Harvest Monday 12/13/10

Today the garden looks like a mid-November day instead of a mid-December day.I would have preferred that all precipitation we got yesterday was snow instead of rain. However, the balmy temperatures today (48 F) had an advantage, namely allowing me to work in the garden. I went out this morning to harvest carrots (10 oz) and leeks (9.75 oz) that had been frozen in the ground last week. I mulched the smallest of the leeks to see if they might overwinter. I also opened up the cold frame and removed any damaged leaves I could see. I'm leaving it to air out so it doesn't have that fish-tank alge smell as much.I read in Elliot Coleman's book that the texture/taste of the Brussels Sprouts decreases with the very cold temperatures. So I decided to harvest 5 of the stems, choosing the ones furthest in the bed and the ones that were lying down. The others I'll leave so we can see how long we can keep harvesting. Also I the 6 remaining plants would make more Brussels sprouts that we can possibly eat. As it is, I'm putting these stems in the cool basement to see how they'll keep. I'll weigh the sprouts as we use them. This may be my last harvest for 2010 as we are traveling for the holidays. Maybe we'll bring Brussels sprouts with us :)

Total these past 2 week: 1.3 pounds + un-weighed Brussels sprouts
Total this year: 461 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 11/29/10

Last week I got the last pound of tomatoes that ripened from my green tomatoes. They were a little shriveled but worked fine in sauce.
This week I harvested 4 oz leeks, 13 oz of kale( not pictured), and 1 lb 2 oz of golden beets.
We got a bit of lettuce,
and 2 pound 13 oz of brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving dinner.
Our Thanksgiving dinner also included our own mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie from one of my pie pumpkins. Yum.

Total these past 2 week: 6.06 pounds
Total this year: 459.67 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 11/15/10

This week I harvested some of the root vegetables that have been hanging out in the garden since spring. We didn't eat beets as much as I thought we would this spring, but now I'm harvesting them for beet gnocchi which we really enjoy. I picked 1 lb 13 oz of red beets this week.

I also harvested 12 oz of carrots for a baked chinese chicken dish. I also picked two nice heads of bok choy which weighed 5 oz. The leeks remaining are smaller, I picked 3 oz of them this week.
The other large harvest was 1 lb of kale.
Total this week: 4.06 pounds
Total this year: 452.64 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 11/8/10

We enjoyed a fall salad this week with carrots, red lettuce, raddicchio, pea greens and kohlrabi.
I also harvested chicory/italian dandelion and leek for a quiche.
Another 1 lb 9 oz of tomatoes ripened, along with a few hot peppers from the indoor pepper plants.And I picked 2 pounds of brussels sprouts to accompany a dinner of smoked pork tenderloin and our own mashed potatoes.


Total this week: 4.62 pounds
Total this year: 448.5 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 10/25/10

This week I got over 2 more pounds of tomatoes ripening from the green tomato box.
I picked 8 oz of kale, including some red kale that leafed out. It overwintered from the previous owners garden, went to seed,I saved seeds, and now it is producing again.
I picked 11.5 oz of leeks, 6 oz of chard, and 1 pound of brussels sprouts (not pictured).
Now that the garden is winding down, I'll sometimes share what we're eating from what we saved from the garden. This weekend we roasted our first jarrahdale pumpkin. It was a 15 pound one. My husband cut it in half.
Then we quartered it and scooped out the seeds. I roasted it in the oven for over an hour until the flesh was soft. This photo is before it was baked.
The flesh was good, not stringing, not too strong either. The only downside was the seeds. They looked wonderful, but some how different. When we roasted them we found they were too tough.
We roasted apples and onions after the pumpkin was done and used them all to make soup with a stock made with apple cores and pumpkin scrapings. It was all pureed to a smooth soup. We had plenty for a gathering of 8 adults and 12 kids and still some left over to freeze.

Total this week: 5.08 pounds
Total this year: 441.69 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 10/11/10

This week shows the slow down in the fall garden. Last week was 70 pounds, this week I only harvested 4. That includes 2 pounds of tomatoes that were picked green last week. These began to shown color this week and were added to the harvest total.
I harvested our first Brussels Sprouts this week, over one pound. They were good but should be even better now that we've had a few frosts this weekend.
We enjoyed a soup this week with leek, kale, beans and tomatoes from the garden.
The scarlet runner beans came in before the frost. They yielded 8 oz. They were planted experimentally amongst the tomatoes and grew up along the frame the tomatoes hung from. They did fine there.
I picked the last of the basil on Saturday night before the first full frost. It weighed 7 oz. I froze some and the rest we made into the last pesto of the year. Also picked 7.5 oz of carrots that night for another soup which also used kale and pumpkin from the garden.
The only frost-tender plants left in the garden are the peppers and eggplants. I've been covering them when the frost has threatened. However the forecast for this week is frost every night for the next 4 nights. So I'll be harvesting the last of the peppers and eggplants later today. You'll see them in next week's harvest totals.

