This week saw the end of the "summer garden" with the first freeze on Friday night/Saturday morning. I brought in the remaining peppers, green tomatoes and green beans. The harvest this week pushed my October total above last year's, so now I can say I've had the most productive garden I've ever had. At the end of the month I'll tally the total, but I know it is over 500 pounds at this point, which makes me very happy.
I picked a pound of broccoli shoots, probably the last I'll get, although the plants survived the frost, so you never know!
My flat-leaf parsley didn't do too well, but I was able to get a little bit to pop in the freezer. I still have some growing in the garden.
Kale will likely be the majority of the harvest for the next month! I turned this into a really tasty stew made with pinto beans and smoked pork shoulder. I based my recipe loosely on several I found online and really liked it, so it is something I will surely make again.
I've never done so well with peppers before! I only wish I'd gotten a few more red ones, but no complaints really. We have plenty in the freezer now for winter meals.
Here are the very last of a phenomenal green bean harvest. As with peppers, there are plenty in the freezer to make sure we get our veggies all year round.
Brought in a few more of my skinny leeks. About half of the leeks are still out in the garden and will stay there until I need them. Last year I had a few that overwintered, so maybe I'll have the same this year.
And lastly, I picked a colanderful of salad greens. This is a mix of chard, various baby lettuces, komatsuna, mibuna, arugula and tatsoi. I prefer a more lettuce based salad, but my husband is perfectly happy with this mix for fresh salads. After this week I think the harvests will slow way down.
Hop on over to
Daphne's Dandelions where she host's Harvest Monday to see what other gardeners around the world have brought in this week!
Those broccoli shoots look delicious. It's one of my favorite vegetables. That basket of peppers is particularly nice too. You should be proud of how well they grew for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Broccoli is our favorite too and this is the first year ever that we've gotten enough to really enjoy!
DeleteVery nice harvest, and a nice basket of peppers! I still have many sitting on my table waiting to be eaten. I may have to freeze some, but my kids love to eat them raw and they get all mushy when frozen so would have to be used in meals. It has been a good year for peppers!
ReplyDeleteSure has! You're right, raw is best with peppers, but the frozen slices work pretty well on pizza and in cooking.
DeleteYour broccoli and peppers are simply wonderful! They did so well in comparison to mine! Really gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Every year is different, that's for sure. Last year my peppers did poorly.
DeleteWow, what lovely peppers! Congrat´s! I usually forget to grow them at all, since I have to many hot varieties and then don´t find the space for them! Well, all Your produce seems really enjoyable to me! Thanks a lot for the condoleanses last week! Have a good forthcoming week! :) Mia
ReplyDeleteThank you Mia! We use peppers a lot, so I'm glad they did well. It's been a good gardening year for me in most regards.
DeleteWe're still a ways off from the end of our harvest, but I know our year won't be anything like yours - I think you've had a fabulous year! Dreaming of next year's garden yet?
ReplyDeleteYou bet I am Susan! I keep hoping to have a really good year of tomatoes :-) and winter squash! I don't know, you look like you are getting great harvests to me!
DeleteVery nice harvest! Love the peppers and the greens. Leeks can probably stay there all winter long without damage and parsley will come back to life next spring with whole lot more greens!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jenny! I am happy with them too. Good thought about the parsley, maybe I'll get more and better next year!
DeleteYou sure got a great harvest from your summer garden for this time of year. Great looking broccoli and peppers.
ReplyDeleteThank you! There is just so much joy in gardening isn't there?
DeleteWhat a great harvest! This was a pretty good pepper week for me too, tho they were slow getting going this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary! Glad you got a good pepper output too!
DeleteNice harvest you got again! I dried some of my parsley this year to use in cooking. I like the flat over the curly I think. Probably my garden is mostly done except for some greens for salads. Time to plan for next year!!! Nancy
ReplyDeleteI am already thinking of next year too! I generally freeze my parsley, never have tried drying it.
DeleteBeautiful photos and a great harvest!! The leeks and parsley are biennials and will bloom the second year, but you should be able to eat the leeks right up to the time they want to start their scape in spring. They have a lovely round ball of bloom, and the bees adore them. You might leave a few just for them ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great idea! It is always nice to start the spring with a few things already growing and greening!
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