in the fall. 

    How far to Space Plants

    • Make sure you space the seeds/plants at least 18 inches apart. 
    • The plant grows very large and you do not want to overcrowd them.
    bowl of fresh cut broccoli.

    How Much Should you Water and Fertilize

    • Broccoli grows very fast so you will need to fertilize the young plants.
    • Also, make sure you keep the soil moist. 
    • Give the broccoli plants at least an inch of water every week. 
    • Try to water the plants deeply at the root and not just sprinkle them.

    How to Harvest Broccoli

    • This was the first one we harvested just the other day.  
    • We heard from quite a few people to soak the broccoli heads in water before bringing them into the house just in case there were worms inside. 
    • We did that and I'm happy to report, no worms at all.  

    We didn't even see worms when we harvested the broccoli, but we weren't taking any chances, so we soaked the heads in a bucket of water.

    Stalk of broccoli growing in the garden.

    Our harvest from the other day.  Broccoli, tomatoes, green peppers and sugar snap peas.

    Basket of Broccoli, tomatoes and peppers from the WOS Garden

    How to Cook Broccoli

    The fifth and final tip for growing broccoli is an easy recipe for how to prepare it once you harvest. 

    • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 
    • Add the broccoli to the boiling water and allow to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. It will only take a few minutes for the stalks to become tender.
    Broccoli in steamer.
    • Drain the broccoli in a colander in the sink.
    • Place the pot back on the stove top and over a medium flame, melt a tablespoon or two of butter. 
    • Once the butter is melted, turn off the flame. 
    • Add the broccoli back to the pan and season with salt and pepper. 
    • Keep covered until ready to serve. 
    Very first broccoli from the garden this year. Amazingly delicious.

    More Garden Vegetables and Flowers

    Eggplant

    Growing broccoli is not the only vegetable we grow in our garden. Here's a photo of a new vegetable we're trying out this year. I can't tell you how amazing eggplant fresh from the garden tastes!

    Sunflowers

    My sunflowers are doing amazing this year.

    Zinnias

    I love how beautiful the zinnias look in the garden this year. Just plant the seeds and watch them grow.  They make beautiful arrangements to bring in to the house also.

    More Beautiful Gardening Tips and Ideas: 

    This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

    • How to Grow Hostas
    • Tips on Growing Tomatoes
    • Mistakes to Avoid when Growing Tomatoes in Containers
    • Tips on Growing Sunflowers in  your Garden
    • Outdoor Gardening Inspiration

    All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less SpaceMore InformationFloret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal BloomsMore InformationBackyard Harvest: A year-round guide to growing fruit and vegetablesMore InformationAmerica's Test Kitchen Best Vegetable Recipes: 33 Recipes from Artichokes to ZucchiniMore InformationBroccoli Growing: Planting, Growing, HarvestingMore Information

    Tips on growing broccoli in your backyard vegetable garden.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marie says

      May 12, 2019 at 10:40 am

      Thank you for sharing your very helpful tips on growing broccoli at the Talk Of The Town Party! I've never had success growing it here in the Canadian prairies but I know others that have. I'll be referring to this post to try another attempt. Pinned 🙂

      Reply
    2. Donna Reidland says

      May 10, 2019 at 3:20 pm

      I'll have to share this with my mom. She is the vegetable grower in the family. But I love your zinnias. They are my new favorite flower. I love that they stay colorful for so long. Here in the Southwest well into fall.

      Reply
      • Lois says

        May 10, 2019 at 3:25 pm

        Zinnias are my favorite flower to grow. They just keep coming back even after you cut them to use in mason jars! Thanks for visiting!

        Reply

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