Monday, June 25, 2012

Harvest Monday

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions each week. It's a great place to go and see what people are harvesting in their gardens this week! This is the second week I'll be joining in the fun.
This week was a good week for harvesting with a lot of firsts. My first cauliflower, admittedly small and starting to button already. Believe me, my photos make everything look a lot bigger than they are. A lot! On the plate beside the cauli are some broccoli "heads" the size of a single spear and a kohlrabi.
 My first cabbage! Looks good, doesn't it? It is the variety Farao, which I've had a lot of luck with. I have quite a few more coming in. Does anybody have any good cabbage recipe ideas besides coleslaw and sauerkraut?
 My first beets of the year. Can you tell which one is the Cylindra? These will be roasted and eaten in our salads.
 I've started digging the soft neck garlic, the smaller ones that have flopped over and gotten brown. This is the first year I've grown soft neck garlic and I didn't know you really shouldn't bother planting the tiniest cloves, so I have a lot of very small ones but they are still good for cooking with! The larger softnecks and all the hardnecks will likely be harvested next week sometime. I love homegrown garlic and it amazes me how many people around here think you can only grow it in California!
 This week the swiss chard really started coming in! I freeze a lot of it and use it all year, but it tastes so much better fresh and steamed. Of course, all vegetables taste best fresh, no doubt about it.
 Kale too! This batch was soon turned into kale chips. Addicting way to get in some extra greens.
 Finally, some broccoli. They were yummy! My heads are always verrrrrry small, but they are a good treat in any case. I just wish I could grow larger heads!
 More lettuce. Our lettuce is winding down now and we will miss it, but I must say I won't miss the vast quantities I was having to pick and wash. I still have quite a few romaines growing and a new wave of heat resistant varieties waiting in the wings to be planted out.
 The ubiquitous peas of three varieties. Snow peas in the red bowl, just hitting their stride. Sugar snap peas in the basket at their peak. Shelling peas in the white bowl at the end of the line. I'll be pulling the shelling pea plants this week and prepping the bed for something new.
The one big downer of the week was that with all the severe wind on Friday and then a strange, dry wind front that came through to our surprise on Saturday, I found one of my big healthy summer squash plants snapped off at the base. Oh, that made me sad! Still, there are plenty of other ones and it looks (though I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch), it looks... like I may have my first ever good year of zucchini and yellow squash. Won't that be nice!
Hoping all you gardeners out there are enjoying the bounty of your labors!

24 comments:

  1. Shame about your squash plant. I really must try Kale chips - everyone seems to rave about them. As for cabbage, if you like spices then try heating a little oil in a pan adding black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli, salt and curry leaves if available. Add the cabbage and a really small amount of water and put a lid on the pan. Cook. You could also add a bit of grated coconut if you have it.

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    1. Thanks for the cabbage idea Liz! I will try it. Kale chips I found took a little getting used to at first, but then I found myself munching away on them and really enjoying them as a healthy snack.

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  2. What abundant harvests! Congratulations! I'm a officially jealous of your cauliflower! It may be small, but it's more than I've ever grown!

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    1. Thank you Bee Girl! It really is very small and the others are even smaller. The heat we had last week didn't help. But I am very happy with getting even that little bit, especially as it's the first time I've ever tried to grow it.

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  3. So many gardeners are able to grow cauliflower yet I have no luck. Maybe I will try again next year.
    Stir fry cabbage is delicious.

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    1. I will keep that in mind! I stir fry so many greens yet somehow I forget about cabbage! Keep trying with that cauliflower, sooner or later it will work. I think I just had a little beginners luck.

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  4. What a great harvest! The cauliflower looks good, well so does everything else! I really hate the wind; makes me cranky and the damage it can do in the garden makes me mad sometimes,

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    1. Thank you Mary! You are so right about wind, just a few minutes of it can be so destructive. We are actually having storms right now as I write and I'm hoping it won't be as severe as Friday's. This was not expected!

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  5. Your cauliflower and broccoli look very good to me. Here's a link to a blog post I did earlier this month featuring a cabbage recipe you might find useful.

    http://www.modernvictorygarden.com/apps/blog/show/15750960-harvest-monday-june-4-2012

    Sorry you lost the squash plant to the high winds. It's frustrating when things like that happen.

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    1. Thank you for the recipe kitsap! It looks like one I will definitely try. I am very happy with the broccoli and cauliflower, but they are very small. We are certainly enjoying the flavor though!

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  6. Very nice harvest. My broccoli and cauliflower are always small too but I used to not get any at all so I am improving.

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    1. I'm with you! This is a step up for me too; well, the cauliflower I'd never tried before, but I'm getting broccoli and I used to not get any!

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  7. Great harvest and so much variety! The cauliflower looks great to me. I plant it nearly every year, and I never get any that's edible, so even a small one looks good to me.

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    1. Well, I have yet to see how edible it is! It'll be on the menu tonight along with the broccoli.

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  8. Great harvest. Keep selling the virtues of growing your own garlic. We had no idea how easy it was until just a few years ago. Now we can't live without it in our garden!!

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    1. Thanks! That's just how I feel! I never even thought of growing garlic years ago and now I hate having to buy it. Last year I grew 18 bulbs and saved 3 for planting this year. I ran out of my own garlic by December. This year I planted the cloves of those 3 I saved plus a whole lot more that I purchased; more like 80!

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  9. I love the basket in the picture with the red bowl.

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    1. Salvation army find! I've had an eye out for good harvest baskets.

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  10. Lovely harvests! I have beet envy - I didn't plant any this spring, but I will for fall. And I'm with you on the garlic, it's really pretty easy to grow and so tasty. I sometimes use those small cloves to grow green garlic.

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    1. Thanks Dave! I don't always do too well with beets, but last year was a good one til the voles discovered them. Hoping this year will yield a good amount too. Good idea about the green garlic; I'll have to try that.

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  11. Hi Nutmeg, You are getting a good harvest! How do you use your frozen swiss chard? I have too much lettuce right now too but I need to get a little more planted. Sorry about your lost squash! Nancy

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    1. Yes, my harvest has already surpassed last June's by quite a bit and last year was my best ever. I use my frozen chard in any recipe that calls for frozen spinach, as a green in soup or just cooked with butter on it.

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  12. Great harvest, I too grow very small broccoli, but it's looking a bit more promising this year. Love the beets! And as for the cabbage how about making Japanese Pancakes, Okonomyaki (http://thenewgoodlife.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/tuesday-night-vego-okonomiyaki-japanese-pancakes/) You can add chicken or pork mince too if you like - actually you can add anything really.

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    1. Good idea. I've never had okonomyaki, but my son loves it so I should give it a try.

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