Harvest Monday: September 20, 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.

Not much harvested this week from the garden spot. I did use up the Concord Grapes harvested last week to make some Grape Jelly:

This was the first time I have been able to harvest enough grapes to make something with them. I used the recipe on the pectin box and the jelly came out good. I apologize for not posting more about the grapes last week as promised. Things were a bit crazy here last week. I do promise to post more about the grape and the grape vines this week.

Tomatoes are still ripening, but at a much slower pace now. I am picking them as they blush to avoid insect damage. They also seem to ripen quicker on the windowsill as our nights have been much cooler lately. Also, a few cucumbers were harvested along with some beans to add to a salad:

I made yet another batch of tomato sauce this weekend. I am re-heating it now and will be canning it tonight. Most of the tomato plants are looking very sickly. This upcoming weekend, I will be harvesting of all the remaining tomatoes, then pulling the plants and putting them out of their misery. They have served me very well. I have canned more sauce and salsa than I ever dreamed I would this year.

Next week looks more promising. The peppers are finally putting on some size and the summer squash are still slowly producing. Fall crops are also coming along. I also will be harvesting some herbs for drying this upcoming week.

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

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Harvest Monday: July 26, 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.

Here in the Garden Spot, the Early Girl Tomatoes are living up to their reputation by ripening the first in the garden. The ones pictured below were allowed to ripen on the vine before harvesting:

Since the danger of Late Blight is near, all other tomatoes will be picked at first blush and placed on a windowsill inside to finish ripening. I know from my devastating Late Blight experience last year that this disease hits fast. Once you detect the tell tail signs, it will be too late to save any tomatoes. I would rather have a few ripen on a windowsill than lose them completely. I will consider them a harvest and include them in Harvest Monday photos once they are red.

Cucumbers pictured above were combined with those left over from last week’s harvest and made into Granny’s Bread & Butter Pickles.

It is a great year for blueberries. We are picking a bowlful every day and eating them by the handful, in our cereal, and as dessert topping:

Almost 5 pounds of Dark Red Norland Potatoes were harvested this week:

Again with Late Blight near, I didn’t hesitate to harvest whatever we could consume in a week. We enjoyed garlic-mashed potatoes, hash brown potatoes and onions, oven fries, and potatoes baked on the grill.

Not pictured are onions, celery, and herbs that are harvested as needed. It is so nice to run out to the garden and pick what is needed to use right away. Some cucumbers also missed their photo opportunity as I gathered them quickly to give away. I definitely overdid it with cucumber plants this year.

We are between lettuce crops now that we have cucumbers and tomatoes for salads. The last of the lettuce harvested several weeks ago and stored in the fridge was composted this week. There wasn’t much left. I am amazed at how long the lettuce stayed fresh in the refrigerator. It will be a while before the new lettuce is large enough for salads.

The melons are growing, the pole beans are flowering, and the peppers are finally forming. I am trying to keep a positive attitude, but the fact that Late Blight is in the vicinity is weighing heavily on my mind. There are 34 tomato plants and 32 feet of potatoes in the garden. All can be lost in a matter of days if Late Blight hits the garden spot.

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

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Harvest Monday: September 27, 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. Below is an overview of some of the bounty harvested over the past week:

The peppers seemed slow this year, but this week I was able to harvest 2-pounds of Anaheim Peppers:

These were used to make some Chicken Enchiladas with Dan’s Green Chili Sauce. Dan’s recipe (Urban Veggie Garden Blog) can be found here. I modified his recipe a little bit to cook in a slow cooker/crock pot. There was enough Green Chili Sauce to freeze for another meal.

The tomatoes are still coming in. After this weekend, only the San Marazano plants remain in the garden. There are still many tomatoes on these vines and a few are harvested each day to finish ripening on the windowsill:

These are the fruit that were salvaged from the pulled tomato plants from yesterday's post:

A large amount of eggplant was harvested and used for Eggplant Parmesean:

Yellow Summer Squash, Bell Peppers from a branch that bent over from their weight, and some more San Marazano Tomatoes to add to the overflowing windowsill:

Another Yellow Summer Squash and a Zucchini that went from small to large in less than 24 hours. Must have been a result of the warm weather we had last week. It will be seeded, grated, and frozen for zucchini bread later this fall/winter:

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

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Early September Garden Overview: Part 2

This is a continuation to part 1 of the garden spot overview.

