Harvest Monday: October 3, 2010

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. It’s fun to see what everyone is harvesting from his or her gardens in different areas.

The thermometer read 36˚F/2˚C as the sun rose early Sunday morning. Our first frost is imminent and was predicted to occur early Monday morning, but we escaped frost free. It is just a matter of time now. The weekend was devoted to preparing for the end of the growing season for the year.

Most of the tomato plants were pulled several weeks ago, but the San Marzano tomatoes growing in the Square Foot Gardens (SFG) were still healthy and producing so they were allowed to grow until first frost. This weekend, I harvested most of the large green and partially ripe tomatoes and trimmed the plants down to the ground. I was surprised to end up with 4 paper case sized boxes of tomatoes. I am not sure if all the green tomatoes will ripen, but I am certain some will.

The rest of the peppers were harvested, there were a few Jalapeno, Bells, and Anaheim left:

A few Zucchini, some small Cayenne peppers, and one Carrot that was pulled up to check the size:

The Purple Trionfo Pole Beans that I am trying to save for next year’s seed were pulled and spread out to finish drying in the basement:

Another batch of tomato sauce was made and canned; herbs were snipped, washed, and dried in the microwave or dehydrator; and one more batch of pesto was made and frozen for later use.

I welcome the end of the growing season. The garden has served us very well this year. Weekends have been busy cooking, canning and freezing each weekly harvest. The freezer and pantry shelves are jam-packed with the garden’s bounty to be used over the winter months.  I am looking forward to a break from gardening for a little while. The upcoming weeks will be busy with final cleanup of the garden, raking, shredding, and composting leaves; and stacking wood. Winter will be here before we know it.

Be sure to visit Daphne’s Dandelions to see what others are harvesting this week.