[titch]

my broccoli has no heads, but tons of leaves, can i eat these like cabbage? dont think they are going to get heads now, will leave them for a bit but they are around 2 1/2 ft high!!!
Also psb still has no psb, still waiting to see, but again, can i eat the leaves??

if they dont come to anything it seems a shame to waste all that green leaf to the compost heap

as wondering if its maybe windrock why they havnt come to anything cos the stem in the ground is not straight but at an angle - what do you think - i would post pics but its dark, maybe tomorrow if it would be helpful

thanks

[Paul Plots]

PSB stems at an angle? Mine were too but sprouted well so this is not the reason for no crop. Perhaps you planted them late or they are a later flowering variety?

As for eating the leaves... PSB = I'd hang on a bit before munching through them as they may mature later, possibly.. 

Broccoli leaves for dinner? Why not. Try it and see - should be ok if they are not too coarse.    But - again - when were they supposed to mature?

[gobs]

Angle does not mean wind rock, more easily happens though.

As said, dependson use and age , all these leaves are perfectly edible, you gotta time the harvest right, that the plant for whatever other purpose you grow it for, does not suffer.

All bottom leaves are gonna be lost any ways.... 

[5thhorseman]

We cut down our psb a couple of weeks ago.  The newer leaves we used like 'greens' you buy in the supermarket ... fried up with a bit of butter and garlic, or oyster sauce.  The tougher leaves and stems boiled, pureed, and strained to make soup.

[Paul Plots]

Mine finally fed the compost heap this week-end. 

It seems to take a month of Sundays for the stems to dry out enough for burning! 

What do you do with yours?

[celjaci]

Mine finally fed the compost heap this week-end. 

It seems to take a month of Sundays for the stems to dry out enough for burning! 

What do you do with yours?

The stems get so hard they can take years to rot down, you can put them through a shredder ( make sure theres no soil to ruin the blades ) or lay them on the road and drive over them a few times!

[Ropster]

I pull the plants up whole and give them to my rabbits, there teeth are better than any shredder, and it gives them something to do

[andreadon]

I feed the leaves to the chickens.

but I would eat the newer ones - shouldn't cause any harm to the plant if you only take a couple.
If your PSB isn't sprouting yet, it can only be a matter of days (when did you start it off, cos it takes a year)
(and don't forget that ithe sprouts are also cut-and-come-again)

my stems are really bendy, because they grew tall but had nothing to support them so they started upwards, then trailed along the ground, then grew upwards again as they got older!
looks weird, but they're okay and harvesting fine.

[Debz]

I also don't have any psb on my plants and they look really healthy and tall.  My chooks loved getting some this morning as I am getting so fed up wth the lack of sprouting bits that I pulled a couple of them out for the girls.   

[violet61]

Shredded, stir fried with butter & garlic!

[RichardA]

Ours are long gone, we are on kale and spring cabbage now but yes the leaves are good to eat and we throw all the rest to the ducks. Roots and stalks go in the "green" recycling dustbin. I can't be bothered bashing and shredding. Ducks fed on greens and bedded on straw produce enough compost -- enough said
R

[Paul Plots]

Mine finally fed the compost heap this week-end. 

It seems to take a month of Sundays for the stems to dry out enough for burning! 

What do you do with yours?

The stems get so hard they can take years to rot down, you can put them through a shredder ( make sure theres no soil to ruin the blades ) or lay them on the road and drive over them a few times!

Some good suggestions - thanks  Only problems are: no shredder on the allotment (mine's too heavy to drag down there and its electric) and it would take me months cycling back and forward over the PSB stumps - I don't drive. 

There must be something "useful" to do with the flipping things? 

[JimS]

"There must be something "useful" to do with the flipping things?"

What about using them as Pea sticks or supports for Toms?

Just a thought 

[andreadon]

"There must be something "useful" to do with the flipping things?"

What about using them as Pea sticks or supports for Toms?

Just a thought 

I thought that as well!!
 

[titch]

thanks everyone, will leave the psb alone for a little longer, the broccoli tho hmmmmmmmm think its not going to do anything so  could use the stalks and compost the leaves, they look a little tough for eating actually, when i looked today, unless of course i donate them to a school, their three hour boiling of veg should do the trick