The celery grown in the Self Watering Containers (SWC) was a huge success. We had plenty for fresh eating and I have several bags in the freezer to add to soups and stuffing’s this winter. I thought the celery was finished and was going to pull it, but I noticed some new growth. So I trimmed out the old stalks and gave them a drink of fish emulsion to encourage it to produce again:

Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash have always been a staple in the garden spot. However, when planning the spring garden I still had a supply in the freezer from last year. When room became a problem, I elected to delay growing Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash. I tried to grow Zucchini in a pot, but it really wasn’t happy:

I planned on planting both squashes mid-season once space opened up in the potato patch. One row of mid-season potatoes was being harvested little by little as early potatoes. I started some summer squash seedlings and thought I could transplant the potted zucchini in this area.

Once moved from pot to ground, the zucchini responded really well to its new location and has increased in size and produced more fruit:

The mid-season Yellow Summer Squash has formed its first fruit that should be ready for harvest soon:

Lettuce seedlings were started in soil blocks then transplanted to the garden along with some Evergreen Bunching Onions:

Unfortunately the Simpson Elite Lettuce is bolting after our heat wave last week. Luckily there is still time to reseed:

Also soil block transplanted were Pak Choi and Michihili Cabbage. Hopefully they will make it in spite of the insect damage:

 Spinach has been transplanted into an area shaded by tomatoes and peppers:

Carrots were planted where the garlic was harvested:

Most of the potato patch now stands empty. The final Sugar Baby Watermelons in the melon patch will be harvested soon and shortly the melon patch will stand empty as well.

The temperature was much more comfortable today for working in the garden and I was able to accomplish some much needed cleanup. The abnormal 90-degree temperatures we had last week are hopefully gone for good.

I made another batch of tomato sauce yesterday and canned it early this morning. More beans were blanched and frozen. One more day to enjoy, then I'll be back to work.

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Harvest Monday: August 2, 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.

I am a little late with posting my Harvest Monday post. It was a very busy weekend here at the garden spot. The weather was so beautiful with much less humidity than we have been experiencing. It was so much easier to work outside in the yard and garden without the oppressive heat. I was so motivated.

We ran out of tomato sauce, which is a staple in this household. So I needed to make a batch to tide us over until the garden tomatoes are ready. Everything that went into the sauce was from the garden except for the tomatoes, which came from cans. Good quality canned tomatoes, but canned nonetheless. I was thrilled to use my own grown garlic, onions, basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano in the sauce.  I can’t wait to use my own grown tomatoes.

I also took advantage of the cooler weather and canned up some Kosher Dill Pickles and some Salsa. In addition, the garden paths were weed whacked and gardens weeded. The plants were pruned, fertilized, and watered.

I am so thrilled to have tomatoes coming in fast and furious this year. The ones pictured below are Early Girl, but the paste tomatoes also began ripening this week as well. I will have some to show for next week’s Harvest Monday:

This week I also harvested a few of the first Nante carrots from the Square Foot Garden. These are shown below with some celery thinnings. The celery growing in the SWC was looking a bit ratty, so I took some scissors and cleaned it up and thinned it out. Some of these trimmings went into salads, but most were chopped and frozen for later use in soups this fall and winter:

More cucumbers were harvested:

I gave away some cucumbers and will probably be giving away much more in the future. I’ve made one batch of Bread & Butter Pickles and this weekend canned up 12 pints of Kosher Dill Pickle spears. We now have more pickles than we could ever consume. If they taste good, most jars will be probably given away as well. Here is the Dill harvest that was used for the Kosher Dill Pickle recipe:

I also harvested another batch of basil that was turned into pesto and frozen for later use:

The first Fast Break Melon was harvested on Friday. I don’t expect much from the first melon. It has usually struggled to grow and is pollinated early when the temperatures are quite cool and the plant is still trying to establish itself. This one was small, a bit deformed, and only about 4-inches across. It had already slipped from the vine when I found it. I ate this first melon for breakfast this morning, it was delicious:

A few more Fast Break Melons ripened over the weekend:

More Dark Red Norland Potatoes were harvested:

Blueberries, a few raspberries, and blackberries:

The first Kentucky Wonder Pole beans:

These were snacked on right after the photo. I usually grow bush beans for an earlier harvest, but decided against them this year as we had too many beans last year. Kentucky Wonder and Purple Trionfo Pole Beans were planted and they have just begun to form beans. Soon I will be harvesting beans every day. I can’t wait.

