Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Jim,
In light of Mittleider Gardens being the best of organic blog

"6) Then we harvest and remove a crop immediately at maturity, to avoid the buildup of pests and diseases that occurs when people leave their crop too long in the garden, which is all too common in home gardens."

Is there a disadvantage, after harvesting the main stem of the broccoli,
to wait and harvest the side shoots? Or is it better to yank it out to make way for next crop?
Greg
zone 8b

Greg & Group:

You do run some risk of bugs, etc. getting into your crop when you leave it in the garden. You just have to be vigilant and observe daily, taking whatever measures are necessary to maintain health and cleanliness.

Another thing you can and should be doing is eating the leaves (and not just after you've harvested the main crop)! If you are taking off the leaves - from the bottom - you are also better able to control the problems that might otherwise gain the upper hand.

A fruit smoothie with a couple of broccoli leaves in it is as healthy as it gets, and tastes good! And broccoli leaves, in my opinion, taste better than collards, mustard, and kale.

Jim Kennard

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