When is my Broccoli ready?

[mr-cecil]

Hi there, I've never grown Broccoli before (or very much at all), and I'm wondering if my Broccoli is nearly ready. I'm concerned because I'm about to go away for a week and I'd hate to harvest it too late or too soon.

Note I don't know what type they are.

It's about 50cm tall.

Any advice would be welcome.

[FelixLeiter]

The type of broccoli you have there is Purple Sprouting. The stage it is at there is spot on. Simply break off that main head to harvest it. Purple sprouting broccoli will continue to produce over many weeks: side shoots will form which you can harvest, again by simply breaking them away from the main stem, as and when they are ready. You've got quite a bit of lee-way when it comes to harvesting broccoli: when it's big enough, is a reasonable guide. It's only really gone too far if it actually starts to flower, but it's still okay to eat even once it's "blown" a bit, in my view.

[mr-cecil]

Thanks for that. So are you saying I should just harvest all the larger purple bits, but leave some of the smaller ones on?
Also, there is another one that looks the same except the head is purple with bits of green. Is this a bad sign?

[Geoff]

I'd cut it just above your ring finger and eat it before you go, there will be more ready from the side shoots when you come back. I wouldn't bother about the green bits, might just be a bit nearer to flowering.

[mr-cecil]

It seems be doing what you said. I now have some side shoots that look like they are ready for eating (probably more that the original lot). I guess the trick is to cut above any side shoots until it look like it's had its time....

I have one plant that just does not seem to be growing a head (it looks healthy, buts about half the height of the others). Any ideas? Is it just a duffer?

[FelixLeiter]

Is it just a duffer?

A duffer, yes, but that's no bad thing. The way I see it, it may crop much later than the others, extending the cropping period. Many recent broccoli varieties are more uniform than those of yore. This is fine for commercial growers who are scheduling their cropping, but for the back gardener that's not always a good thing. On the other hand, the chances of a "duffer" appearing are all but eliminated — it may be that your duffer may not crop at all. But the broccoli season isn't over yet, so there's hope.

A personal preference maybe, but I'm all for breaking out the shoots rather than cutting, which leaves stumps and is slow and fiddly, risks cutting through leaves.