Harvest Monday 9/20/10

The tomatoes continue to ripen, but slower now with the cooler nights. This week I harvested 14 pounds of tomatoes. I'm not canning any more, but rather am freezing them whole for use in soups and sauces this winter.I also picked kale and a few carrots. I also harvested my second eggplant. There are a few more that may mature before the season is over. In all, the eggplants weren't much of a success this year with only 2 so far from 6 plants.
I shelled the dried beans that I picked last week and weighed them. They were just over a pound.
I also harvested my first and probably only sweet red pepper. There are some green ones on the plant finally, but they don't have time to ripen.
Ripe winter squashes were harvested and set on the front porch to cure. I picked 25 pounds of buttercup, butternut, and Delicata squash. I also picked one 15 pound Jarradale pumpkin. There are 3 more Jarradale pumpkins that are not yet ripe, as well as a few butternut squash that are still developing. There are also about 6 pie pumpkins that are turning orange and I hope to pick soon.
Sunday night's harvest was at dusk, hence the flash in the photo. I picked 2 oz of arugula and spinach to make a pesto, along with tomatoes and 2 very small melons. The tomatoes are all larger then the melons.I picked the melons because they smelled ripe, though they only the size of tennis balls. The larger one tasted alright, but the smaller one was bitter. I hope to do much better with melons next year.

Total this week: 58.48 pounds
Total this year: 297.7 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

In the ground this week

This week I've been working to get my squash and cucumber seedlings in the ground. I finished digging another whole bed and a half and up to 7 and a half of my 11 beds dug. Only 3 and 1/2 left to go.

Here's the squash and cucumber variety lists:
(18) National Pickling Cucumber
(3) Burpee Hybrid Slicer
(2 hills) Golden Zucchini (Fedco)
(1 hill) Dark Green Zucchini
(2 hills) Buttercup Squash
(2 hills) Delicata Squash
(3 hills) Butternut Squash
Here's a row of the cucumbers. We still need to build a frame for support.

I also seeded my first batch of Romano Green Beans and placed a few Scarlet runner beans near the frames for the tomato supports.

My pumpkins and melons await my finishing of another bed and a half. They are sprouted in newspaper pots and awaiting transplanting on the front porch.
I plan to get them in this weekend.
(2 hills) Jarrahdale Pumpkins
(2 hills) Pie Pumpkins
(2 hills) Minnesota Midget Melon
(2 hills) Iroquois Melon
All these seeds are thanks to Miss M.

After I finish my squash, the final two beds are for my peppers and eggplant and for more brassica crops.