First cauliflower!!!!

Thu Jan 24, 2013 8:57 am

Actually it's our second head, but we ate the first one without taking a picture:

The white balance on this photo is all screwed up; it's actually quite white.

I'm only gloating because I failed so completely the previous two seasons!

Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:07 am

Love cauliflower. G is on a strict diet and we eat lots of fresh veggies. I like to steam my cauliflower and then use a stick blender to break it up to rice grain size. I use it as a substitute for rice or pasta. Great with a gravy.

Congrats on your lovely head of cauliflower.

Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:02 pm

Beautiful! My cauliflower is still so tiny. Like, appetizer sized! :lol:

Maybe I transplanted it too late and it's too leggy! Congratulations and I hope you have many, many more heads like it! How're you gonna cook that bad boy?

Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:05 pm

sepeters wrote:How're you gonna cook that bad boy?

When I really want to taste my vegetables I steam them lightly, so they're still crunchy, with a light dusting of salt and pepper.

Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:25 pm

Wow! Nice cauliflower head.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:18 am

That's a lot of cauliflower.

Fri Jan 25, 2013 1:17 pm

Francis Barnswallow wrote:That's a lot of cauliflower.

Never eat anything bigger than your head:

We ate 1/3 of this last night; it was terrific!

Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:55 am

How long did it take the cauliflower to grow that big?

Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:23 am

Very nice. As I stare out my window at the frozen, snowy wasteland that I call home, I can only wait with anticipation to try growing some cauliflower this spring.

Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:05 am

Francis Barnswallow wrote:How long did it take the cauliflower to grow that big?

The bad news is that I didn't keep any notes on this.

I think I transplanted the starts in mid-October.

I haven't really tracked the progress of individual heads because I have row covers over the entire row, and it's a PITA to pull off and inspect, so I only look maybe once a week to see if anything is edible.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:15 am

Two more heads!

The good news is that all the cauliflower has been terrific. The bad news is that these are the last two heads, and we've also eaten all broccoli heads.

The decapitated plants don't seem to be sending up florets like the broccoli did, and my Brussels Sprouts are just pathetic*, so I might just dig up that whole bed and plant something new.

I can allegedly plant new Brassicas in February in Los Angeles, but it can get very warm as early as April, so I'll probably try something better suited for warm-ish weather.

* the BSprouts are only about a foot high, and have just a handful of <1" sprouts on them. I might pick a few this week, just to try them out, but I'm not too hopeful, given the size.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:02 pm

Nice cauliflower

I hear you can eat the leaves. :wink:

What are the temps like now? Ready for tomatoes yet? Or is it more like potato planting weather? Your area would grow peas ad favas during the winter, too, right?

Mon Feb 11, 2013 12:12 pm

applestar wrote:Nice cauliflower
I hear you can eat the leaves.

What are the temps like now? Ready for tomatoes yet? Or is it more like potato planting weather? Your area would grow peas ad favas during the winter, too, right?

Daytime highs are anywhere from high 50s to mid 70s, and nighttime lows are in the mid-40s up to mid 50s.

I'm not sure what I should be growing!

Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:17 pm

TheWaterbug wrote:
I'm not sure what I should be growing!

Kale, chard, bok choy, peas, stuff like that. Mine are doing OK!

And those are gorgeous cauliflower heads. Wow.... (Green for jealousy, of course; cauliflower has always been just out of reach for me.)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:34 pm

I read on a site about cauliflower that once you harvest the main head, split the remaining stem in 4 like crosshairs on a gun sight and it may produce smaller heads.

You may want to check this out for more detailed information.