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

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Harvest Monday: August 23, 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.

An abundant harvest again this week from the garden spot. The amount of tomatoes harvested each day is astounding. Most are laid out on the kitchen counter and windowsill until completely ripe, then washed and frozen in gallon sized freezer bags.

Pole beans are producing a colander full every day now. I’ve been blanching and freezing them but will begin canning some soon.

Onions were pulled and laid out on a garden bench to begin drying. They are now hanging in the shed to finish curing.

A few cayane peppers were harvested. These will be dried for red pepper flakes.

This weekend I made my first large batch of tomato sauce from this years garden tomatoes using my food strainer for the first time. I received the food strainer as a Christmas gift from my parents last year and it cuts down a ton of time by removing the tomato peeling and seeds from raw tomatoes. The sauce simmered all day yesterday and will be divided up and stored in freezer containers tonight. I am looking forward to doing it all again next weekend. There are 6 one-gallon freezer bags full of tomatoes in the chest freezer and more tomatoes coming in each day. This year’s tomato harvest is making up for last years disappointing loss to late blight.

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

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Succession Planning: Getting the Most Out of the Garden Spot

Last weekend was dedicated to cleaning up the garden a bit and replanting more crops. This year I am trying to keep every spot growing. Once something is pulled from the garden, compost is added to the spot and something else is transplanted or seeded.

The lettuce had bolted and the Swiss chard had overgrown its area and has only been serving to feed the slugs:

Two Swiss chard plants remain and some of the unblemished Swiss chard was harvested. The rest was composted along with the bolted lettuce. New Lettuce and Swiss chard transplants will be planted into the squares where these were pulled. I am just waiting for the seedlings to get a little stronger before hardening them off.

I am growing a couple zucchini plant in a pot this year because I ran out of garden space. They don't look very happy:

I have been harvesting the new potatoes little by little along the edge of the potato patch. Some summer squash and zucchini seedlings will be transplanted to the area of the garden where the new potatoes have been harvested:

 The largest replanting this weekend was the Sugar Snax Carrots which were planted in the 4x4 SFG that the garlic was harvested from last week.

Several weeks ago, while it was too hot to work in the garden, I made carrot seed mats (Granny’s Seed Mat Tutorial at Annie’s Kitchen Garden). These were planted last weekend:

First a generous amount of fresh compost was added to the old garlic bed and mixed in along with a few scoops of Garden Tone fertilizer:

The SFG is 6-inches high but according to the package, Sugar Snax Carrots can grow 10-inches long. I loosened the soil beneath the bed with a garden fork by sinking the tines to the hilt in the soil and wiggling the fork back and forth. The objective is not to mix the native soil in with the SFG soil, just to loosen the soil below so the roots can penetrate easily:

Some of the soil was removed and mixed with vermiculite to cover the carrot seed mats:

 The carrot seed mats were laid out and sprinkled with some soil to hold in place:

 Then covered lightly:

 And watered generously:

There are still maybe 70+ days left to our growing season before the danger of frost threatens and I am going to try to make the most of it. I don’t think I want to try winter gardening just yet, but I will be using frost protection on two 4x4 SFGs in attempt to extend the growing season.

I also plan on overwintering some crops such as scallions, spinach, carrots, and maybe others. In the mean time, seedlings are also being started in soil blocks for herbs such as dill, basil, cilantro, and some cool weather crops that will go in the garden as the summer crops finish up: Spinach, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, and Broccoli. This is much easier to control for me this year since I am growing my own seedlings instead of purchasing transplants.

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