Harvesting And Freeze Drying Broccoli

Knowing when to harvest and to preserve that wonderful crop is an important part of home gardening.
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[@wifigrannyl.1354]

Just found your channel. Great video & information I didn't know. I just hope we can grow broccoli. We're in East Texas & we don't get a lot of cold weather.

[@gardeningsimplified]

I'm in Northeast Texas and I grow broccoli almost all year round. It's important to give it plenty of water, and I make sure I overhead water it during the hot season. Thanks

[@harleyjanice1]

Just found your awesome channel.
Picked my very first broccoli and cauliflower today. First time growing it. Can't believe how good it tastes.
I didn't know not to cut down the plant. Learned a lesson today.
But I want to eat the heads with dressing but freeze dry the leaves into a powder. Loving my freeze dyer.
By the way, if you need the info, I can tell you how to clean the viewing window on your vacuum pump without using qtips.

[@laurieudall4159]

@ 10:34 in the video, you say you're warming the trays up. Do you just leave it for awhile when it says, "Process Complete" or do you select one of the options, obviously not more dry time as you checked it. I usually select no defrost, remove it and turn off the machine to defrost naturally. So do you select defrost, so it won't draw more moisture when you bag it? Thanks! Great video!

[@gardeningsimplified]

At the top of the screen it says warm trays. Just select that option, and when it's finished it goes back to warm trays.

[@mommajscountrygardening]

New subscriber

[@bluewolf4915]

Another excellent video. Thank you. I was wondering if veggies should be blanched first or not, now I know.

[@gardeningsimplified]

Thanks

[@dbojennie]

I see that you did not blanch it first. So I don't need to blanch the broccoli then? I am lazy & I really don't want to, but everyone says that I'm supposed to blanch it first. Oops... I did not watch all the way through when I commented. Thanks for a great in depth video that explains everything from harvesting it to FDing it. Plus what to do with all the other parts of the broccoli.

[@gardeningsimplified]

We don't blanch broccoli when we freeze dry it. The broccoli stems can be powdered for use in soups and casseroles.

[@777ttaylor]

What? I'm very surprised that you don't have to blanch the broccoli before freeze drying it!! 🤯

[@gardeningsimplified]

If you are worried about germs, then by all means blanch. I don't by into the whole germ theory. Nobody blanches it when they eat it raw.