June 14, 2010: Harvest Monday

For the week of June 7-13

Harvested:

6 oz. strawberries
18 oz. raspberries
12 oz. spinach
2 oz. shallots
2-1/2 oz. sugar snap peas
122 oz. lettuce
43 oz. onions
24 oz. carrots
sprig of dill

229.5 oz = 14.3475 lb. for the week

49.218 lb. year to date

*Daphne's Dandelions is our host for Harvest Monday*



This week I harvested lettuce.


And more lettuce.


Onions, carrots and shallots.


And more lettuce.


Raspberries.


Carrots and the first three sugar snap peas.


More carrots and more sugar snap peas.


And more lettuce. A lot more lettuce.


One head of Summer Crisp completely filled the laundry basket, and weighed nearly 1-1/2 pounds. It was still sweet and crisp, but I lost some of the large outer leaves to slug damage.


The Red Sails is also getting huge, but showing no signs of bolting or bitterness.



Along with the Summer Crisp and the Red Sails, I had two bunches of Red Romaine and two of another (unknown) variety. This made for an overflowing basket full of lettuce!


Some of the smaller onions. They are too large to call "salad onions", but too small for drying. They're a really good size for just about any way I want to use them.


The onions would be so perfect if it weren't for the wire worms in the soil. Four of these six onions had some damage. It's just one tiny hole in each, and it doesn't go deep, but it takes away from the perfection.



Consumed

sweet pickle relish (2009)
dill pickle relish (2009)
baby spinach
sweet red peppers (freezer, 2009),
home canned pizza sauce (2009).
home made ketchup (2009)
raspberries
radishes
lettuce
strawberries
carrots
shallots
sugar snap peas
onions
home canned pickles (2009)
home canned pickled beets (2009)
peach jam (2009)
dill


The last of the spinach made a delicious spinach and strawberry salad with a
balsamic vinegar/oil/sugar dressing.


Home made pizza used pizza sauce (home made 2009), sweet pepper strips from the freezer (2009) and onions from this year's garden.


Observations:

Taste test of Chantenay Organic and Ingot carrots: both were crisp and sweet, Chantenay maybe a bit sweeter than Ingot, but needed to be scraped due to so many "hairy" roots. Short 'n Sweet carrots didn't live up to their name. They aren't terribly short, and not nearly as sweet as the other two varieties.
.
6/12 Summer is here, it's 91.3F in the shade. I should have put something on the west side of the lettuce beds for late afternoon shade.

The Black Beauty zucchini is blossoming, but all are male blossoms.


General Gardening:

6/8 Constructed shade tops for lettuce beds.

6/8 Mowed with push mower, to collect grass clippings for garden.

6/8 Tied on horizontal supports for peppers.

6/8 Fertilized garden peppers with 10-10-10, then added a 1" layer of grass clippings. Even with all the rain we've had, the raised beds dry out very quickly.

6/9 Pulled bolting spinach and planted bush beans in its place. Hesitated to do so, as that area of the bed is surrounded on three sides by onions, which are supposed to be bad for the beans.

6/11 Moved large pot of blossoming cilantro, but roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and the plant died.


Poor, wilted cilantro.


Other

While trying to show Mr. Granny the first tiny Sungold tomato, I broke it off :-(

Neighbor, Pat, bought me a motion sensor owl for the garden, so I hung it over the peas to deter birds and squirrels. It goes "hoo-hoo-hoo" when something passes near it, but today its hoo-hoo got stuck, so I had to turn it off.


You really haven't lived until your hoo-hoo gets stuck!



30 comments:

  1. WoW! Can you even eat that much lettuce before it goes bad!?

    The hoo-hoo had me laughing out loud!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Megan, so far I've not thrown any out! I do usually have about four gallon-sized bags in the fridge at one time, but we consume a large salad on most nights, and our pet rabbit (who is about the size of my two fists together) has a voracious appetite for it. I have given my neighbor two bags, and two bags went to my son John this week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It all looks so good and beautiful. You encouraged me to pick a couple of onions. I know they are not big but I am sure they will be tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You could feed your very own small country with all of that lettuce. At least the state of Rhode Island.

    How wonderful everything looks, but I hope your hoo hoo stays free and clear for a long time. I'm curious to see if he works.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, too funny! I was laughing out loud at your stuck hoo-hoo comment, and my 8yo asked what was so funny (summer vacation officially started today). I had to click on the owl real quick and tell him I thought the bird was really funny looking....

    Anyway, you sure do have lots of lettuce! Sorry to hear your cilantro died. I've been purposefully abusing mine--withholding water & putting in the full, hot sun--to force the blooms to finish already. They sure are gangly when they bolt...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Johanna, I planted around 130 of those Walla Walla sweet onions, and they aren't good storage onions. That's why I use all of them I can, at every stage of growth, from small scallions, then salad onions, and finally larger ones to dry.

    ********
    Ribbit, I can't even remember the last time my hoo-hoo worked. Yes, it's been that long ;-)

    ********
    Momma_S, I was just letting that cilantro grow and blossom for the birds. I do NOT like cilantro. The small amount I use in my salsa can be purchased for 39-cents at the local Mexican market. I sure thought it looked pretty in the garden, though. It had started to set seed, and when my son moved it, the seeds went flying everywhere. I suppose I'll be growing more cilantro, like it or not ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. That hoo-hoo is awesome! I see you are trying to vacate space in the freezer too! We have been doing alot of stir fry trying to get rid of all those pepper strips!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You are amazing Granny! I can't believe how much lettuce you have grown.

    Do I see raspberry jam in the near future?

    I certainly hope your hoo-hoo gets unstuck. Nobody wants a stuck hoo-hoo :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, that's a lovely harvest you have, as usual. Too bad you didn't get much lettuce. ;-) I love that bowl of red raspberries too. Your harvest always makes me hungry, even if I've just eaten.

