This is how you get kids to eat vegies!

Why I love Broccoli

My garden is now a skeleton of a memory. The days of fresh tomato salad no longer leave any hint of impression on my taste buds that have grown weary of the tasteless excuses of store bought tomatoes I’ve been subjecting them to.  I am now left to count the days to starting my seedlings once again with dreams of bountiful harvests next year. I have saved my heirloom seeds and they sit on their alter waiting for the winter to pass.  

They will eat the whole plant!

Alas, my garden does not sit barren even on these cold upstate days and frigid nights. I’m inspired by the tenacity of the broccoli plants that hold on to the crisp air and reach as far as they can towards the distant sun. I can always count on many months of enjoyment from the seeds I save over each year. I’m not a good gardener. I don’t claim to be. However, I’ve found that my short comings bring surprising blessings. The broccoli is an example.  

 

They don't even mind the strawberries are gone for now.

Did you know that if you ignore your garden long enough, broccoli has such a will to survive that beautiful yellow flowers will sprout from each delicate floret? I didn’t know this, mostly because until I started this adventure I didn’t know anything about vegetables except how to order them as a side dish.  The tiny yellow flowers are so pretty dusted over the top of a red tomato salad that I’m always glad for my mistakes. My daughters are overjoyed with the concept of flowers you can eat…and perhaps grow into a flower yourself..

If you ignore your garden even longer you will be granted long green seed pods. Ignore them even longer and the stalk turns brown and VOILA you have seeds for the next year. Sometimes I convince myself that I’ve meant to do this…you know, me, the homesteading seed saver.

 

Why do I love growing organic vegetables right outside of my front door? See those two little picky eating girls munching on broccoli? It gives me one of those “good mama” moments when my kids see our garden as the “snacking place”. 

Joy is a pile of leaves on a crisp day!