brocolli still edible?

Due to the weather constantly swinging from cold to warm this winter, my brocolli "bolted" & started growing little yellow flowers. I cut the heads that had flowers off & left the plant hoping it might grow more sprouts when the weather gets cold again. But as far as the heads I cut, if I remove the flowers can I still eat the brocolli? & if I dry out the flowers will there be seeds I can use next year?? I hate the idea of just throwing all the heads out but don't know if they are still edible. Thanks guys.

It will be interesting to see what answer you get. I don't know why you can't eat them. I doubt if the flowers will go to seed now that you cut off it's source of nutrients (the roots) I would assume it will quit producing anything. Unless, maybe if you put it in a jar of water.

As far as edible goes, you might just find that it is tough, maybe stringy, shrug, don't know.

I've eaten my broccoli head when it had a yellowish tinge across it because the buds were just about to burst open and produce all those little yellow flowers! Not sure just how many little yellow flowers you have on your broccoli head, but, if they're not too mature and bitter, I'd just shave them off and eat that broccoli, LOL! Yes, I would eat it in a minute! In this case, let your palate be your guide.

Also, you can eat the broccoli pulp from that huge stem, too! A friend taught me to use a small diameter hole saw and a drill, and just bore right down into the stem sections to retrieve that beautiful broccoli core. Delish!

You can also steam the leaves, or make Green Smoothies with them. I use my NutriBullet and extract all the veggie greenery in my garden (except tomato leaves -- poisonous) with various blend combinations of banana, frozen tropical fruits, cucumbers, nuts, berries, Honey, and Vanilla Whey Protein Powder.

And, leaving the stem growing was a good move. There is a good chance that it will continue to grow and produce sizable side shoots when your weather changes, if it hasn't been damaged.

Here are several replies to the same question from another garden website (Gardenweb):

►Broccoli stems are nice to eat, but if your heads are so mature that they are flowering, the stems are probably beginning to get tough and fibrous on the outside. Peel off the outer portion of the stem with a potato peeler or knife and cook and eat the insides of the stems. They are delicious, I like it much better than the florets.

►If you're done harvesting heads, you can also eat the leaves. They are similar to loose cabbage leaves or collard greens. They are all very closely related.

This message was edited Feb 11, 2014 5:05 PM

This message was edited Feb 11, 2014 5:06 PM

Thank you for the info! The amount of flowers on each head varied with each plant, but I just removed the flowers & gave the head a good soak then washed & rinsed them. Now I'll give them a try! Thanks again!

Yes, they are right about peeling the stems and eating them. Much better than the rest of the plant. If you don't peel them tho, I doubt they would be edible. Just that they would not be very good. If peeled and then cut in chunks and cooked the regular way, probably steamed, they are wonderful.

I agree on the peeled stems, and we have eaten the buds just before flowering stage. Ground dries a little more, I plan to put some out, though for us it's usually a fall crop.

How about making soup? That is the best soup in the world. Broccoli, Creamy Cheese soup. Wonderful. I use the blender but keep a lot of the florets out, par boil them and then add them to the soup whole.

Broccoli seed is produced in a pod, sort of like beans or peas, but much smaller.
If the flowers were still on the head, just opening, then there was not time for them to produce seed.
If the flowers had matured and fallen off, leaving behind a growing seed pod, then you might be able to put the stem in a glass of water and hope the seeds will finish maturing.

Agree with the above: The older the plant the tougher it gets. If the flavor is OK, but it is too tough, then adding it (stem, leaves) to soup stock is a good use.
Many of this plant family get a stronger flavor as they age, though, so taste test before you ruin a batch of soup!

Other related plants that do about the same thing, and you can treat the same way:
Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Mustard, Cabbage, Most Oriental Greens.

Young and tender, they are great raw or lightly cooked. Older, it is questionable about the flavor, so taste test.

I think she was worried about their being edible. Do you think that might be the case with any of these as they age?

Well, they are not poisonous.

The problem that I see is that many of them get a much stronger flavor as they age, and many of them get tougher as they age.

So my advise to taste-test some, and be prepared with some recipe that is OK to cook longer, or perhaps par-boil them before adding them to a recipe that only calls for short cooking.

Sometimes vinegar can make the strong flavor more palatable. It is the only way I can eat Brussels Sprouts; mostly I do not eat them.

Pruning then harvesting the resulting growth is another good way to try to salvage an older plant.

You are right. She can always throw it away and eat the new side shoots of broccoli that grow around the stalk.

I tried peeling & steaming the stems & it was good. I also used the parts I still could for soup & that turned out well. Thank you for you advice. I planted these in early october but I guess we just didn't have enuf cold weather here for them to completely mature. Its been pretty warm here in Central Florida except for a handful of days. Thanks again guys.

I'm also from Central Florida, zone 9b, and grew broccoli for the first time this year. I did an experiment and grew some plants in 15 gallon root pouches, some in a raised bed, and some in the dirt. I planted seed in October also. The broccoli in the raised bed matured first, the ones in the root pouches matured next; I never got many side shoots from either before they flowered; but the ones in the ground got huge, lots of big side shoots that we are still picking, even today (Feb 21).

I still have immature plants in the ground that I started way later - hopefully I will get some before it really heats up. I won't bother growing broccoli in a raised bed/container again.

I grew Packman Hybrid, which they say withstands heat better.

I never knew you could eat the stalk. I fed the leaves/stalk to my composting worms; same with the cauliflower.

OMG, the stalk is better than the florets. JMO. Just use a knife. I cut the end so it is flat and won't slip, then stand it up and cut down from the top all the way around. Either that or use a potato peeler on them. If they are large, I cut them in half or quarters vertically. Then just steam them along with the florets, or roast, or however you cook the florets. They are wonderful.

Good to know BarbK. My plants got really big & the heads were growing nicely as well but I guess it just was too warm this "winter". In Clearwater we only had a handful of days below 60 & even when it cooled down, it warmed up quickly so I guess thats the problem.

LISTEN TO ME YOU GUYS:
I was talking about Broccoli stems to eat. That looks like Cauliflower. Don't know about that.

LOL, the broccoli stalks..

And, don't forget to use all those beautiful leaves to make green smoothies!

LOL, yes stalks. Thanks Linda