Total this week: 4.48 pounds
Total this year: 427.47 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 9/27/10

I harvested the rest of my row of yukon gold potatoes. It came to another 27 pounds of potatoes. That's a total of 35 pounds of yukon gold potatoes from a 10 pound bag of seed potatoes. I find that to be a good return, though I don't know how it compares to others.
My sweet potatoes (upper right corner on top of potatoes) were a sad harvest. They are smaller than my carrots. I had planted them in the row behind the cucumber trellis and in front of the tomatillo plants. I didn't realize how big the tomatillos would get and the sweet potato vines hardly got much sun. These little sweet potatoes went into a soup with carrots, leeks, and potatoes. I'll try again next year with a better spot.
This week I harvested our two apples from our apple trees. (6.5 oz) We haven't tasted them yet. The first two pie pumpkins and a mystery squash were harvested this week. They've joined the others in curing on the front porch. Spinach, Lettuce and Arugula are picking up and we're having more salads again.
The tomatoes continue to produce, another 15 pounds this week. They seem to ripen partially and then the strong wind blows some of them off. They finish ripening inside. The plants look rather ragged, but I'm going to let them hang in there until frost. We're already past our average frost date, and each day past is more chances for a better pepper and eggplant harvest.
Total this week: 54.29 pounds
Total this year: 352.19 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 9/13/10

The tomatoes are still coming this week with over 29 pounds of slicing tomatoes. I made another batch of Annie's Salsa this week and plant to make tomato sauce next week.
I also harvested more arugula, carrots, dried beans, leeks, chard, tomatillios and the first winter squash( a buttercup).
The large pile of dried beans have not yet made it in to my totals because I weigh them after I shuck them. The forecast calls for rain tomorrow so I figured I should pick them while they are semi dry.

Total this week: 36.12 pounds
Total this year: 239.2 pounds

You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 8/16/10

This week I harvested my first and only eggplant. The plants are just starting to bloom again.
The zucchini and cucumbers slowed down as the dry weather has hit and they have some downy mildew as well. Only 2.6 pounds of zucchini this week and just over a pound of cucumbers.
I dug the rest of my All Blue potatoes ( 5lbs 4 oz) and some Yukon gold as well (2 lbs 5 oz). The rest of the Yukon gold will stay in the ground until we need them or later this fall.
The cherry tomatoes continue to increase in production with almost 3 pounds of them this week. I made fresh salsa with some of them and the tomatillos (3 oz). I also got my first red zebra tomato, which isn't any larger than the cherry tomatoes. It also had blossom end rot at the bottom. :(
We enjoyed some nice large carrots. They were short but thick,and very good.
Here is arugula, slicing cucumbers, carrots, basil, tomatillos and cherry tomatoes.
I picked over a pound of chard, some leeks, dragon tongue and romano beans, a green zebra tomato, zucchini, tomatillos, and cherry tomatoes.
Total this week: 19.36 pounds
Total this year: 116.75 pounds

You can see other gardeners' harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

June Update: Alliums

Alliums are a short update. Most of them are in Bed 2. From one side of the bed, all you see are my onions. I mulched them last week with grass clippings. This would have been much easier if I had done it when they were smaller, but we were still working out the lawn mowing system then. Some are starting to fall out of the edge of the bed. Next year I won't put them so close to the edge.
I also have leeks that I bought as sets. They all transplanted well. It will be a while before we enjoy those.
My garlic is planted way in the back of the garden. It is not going to be much to speak of this year, but some is better than none. If you remember I found it spouting where the previous owner planted her garlic and transplanted it. Most is only as thick as a pencil. I need to trim the scapes.

Shoveling out the Garden

Earlier this week Matt and I went out to measure the snow on the garden again. It was up to twelve inches in the deepest spot. Today turned out to be a warm sunny day so we decided to go out and help the beds along with the melting process. We took two shovels out and shoveled off the beds. The dead stems of the brussels sprouts and kale helped us get our bearings and we eventually found a few of the resistors that hold the electric fence around the edges of the beds. In shoveling off the northern bed, we found two late planted brussels sprouts. I think I put these in the ground around July, but they never got enough sun to take off. However they survived the winter by being short and insulated by the snow.
We also discovered one small kale plant amongst the larger plants which died because of the cold.
And one small leek. These aren't in my garden plan so they may have to get moved. I wasn't planning on any brussels sprouts or leeks, but if they survived the winter I don't have the heart to compost them.
We covered them back up with loose snow to protect them from the cold nights. We only shoveled off half off the southern bed, leaving the snow to protect the garlic.
It doesn't look like we did much from the pictures, but now the snow is all one level, which means the 10" high beds are significantly cleared of snow. Hopefully this will help the sheet of ice that seems to be left on the bed melt off in the next few weeks so we can get some early peas and radishes in the ground next month.