Monday, 15 February 2016

Harvest Monday - 15th February 2016

My garden is definitely in "Hungry Gap" mode at present! This week my only harvest has been Purple Sprouting Broccoli, and a couple of tiny spears of Brokali. Having said that, I think you would be hard-pressed to find any better PSB...

Before:

"Early Purple Sprouting"



After:


In the kitchen:


Seen from certain angles, it looks grey/green, but from others it definitely looks purple!


I shall leave it whole for the time being (this helps to keep it fresh), and I will cut it into separate spears just before cooking. There must be about 10 decent spears on this one head.

Unfortunately PSB doesn't keep its purple colour when cooked; it goes plain green, like this:


In the picture above, some PSB is served (plain, steamed) with Braised Beef with onions and carrots, Potato-and-Butternut Squash mash, and Brussels Sprouts.

That's all I have to offer for Harvest Monday this week., but perhaps you'd like to stop by Our Happy Acres and see what other people have managed to produce.
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8 comments:

  1. Margaret15 February 2016 at 17:06

    Beautiful PSB - you are justly proud! And that mash is a great idea - my family tends to think that butternut squash is too sweet on it's own but the sweetness would be tamed quite a bit if it was mixed with potato.

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  2. Jo@awholeplotoflove15 February 2016 at 19:42

    Ha if your garden is having a hungry gap, mine is positively starved!!

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  3. Dave @ HappyAcres15 February 2016 at 20:12

    Your PSB harvests have inspired me to try growing it this year. I've found a variety called Santee that sounds like a good fit for my climate. Your squash/potato mash sounds yummy as well.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Willis15 February 2016 at 20:35

      Santee is what I'd call a Summer broccoli - it is harvested in July - October, not over-Wintered. That's OK if you want a Summer broccoli, but I have limited space and loads of crops I want to grow for Summer harvests, and broccoli gets squeezed out. My PSB is the over-Wintering type, producing its crop at a time when little else is available. Re the squash and potato mash: I found it a bit watery, but Jane enjoyed it because it was lighter than 100% potato mash.

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    2. Dave @ HappyAcres17 February 2016 at 02:09

      I thought the Santee would work better because I seriously doubt the overwintering type would make it through our winter. I would plant it in late summer, about the same time as I do other heading broccoli.

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  4. edible gardens--point loma16 February 2016 at 05:57

    How I love PSB--especially in salads for the color. It's beautiful growing too. Unfortunately my garden is small and it only reliably produces sprouts in my coastal climate about 50% of the time. It has produced in 15 gallon pots. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Phuong16 February 2016 at 11:41

    Your broccoli and braised beef look amazing. Over-wintering broccoli seems like such an efficient way to save garden space.

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  6. Sue Garrett16 February 2016 at 13:43

    I'd never thought of combining squash with potato in a mash and we have loads to use.

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