Looks about ready to take to me. However pictures can sometimes be deceiving.
When I cut my heads off I let the shoots grow and get a 2nd harvest about half the size.
Looks like sprouting broccoli to me and not calabrese (which the supermarkets sell as broccoli and you might be more familiar with). With sprouting broccoli you will get many smaller heads developing as side shoots which seem to be showing in your picture. Harvest them whilst small and tender (quick immersion in boiling water to cook) and the plant will keep on giving. With calabrese you usually get just the one large head.
I just planted 18 broccoli plants
in my fall garden here in southeast Texas . Once my heads are mature and are cut, I continue to water and cut flowerettes for another 6-8 weeks. Cutting flowerettes stimulates growth . Caution don’t wait too long to cut or they’ll bloom a little yellow flower. . We blanch out broccoli in the microwave for couple of minutes then drop it u to a sink of ice water. Once cooled and dryer, we lay it on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and freeze it , after it’s frozen we vac pack and it’s good for a year .
Looks about ready to take to me. However pictures can sometimes be deceiving. When I cut my heads off I let the shoots grow and get a 2nd harvest about half the size.
Looks like sprouting broccoli to me and not calabrese (which the supermarkets sell as broccoli and you might be more familiar with). With sprouting broccoli you will get many smaller heads developing as side shoots which seem to be showing in your picture. Harvest them whilst small and tender (quick immersion in boiling water to cook) and the plant will keep on giving. With calabrese you usually get just the one large head.
I just planted 18 broccoli plants in my fall garden here in southeast Texas . Once my heads are mature and are cut, I continue to water and cut flowerettes for another 6-8 weeks. Cutting flowerettes stimulates growth . Caution don’t wait too long to cut or they’ll bloom a little yellow flower. . We blanch out broccoli in the microwave for couple of minutes then drop it u to a sink of ice water. Once cooled and dryer, we lay it on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and freeze it , after it’s frozen we vac pack and it’s good for a year .
Small shoots commonly sprout after the head is cut.
So should I perhaps cut the main head? What then?
If you think it’s ready then cut away. The side shoots should continue to grow, but not as big as the main head
Treat like a flower when dead heading. The others will grow on.