Easy Tips for Growing and Cooking Broccoli

Easy tips on growing broccoli in your garden this year and an easy recipe for your family to enjoy broccoli fresh from your garden. 

Do you love fresh broccoli? Growing up broccoli was one vegetable I never, ever ate.  I wouldn’t even touch it.  My mother even knew not to ask if I wanted any.  I just never cared for the taste.

Well, that’s not the case anymore! Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables.  We have it a few times a week as a side dish for dinner.  And I’m happy to say that my children also enjoy broccoli.

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.”

Tips for Growing Broccoli

Today I’m sharing with you today a few more photos of our garden along with tips on growing broccoli in your garden.  I’m also sharing with you a very easy recipe for broccoli.  Broccoli doesn’t need a fancy cheese sauce to make it delicious.  We enjoyed our very first home-grown broccoli for dinner last night and it was delicious just steamed with a little butter.

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 Broccoli 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.

How Much Should you Water and Fertilize Broccoli

• 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.

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

How to Cook Broccoli

The fifth and final tip for broccoli is an easy recipe for how to prepare. 

• 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.
• 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. 

A few more photos from our garden

Eggplant – I can’t tell you how amazing eggplant fresh from the garden tastes!

My sunflowers are doing amazing this year.

My other favorite flower to grow in our garden is zinnias.  They’re so easy!  Just plant the seeds and watch them grow.  They make beautiful arrangements.

Here’s a closeup.

More Beautiful Gardening Tips and Ideas: 

• 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

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