Longbourn Farm

Simple Homemade Recipes & Farm Tips

  • About
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work with Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
    • Recipes
      • 30 Minutes or Less
      • Main Dish
      • Dessert
      • Breakfast
      • Bread
      • Appetizer
      • Side Dish
      • Soup
      • Salad
      • Drinks
    • Gardening
    • Chickens
    • Farm
      • Beekeeping
      • Livestock
      • Land
      • Horse
Home » Recipes & Tips » How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli

How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli

06/23/16 | Animal and Land, Farm & Family, Gardening, Kitchen How-To's, Recipes & Tips

Learn the easiest way to harvest broccoli & freeze broccoli. It's such an easy way to preserve what you grow so you can enjoy it longer!

Learn the easiest way to harvest broccoli & freeze broccoli. It’s such an easy way to preserve what you grow so you can enjoy it longer!

Learn the easiest way to harvest broccoli & freeze broccoli. It's such an easy way to preserve what you grow so you can enjoy it longer!

I love when I can start to harvest from my garden, and broccoli is usually one of the first things I can harvest! It’s always so satisfying to cook a meal with fresh produce you grew. I always like to plant more broccoli than I’ll use, that way I can store some to enjoy over the winter while we eat a little fresh and enjoy the things from the garden that don’t keep so well during the season, like lettuce.

Broccoli usually will have one main harvest, and then you may get small little sprigs here and there on the plant after the main harvest is done. You’ll want to pick the main head of broccoli when the buds are still tight and haven’t started to bolt and flower. You can see this start to happen over a few days, so pick it right away if you notice signs. Cool season plants will always bolt very quickly when the weather turns really hot, so keep your eyes out. I took these photos the day I harvested, so they are a good indication of what you should be watching for.

Broccoli harvest

If it does bolt on you, don’t worry, you can still eat it. Your plant will just be finished producing after the bolt. But, even if you harvest broccoli, they really slow down when the heat hits and I don’t get much from them after the main harvest is over.

I hate to hear about anyone wasting garden produce because they aren’t sure how to keep it when the harvest happens all at once or is larger than anticipated. There is always a way to store the food you grow, I promise! I keep things simple when I harvest broccoli {actually, I keep most things simple…} and I just freeze it. It’s so easy and it’s how I prefer to purchase it at the grocery store anyway so it’s a win-win.

Broccoli post-blanch

The first step after you harvest broccoli is to wash your it. If you’d like to eat it fresh for a while, hold off on the washing and leave it in really large pieces. It will keep in your fridge longer this way. Once you’re ready to store it, get a pot of water boiling and briefly blanch the broccoli for just a few minutes until it’s bright green. Rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking and then let it air dry. I keep mine in large pieces for this step, it holds together better.

Once the broccoli is dry, just cut it into whatever sized pieces you prefer and package it in freezer bags. I usually portion out enough for one meal. Label the bag and you’re good to go! Freezing broccoli couldn’t be easier.

Broccoli ready for the freezer

You might also enjoy my post on the best way to store zucchini and on quick and easy way to preserve tomatoes!

Pin this farm tip on your Gardening board to SAVE it for later! Follow Longbourn Farm on Pinterest for more great tips, ideas, and tutorials!

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_4″]

Comments | 5 comments

« The Weeds Outside My Garden
Watering Your Garden »

Comments

  1. Crystal says

    July 13, 2022 at 9:33 AM

    This tip came just in time! I don’t have a garden this year but I mistakenly ordered what I thought was 4 pieces of broccoli, on my grocery pick up, and ended up with 4 lbs. haha! Off to freeze some. Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Alli says

      July 19, 2022 at 8:16 AM

      You’re welcome! I’ve done that before with onions and grocery pickup – always an adventure lol!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to Gel Stain Garage Doors • Longbourn Farm says:
    May 12, 2021 at 9:42 PM

    […] How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli […]

    Reply
  2. Easy Ways to Spruce up the Exterior of your Home • Longbourn Farm says:
    July 21, 2020 at 10:43 AM

    […] How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli […]

    Reply
  3. How to Plant Flowers in Large Planters • Longbourn Farm says:
    July 21, 2020 at 1:09 AM

    […] How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Hi, Friend!


Alli Kelley is an Agriculture focused entrepreneur. She runs a successful food blog, a consulting and coaching business, and all the social media connected with an online presence.

She also owns and operates a small, diversified farmstead where she enjoys home improvement projects, experimenting in the garden, creating profitable mini businesses on the farm, and of course, riding her big grey horse, Zane.
Read More…

Agriculture

Side view of a full DIY chicken waterer.

DIY Chicken Waterer Tutorial

posted in Animal and Land, Chickens, Farm & Family, Livestock

(sponsored)Are you wasting $2500 a year on food? Learn how to reduce food waste in your home and get the most out of your dollar and reduce your environmental impact! @beeffordinner #BeefItsWhatsForDinner #NicelyDone #beeffarmersandranchers

How to Reduce Food Waste

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock, Main Dish, Recipes & Tips

pasture full of cows

Where Does Beef Come From?

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock

Meal Plans + Ad-Free Recipes

less stress save time prepare ad
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: The way I provide you with free content is through affiliate links and some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links, they will be marked in the post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to YOU. Read terms here.

Copyright © 2023 · Longbourn Farm • Tasteful Theme by Restored 316

Longbourn Farm
  • Home
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work With Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Gardening
  • Chickens
  • Farm