Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Frozen Broccoli Anyone?

From In the Garden
From In the Garden

Frozen broccoli anyone? This is what I have growing in my vegetable garden at the moment that is edible (thaw first please)! Tennessee and much of the eastern half of the country has been in a deep freeze. For me the cold is one thing but the extremely brutal wind and wind chill factor has seriously chased me into my warm house. Baby it's cold out here! Nonetheless broccoli does okay in the cold and providing we get a few warm ups I fully expect these plants to bounce back like they did after the last big chill we had early last week. I may be a bit optimistic though and might just pick my heads of broccoli waiting for me in the garden. I love fresh picked broccoli! How about you?


The really good thing about planting broccoli in the fall is that you can be assured that when the heads begin to ripen there will not be any worms present to dine on your fresh broccoli-it's too cold for flying moths and their larva so dig in! I do think I'll plant my broccoli starts in mid to late August next year though so they have more time to fill out prior to the deep cold. In the years I've lived in my home it seems December always gets a few deep freezes so I should know to come to expect it. Note to self-plant earlier and don't put it off! Soon enough I'll be removing these plants but for now they aren't hurting anything and are producing. Once the plants come out I'm going to fill in this circular round bed with four blueberry plants. We'll talk about them in a later post.


The other vegetables growing in the garden right now are: onions, garlic, and some lettuce. I did sow seeds of peas, turnips, kale, and spinach. While the peas grew well they never produced and are now buried under the snow. I'll replant seeds in February. The turnips, kale, and spinach might still be growing but I won't know until things warm up here a bit. I probably should've taken more care to protect all crops with the coldframe but I just never got around to arranging things in the vegetable garden this winter. Sigh. There's always next winter.





 The greenhouse has some lettuce growing in a flat on a shelf but the lettuce might be called micro because it is SO small and hardly worth harvesting at this point. Hopefully it will grow a bit more and I can start picking some fresh lettuce. We so enjoyed our fresh lettuce from the garden this past spring that even if this lettuce does not grow more I'll plant it out in the garden in February where it will grow well. 

 That's it for the vegetable garden this month. December and January are normally when my vegetable garden takes a rest and there is not much going on in it. All beds have been prepared for the spring garden and I can relax for a while before things begin to wake up....


in the garden....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

23 comments:

  1. The broccoli is in nature's freezer. Fresh lettuce and spinach is just the best!

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  2. Oh dear! We have your warmer weather back in Maine. I wish we still had fresh veg.

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  3. This cold is ridiculous! At least your broccoli should last a while. I was hoping to get a lettuce harvest but it's a goner now. (I should have put it in the garden shed!) Good tip on starting the broccoli early!

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  4. I do love brocolli in spite of what George Bush the first said about it. My favorite though late fall veggie is brussels sprouts. I've long been of the opinion that it doesn't really have its best flavor till below freezing temps have sweetened it a bit. :)

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  5. Hello tina

    Your broccoli looks GREAT! I'm very surprised to know that it is freezingly cold where you are. Take care, tina.

    I've read your previous post and enjoyed it a lot. I'm impressed with your creativity and sincerity in landscape(gardening?)design!!

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  6. Does the broccoli still grow even frozen?

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  7. Wow Tina!! I think the broccoli looks real good for all the snow and cold it has been in. But as troutbirder said about the brussel sprouts just taste better when it gets cold. Turnip is another. What I pulled for a beef stew when Chrisy was here this past summer was bitter. The rest are still in the garden but I must get out there and pull them all and I bet they will be great tasting now. My bet is that your broccoli will be the best you ever grew. I also still have potatoes and carrots out there that I must get. I also still have a few tomatoes but they are in the warm house. Gonna have to start buying them again soon and I will miss the better tasting ones and my wallet will be lighter. I do have squash in my freezer but will have the last of the fresh with our Christmas dinner.

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  8. We are seeing all the cold you are having. The big thing in the news is the citrus, hopefully it will break soon but by the weather it doesn't look like it will be this week.
    Got to love the fresh lettuce, least I know where it comes from and I don't have to think about all the chemicals on the store bought, ugh! Processed or cooked, it's a BIG! thought for me now-a-days. Would be nice to have gardening all year.

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  9. Hope it does warm up for you soon, although the broccoli looks great. I love fresh broccoli form the garden.
    Not much going on in the garden here, any vegetables would probably be drowning.

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  10. Dawn, what are you doing commenting right now? I know you should be getting your chemo right now. Was your blood too low or are you getting slamed with snow? Or maybe you took your laptop with you. If you did, that will be more fun than a crossword puzzle.

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  11. Blood too low, try tomorrow, sigh. We had small snow squall, enough to get everything white.
    The laptop is a good idea! I saw someone today with one. I sure would get some posts ahead!

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  12. Broccoli anytime of the year is welcome. I need to go outside and check on the garden to see if the collards are okay. They might be the only thing left after the deep freeze we've had already. I noticed the grapefruit trees are dropping their leaves for the second year in a row:( It set them back so far last year that they never bloomed. The scions survived, though. Maybe they'll be okay again.

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  13. My father always planted spinach in the fall so that it would start growing as soon as the weather warmed up. I have been eating tons of raw broccoli marinated briefly in olive oil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, and hot pepper flakes--delicious. Mine comes from the store though. Carolyn

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  14. Lol, Tina, I have some frozen kale to go with your broccoli:) You were smart to plant a late crop, though; I gave up growing broccoli years ago because I got so tired of finding all those little worms in the heads in July and August. Growing it in cooler temps sure makes a lot more sense. I think the cold is reaching everywhere--stay warm!

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  15. Your broccoli looks yummy in the snow. Very hardy bloke the broccoli is. No need to freeze them like us in the freezer, nature has keep it crispy for you.

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  16. I hope my broccoli holds out. It has been so cold here, I'm not sure if it will make it. Carla

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  17. Amazing you even have broccoli Tina. I didn't know it was that hardy!
    Stay warm ~ I saw the forecast tonight and it sounds like the cold doesn't want to leave you all.

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  18. We're still enjoying 'frozen' broccoli too! Great photos.. we are also eating over 20+ other veggies from our cold frames and mini hoop tunnels. It's amazing what one can grow - even in the winter! Thanks for this bit of inspiration!
    Niki
    http://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com

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  19. Keep warm, Tina! I hope you get to enjoy your veggies before they all freeze. I bet you are really happy and enjoying your greenhouse now.
    Take care,
    Rosey

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  20. I am noticing a trend around here... Bitter lettuce from the grocery stores! I have been getting leaf lettuce verses iceburg and it is so bitter we can hardly eat it.... Compost bin is most happy...

    Broccoli naturally frozen by mother nature... How cool is that? Yes, pun here... hee hee....

    Warm up on the way for GA tomorrow...

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  21. I am all kinds of impressed when someone has a winter garden.

    Cold and freezing here too!

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  22. No veggies here, the garden has been laid to rest for the past couple of monthsn now. I didn't get around to planting a fall harvest this year. It would be covered in snow right now anyhow. ;)

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  23. I do love broccoli, but haven't been so successful growing it here at home. We've had better luck at the school where it's a bit sunnier. It's great that you've been able to keep some things going even without a cold frame!

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