After months or so it felt to me struggling to get my cauliflowers to grow I almost gave up on them. I was over the moon when I saw my first little cauliflower het this morning. I could not wait sharing it with everyone on the farm. But now I’m just wondering do I need to blanch my cauliflower because I’m not sure what cultivar I planted.
I do think I will follow the blanching technique. After struggling to get it growing I will rather be safe than sorry.
Snow white snow bright
Cauliflower is one of the more difficult vegetables to grow, so why not take that extra step of balancing your cauliflower to add to the pleasure of harvesting a perfectly formed, sweet tasting head. White types need to have their heads sheltered in order to produce a crop with a snowy color and sweet flavor. It is recommended that you need to use the balancing technique to get the best harvest from your cauliflower plant.
Knowing when to blanch a cauliflower and how to blanch cauliflower will add the perfect finishing touches to a vegetable that is often difficult to grow.
What is Blanching?
This isn’t the same thing as the practice of par-boiling veggies by dunking them in boiling water before plunging them into an ice bath that you’re probably familiar with.
Blanching is the simple practice of binding large outer leaves together over and around developing cauliflower heads, to prevent them from yellowing or browning and developing a bitter flavor due to an overabundance of sun exposure.
When is the right time?
In common practice your cauliflower plant will be lush with leafy foliage. At this time, the first tiny curd should begin to appear. Mine took much longer to do this, so I’m holding thumbs that it will still mature into a nice big cauliflower. When cauliflower curd appears about the size of a chicken egg is perfect time. Smaller curds are already protected from the light by the leaves surrounding them. As they grow, they become more exposed and this is the time to begin blanching. Cauliflower curds develop rapidly into full heads so the window is small.
Do all cauliflower cultivars need to be balance?
Early White Hybrid has foliage that grows upward and outward, away from the heads. This does little, if anything, to shade the developing heads from the sun. These varieties require blanching by hand to protect them from damage
Others, such as ‘Snowball Self-Blanching,’ will naturally wrap their inner leaves around the maturing heads. Often this is enough to successfully shelter them from the intense rays, but they, too, can benefit from gardener intervention. In addition, if you’re self-blanching varieties do not seem to have enough foliar coverage, or if you are experiencing a heatwave, don’t hesitate to gather and bind their outer leaves to prevent the heads from discoloring.
How to do it.
It’s very easy. Imagine peeling a banana in reverse.
1. Choose a large leaf with which to begin.
2. Gently bend the leaf inward over the center of the plant. Hold the leaf in place.
3. Grasp a second leaf in the same fashion, and fold it over to meet the first, over the center of the plant. Hold the tops of both leaves together in one hand.
4. Use your other hand to gently bend a third leaf inward to meet the first two. Grasp all three leaves together in one hand, over the center of the plant.
5. If necessary, bend a fourth leaf inward to meet the other three, to effectively hide the developing head.
6. Use twine, rubber bands, or clothes pins to loosely bind the leaves you are grasping together. Secure them either at the top or around the middle, so they go over and around the head, completely covering it.
Imagine peeling a banana in reverse again. We have to make the open peels stay closed.
However, we also need to leave some room for airflow, for peeking in to monitor progress, and to allow the head to reach its mature dimensions of six to eight inches in diameter. This is why we bind them loosely.
Here’s a tip: Blanch on a dry day, after the morning dew has evaporated. This way, no moisture gets trapped near the curds and fungal growth is inhibited.
Harvest time
In one to three weeks, they should reach their mature dimensions and be ready for harvest. When the time is right, simply unbind the leaves to reveal your crop.
Gypsy heart 