    91F? It's almost as as hot there as here! Sounds like you went from cold to hot pretty quickly!!! It's been 95 here the last few days, not right for only June!

    And I have to say I hope my hoo-hoo NEVER gets stuck!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here's hoping you get your hoo-hoo unstuck soon, Granny.

    I do believe the photo of that spinach salad with strawberries and vinaigrette actually made me salivate -- and I've had lunch! Your harvests are always so inspiring. I can't wait until I can churn out the gorgeous, tasty produce with that kind of skill and grace. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Erin, I fear there are several more bags of pepper strips in the deep down depths of the freezer. I need to get back on my fajita kick.

    ********
    Robin, as soon as Mr. Granny and I have had our fill of fresh raspberries, I'll begin my "freezer stash" to save them up for at least one batch of jam. If they last that long ;-)

    ********
    Villager, that temperature is quite normal for our area, which usually sees 100-112 by the end of July. We're actually back down in the 70s again today, and expecting to stay there all week. My favorite temperature!

    If your hoo-hoo ever gets stuck, I'll bet you'll figure out a way to fix it real quick ;-)

    ********
    Meredith, that strawberry-spinach salad was the best of the year. I picked the last of the spinach while it was really young, and there's nothing as good as home grown strawberries. Put them together, and you have a winner!

    ********

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm still laughing about the hoo-hoo that hasn't worked for a while ;'). Working hoo-hoos are a good thing. Great harvest, as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My goodness those raspberries look good. We get a handful a day and they are eaten before we get up to the house!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful harvest! You could feed a small army with all that lettuce!

    I'm anxiously waiting for my first tomatoes too. I have a few small green cherry tomatoes.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's hot here too now--spring and its mild, balmy days are over. Boo. Thanks for the tasting notes on the carrots!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What seed co. are your carrots from? I'm growing the short'n sweets too, and also red-cored chantenay from SoC and dragon from SSE. So far none of mine are big enough for harvesting though.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's an amazing harvest! And I love the owl. It's too bad you had to turn it off.

    It sounds as though you do wonderful things with your garden produce. That's the best part of it all, isn't it?

    Happy gardening!

    ReplyDelete
  18. All your lettuce looks perfect! You may need to get some more rabbits though :-) The food just gets better and better too! I've been in a bit of a cooking funk lately, seems to happen every so often.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Poor Cilantro :(

    Those carrots look scrumptious! I hope mine look like that when I decide to pull 'em!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. So is the owl like the singing bass fish wall hanging thing? Annoying as all get out and kind of scarey?! LOL! I hope his hoo hoo starts working soon and he does the trick for you on protecting the garden. ;)

    Great harvest week for you! Love the strawberry and baby spinach salad. My strawberries are so late this year that I have no chance of following your lead and doing the same - as the spring spinach has gone by already and the strawberries are just green bumps at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Cheryl, yes it's not good to have your hoo-hoo broken ;-)

    ********
    Lee, they don't last long around here. It's only been this past week that we've had enough for two. Before that it was just a bite for each of us.

    ********
    Emily, I found several tiny tomatoes today. I even found a couple on one of my Cherokee Purple plants! I'm really looking forward to trying those and the Sungold.

    ********
    Christina, it cooled down again today! This has been the oddest spring ever.

    ********
    Jennifer, my Short 'n Sweet carrot seed is from Burpee. It turned out to be my least favorite of the three varieties.

    ********
    Martha, I love my garden right now. When I'm bringing in 20-30 pounds of tomatoes a day, and wondering what to do with it all, I won't love it so much ;-)

    ********
    Dan, I'm afraid I'm headed for lettuce overload. I wish the tomatoes would hurry up, so I could overdose on BLTs!

    ********
    Allison, carrots and new potatoes have to be my garden favorites. I never plant enough of either one.

    ********
    Kitsap, the owl just went hoo-hoo day and night, and I never saw anything moving to cause it. I have him hanging in the kennel garden, and I'm thinking the breeze makes him turn and the kennel posts create the illusion of movement....but it's really the owl moving. Did that make sense? LOL

    I have the day neutral strawberries, so my harvest is never large, but it just keeps getting better through the season, right up until it freezes. I sometimes wish I'd planted the June bearing, and had a nice big harvest all at once.

    ReplyDelete
  22. How much lettuce, and it's still sweet and crisp with those high temperatures, impressive.

    My zucchini only has female flowers so far, were it not for the distance, it would be a good match for yours.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Angela, we actually only had the one hot day. It's been cool and wet this spring, way below normal temperatures, and excellent lettuce growing weather.

    Maybe I could send you a boy blossom in the mail, LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh no! Not the first Sungold. Tell me it was just a joke Granny. That is worse then getting your hoo hoo stuck.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow, Granny! As always, your harvest has left me green with envy! Everything looks wonderful.

    All of my melons and squashes are covered in blossoms - boy blossoms! What's up, Mother Nature? Sheesh.. get with the program already!


    Hoo-hoo? Ha ha!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Daphne, alas, it is so. *sniffle*

    ********
    Caffienated Mom, yay, you're back! Yes, what's with our girls? They're late to the dance.

    "Hoo-hoo? Ha ha!" Hee-hee.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow! What a beautiful harvest. And thanks for the belly laugh this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh AG, luckily my hoo has never been stuck!

    I just can not get over how good everything looks, especially that lettuce- it's perfect!!!! You are truly an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Eleanor, thanks! and you're welcome :-)

    ********
    Stevie, so do I! That was the last of the spring spinach, but I'm sure those strawberries will be almost as good on some of my lettuce.

    ********
    Kelly, you'd better hope your hoo never gets stuck. It's not a pretty sight ;-)

    ReplyDelete