Monday, October 1, 2012

Harvest Monday

I am now at the point of harvesting only about every other day and the amounts are small. Lettuce is growing, but still a little too small to use yet. The same with some late-sown mizuna and radishes I put in.
 I had plenty of kale to harvest as seen above, and a very little swiss chard. Peppers were my biggest harvest this week. I've been trying to hold off picking them until they are red, but most are taking so long and are such a tempting target for slugs, that I may forget about the waiting and harvest the large green peppers anyway.
I still got some tomatoes, mostly cherry tomatoes from the two volunteer plants and my other plants have a few smallish green ones, a few of which are actually ripening slowly. Harvested, but didn't photograph komatsuna and about two pounds of green beans. Along with the peppers and kale, the green beans are still my big producers.
A number of you advised me to wait patiently on my brussels sprouts so I am taking your advice. I am seeing some growth of the sprouts there, so still hoping that with another few weeks before first frost, plus they do tolerate the frost well, they may get big enough to give something of a harvest. Crossing my fingers!
Daphne's Dandelions is the host of Harvest Monday where garden bloggers go to share what they've harvested for the week. It's very inspiring and instructive to see what's happening in the vegetable gardening world and I'm hopping on over to see!

26 comments:

  1. That is a lot of kale. Are'nt volunteers wonderful. I wish I had some cherry tomatoes to add to my salad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I am very grateful for those volunteers that are extending my poor tomato harvest!

      Delete
  2. What a colorful basket of produce........We are in the second month of spring so quite a bit of time before we can enjoy fresh tomatoes,really have been missing them especially those little cherry ones which are so great in salads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Andrea! I'm envying you being in spring! It's always a little sad to be in autumn. Wouldn't it be great if the tomatoes were ripe at the same time as the early spring lettuce?

      Delete
  3. Slugs seem to eat different things in different places, or maybe its the type of slug that varies - one of the few things I never had them eat is peppers. Brussel Sprouts are very much a winter crop here and they are very traditional fayre in the UK at Christmas so I would presume they are harvested there in November/December but perhaps i'm wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read the same Liz, that one can harvest the Brussels Sprouts even under the snow. So I will be patient and hope to have some for Christmas! As for slugs, this is the first time I've ever had them go for the peppers, but I think that I have so many of them this year they are going for whatever they can!

      Delete
  4. My peppers are doing the same thing. I have some nice sized ones out there but all green at the moment, and the early jalapenos appear to be stopped in growth. I am starting to seal up the greenhouse (where they are growing in containers) in the hopes that the extra warmth will help them along.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm certain my problem is lack of sunlight here. Plus, you are right, September turned cool right away, so that may be it. Good luck with the greenhouse (which is on my wish-list!)heating them up!

      Delete
  5. Lovely pepper harvest there! I almost always forget to saw the sweet peppers, since I grow so many hot ones, that I almost don´t have the space for them! Love the kale and chard as well - a wonderful harvest! My kale was eaten by the slugs! Have a nice week! :) Mia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You too Mia! Don't you just hate those slugs? I'm the opposite of you, I plant all sweet peppers and never any hot ones. Next year I think I'll try a few hots for cooking with.

      Delete
  6. Your kale looks delicious! I think I waited too long to put mine in so it's still very little :-( Hopefully it perks up a bit before we get any frost! I hope your brussels sprouts do some perking up, too!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with your kale! Mine was from the spring planting; my fall planting of kale is quite small yet and may only give me some early spring greens if the winter isn't too hard.

      Delete
  7. oooh I am itching to get summer planting underway - BUT I know I need to wait for the soil to heat up more.

    Your garden has been providing you well.

    Love Leanne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Leanne! This year is my best garden yet, even with the under-performers. You'll be enjoying your summer planting in no time! I'll be loving your warm-looking photos when the snow is swirling around here!

      Delete
  8. Beautiful greens and peppers! Sorry to hear about the slug issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jenny! Those slugs are pests, that's for sure, but they're easier to deal with than some things (like squash beetles!)

      Delete
  9. Hi! Nice harvest yet. I am harvesting a little lettuce too but it seems like mine has grown very slowly this year. I almost always pick my peppers when they are green. Don't want anything else to get them! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy! I've pretty much given up on trying to let my peppers get red. The slugs are just too busy!

      Delete
  10. Your peppers are beautiful! Is your weather turning? I bet you have wonderful fall colors in your area... though not so much in the garden... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Susan! Our peak fall colors are coming in about two weeks. They really are beautiful and I'll probably post some pictures. The garden will be looking more brown unless I can convince some of those peppers to turn red for me :-)

      Delete
  11. I've never managed to wait til my peppers turn red, just too tempting to pick the green ones and I always get my plants in too late so it gets too cold and not sunny enough to ripen fully.

    The rest of your harvest is very impressive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! It is hard to wait for the red peppers, but they taste so good and this year I had so many I thought I could do it. But I'd rather have beautiful green ones than leave them for those rotten slugs to ruin!

      Delete
  12. What a lovely plate of peppers~! and a great basket of greenS~

    ReplyDelete
  13. That looks like a super full basket to me! Looks great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Shawn Ann! Kale does fill a basket well!

      Delete