Brussels Sprouts --It Takes Patience

Finally after 6 months of waiting I have my first real picking of Brussels sprouts.  I say first because I did pick some to cook a few weeks ago. The first week of September I planted the Brussels sprouts and it seem to take forever for them to even get any size to the plant.  Finally I started to see a few sprouts in January and this day in February  I finally cut the sprouts off of two plants

First I cut the leaves off the plant.  Not sure if taking off the leaves is good or bad but it sure looks beautiful to me..  The little sprouts popped right off the bush.

I only picked the bigger ones at the bottom and left the smaller ones at the top.  Can't wait to see how tall the bush will grow.

I weighed the sprouts to see how many I had and it totaled 2 and 1/2 lbs.  I was pleased.  Since R isn't home this week I am putting the sprouts in the freezer for later. 

 

I blanched the sprouts for 4 minutes in boiling water

Then I cooled them in the ice bath



Next I spread them on a cooling rack on a baking tray

Put the rack in the freezer and then bag them after they freeze. They can be thrown in a freezer bag at this point but I do no like them to freeze in a big clump.

It may be strange to get so excited over growing things in my garden but it is what it is. LOL