Broccoli

One day in early spring, we were eating broccoli and Jacob asked "Where does broccoli come from?" I was aghast that he didn't know, and explained it was from a plant. A few days later we were at the nursery and saw small broccoli seedlings. I showed Jacob, and we decided to give them a try in our garden this year.

Here they are at the end of May.
(far left)

It took about 45 days to be ready to pick. One thing I love about growing our own food, is the appreciation it gives me (us) for the whole process. I didn't have to pay for water for them, since it's been SO rainy here, or transport it, and it took up quite a bit of space - it's a large plant for what it yields AND the plant was gone after we picked the bunch. A 45 day investment for 1 bunch! Seriously, I can't believe broccoli isn't more expensive ($1.69 a bunch at my local store right now.) I had the same experience the first time we went raspberry picking - labor intensive! Nothing like 1st hand experience to make you grateful for the ready access we have to such varieties of food at a relatively cheap price!

I cut it and we ate it with dinner that night. It was delicious, and made me so happy to know that it was cut just about an hour before, that we grew it without chemicals or pesticides, and no extra energy or resources were wasted transporting it great distances. Hooray!

Jacob, "snitching" a piece.

We all loved it, but Jacob ate it with his usual enthusiasm - plus some, since it was his idea to grow it in the first place.

So Yummy!

We picked another bunch about 6 days later, and have 4 more getting close. It's a delightful surprise that, even though they were all planted at the same time, they are maturing at different rates. Perfect, as it means a steady flow of fresh broccoli for us!