I feel like I am being endlessly surprised by my garden this summer. Sometimes it just blows my mind that, yes, you put a seed into the ground, and it grows. Into something you can eat. Wait, how did that happen? Take this cauliflower for instance...
Another Garden Surprise: Hello, Cauliflower!
I bought a scrawny cauliflower sprout for 99 cents at a garden center early in the summer. It was a little late to get it going but hey, it was cheap, and I had a square foot to fill. So in it went. The leaves were instantly chewed to Swiss cheese by some unnamed and soulless bugs. Oh well, I thought; it's a trap crop. Carry on, soulless bugs; just leave my kale alone.
I didn't expect to actually ever see a cauliflower; I never fed the little plant, and it always looked slightly downtrodden while the rest of the greens around it flourished gloriously.
And then one morning I caught a glimpse of something bright in its chewed-up leaves. Was it? Why yes! A tiny ball of curds, curled up tight inside inside a furled nest of greens. Wow! Something from nowhere. But it was tiny, an infant cauliflower, and to be honest I didn't expect much of it.
But then it grew. It grew and grew and grew. In 10 short days it became this gloriously creamy head of cauliflower, nearly ready to be lifted out of its nest.
What a surprise, and what a gift, to be able to eat something straight from the back yard. It really never fails to amaze me. It's so commonplace, and yet so amazing at the same time.
My question for you is: What was your best garden surprise this year, and how is your garden going, anyway? Do you have any late summer and fall crops planned?
And do you have any suitably glorious suggestions for my homegrown cauliflower? It deserves nothing but the best.
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Gardening, Inspiration, Ingredients - Vegetables, GREEN IDEAS, cauliflowerRelated Links
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Salted and blanched, served with a good vinagrette and maybe a sprinkling of pecorino. Or curried and roasted. Or eaten raw with some dressing.
And now I want cauliflower.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Made into Curry Cauliflower soup (with your fav Indian curry mix of spices)! Or simmered in Thai curry.
view lotusmoss's profile
jeez, yeah, mine from my CSA this year was so good I'd just break off a floret or two every time I opened the fridge and pop it in my mouth.
view any such name's profile
How do you know when it is time to harvest your cauliflower?
A few years ago, my mom grew one. I think she let it go too long, and it became this huge, giant, un-tasty monstrosity.
view jyw's profile
I got the most amazing canteloupe from our CSA last week. It was huge...HUGE and sweet and juicy and utterly delicious. Living in MN, I'm always surprised at the variety and success of the fruit crops.
view splatgirl's profile
Cauliflower should get to be larger than a softball before picking. I found with ours, when it goes too long it starts to turn a bit of purple.
I have 2 favorite ways with cauliflower: Sicilian pasta with cauliflower and cauliflower fritters ( cook cauliflower, mix with flour, some cooking water, baking powder, season, mash it up and fry it!).
view ziacd's profile
I'm fond of the term "volunteer," which gardeners use to describe uncultivated additions to their gardens. Things you'd call weeds, except they're awesome. This year we had a 6-foot-tall sunflower volunteer in our garden, probably a remnant of the neighbors' bird feeder.
view deensiebat's profile
I never was fond of them! Maybe a delicious recipe would change my mind though :)
view Ambitious's profile