Sprouting Broccoli – At Last!

My Purple Sprouting Broccoli is finally nearing harvest. Honestly, you need the patience of a very patient saint to grow this thing. This year seems a particularly painful year. It’s already April and it’s only just purpling up. In previous years we’ve been eating it by early March.

But, that said, I’m very excited about the prospect of eating Purple Sprouting Broccoli. If you’ve never tasted it, then do it, and very soon. It’s the most Broccoliy tasting thing you’ll ever taste. It’s one of those vegetables that is worth growing, even though it’s probably the most expensive Broccoli you’ll ever have on your plate (cost/hour of your time that is). But still, I will grow it every year and I can’t wait to get it in the pan.

Category: Vegetables     Tagged: ,

14 Comments on “Sprouting Broccoli – At Last!”

  1. Hi,

    Just eating the last of our PSB – I can’t believe yours are only coming ready now. We’ve had a harsh winter here in Ireland (my tiny plot is in Dublin), the coldest and driest for a very long time, but Spring is definitely here and the broccoli nearly all eaten – soon time for the asparagus!

  2. Hi found your blog and i think it’s great! Just wondered what time of year you sowed your purple sprouting brocolli and what variety they are? thanks :0)

  3. very envious, we’re still waiting for ours, only 12 months after sowing!

  6. Looks gorgeous! Just wondering how you will cook it?

  8. More info Please! Your purple sprouting brocoli look very good. I am trying this year to grow it again after having it all eaten up in the past 4 years either by caterpillar or pigeons. I will be netting this time! How do you keep it from being ravaged by pest? Is there a ‘best time’ to sow it?

  9. just started harvesting mine in london,but i did so late in the year last year.looks like my 6 plants are nicely staggered so should have psb for the next couple of months.
    great site by the way

  10. Ooh, a quick boil, 5 mins max, then on a plate, slice raw mushrooms, then grate cheese, and under the grill to melt the cheese, a grind of salt and pepper.. Mmmmnnnnn…

  11. I’ve bought seeds for PSB for the first time this year – I confess, I hadn’t realised that I wouldn’t get a crop until next spring! Oh well – please send some patience my way…

  12. I haven’t grown psb before, but I’m going to grow it this year. I want to have things to harvest through the winter on the plot.

  13. You can get early and late varieties of PSB that are ready at different times. I grow Early Sprouting Rudolph from Thompson and Morgan, which this year were ready by mid December. They finished a couple of weeks ago and have now been pulled out. Although they didn’t fair too well with the cold winter this year.

    They are delicious, I steam or stir-fry them, and very good for you too!

  14. Hi,

    This is the first time ive grown purple sprouting broccoli. And ive never cooked it before either, so Im not sure when to cut it. The heads have grown all over, but they are only about 1cm diameter heads. How big before I cut them off, but not too late so they flower? How far down the stem do you cut them off? Im very much a novice.

    Thanks