July 26, 2010: Monday Harvest

Daphne's Dandelions hosts Monday Harvest. Visit her to join in on the fun, and see what others are harvesting from their gardens.

The week of July 19-25













*Not all of the harvest was photographed


8 oz. basil
24 oz. pole beans (Fortex)
37 oz. beets
18 oz. cabbage
30 oz. carrots
51 oz. corn
12 oz. cucumber
22 oz. lettuce
49 oz. peppers (sweet)
72 oz. potatoes
45 oz. crookneck squash
114 oz. zucchini
25 oz. strawberries
65 oz. tomatoes

Total for week: 572 ounces = 35.75 pounds
Total year to date: 226.28 pounds


This week I picked my first Clear Pink Early tomato, and the flavor did not disappoint. I expect the flavor to get even better as the other fruits mature. Clear Pink Early is described as "Compact determinate plant loaded with long trusses of perfectly round, smooth, beautiful clear pink tomatoes. The flavor is very good, sweet yet tangy, making this a delightful addition to an early harvest. Heirloom variety of Russian origin." I find it more sweet than tangy, but that may change with later fruits. It is a pretty tomato, and really large considering the compact size of the plant.

I also picked my first Nyageous tomato, which is described as "A prolific, rare, Russian tomato variety. Beautiful, smooth, round, "black" tomatoes that are dark mahogany with dark gray-green shoulders. Nyagous is a wonderfully firm and blemish-free, 6 oz. tomato with lots of sweet, complex fruit flavors and a clean acidic finish. Up to 6 fruits to a cluster. A good market variety that has become a favorite of the Russian varieties. Resistant to cracking." It's rather short for an indeterminate plant. It was delicious.

So far, I'm impressed with:

Clear Pink Early, for being so compact, prolific and tasty.
Nyagous, for its beautiful, deep color and rich flavor.
Black Cherry for flavor and fruit size, being larger than most other cherry tomatoes.

I'm unimpressed with:

Gartenperle. It is loaded with small, red cherry tomatoes that taste absolutely nasty. I gave it several weeks (it was an extremely early tomato), but the flavor never did improve. Both of my plants are headed for the compost.

The jury is out on:

Minigold. It's early (my earliest), and prolific. The fruits are very small and rather thick skinned. The flavor is just so-so to me, but my daughter thinks they are very good. The color is pretty when mixed with the other (black and red) cherries. Since it grows well in a container, and stays quite small, it might be worth growing just for its earliness. The tomatoes are better than store bought.


This week I ripped all the lettuces from both lettuce beds, as much of it had bolted. The Red Sails and Parris Island Romaine were still lovely, so they were harvested. The beds were then given a good digging in of alfalfa pellets, and new lettuce seedlings were planted in one of them. Seed mats of carrots, spinach and lettuce were made for the other bed, and will be planted sometime this week. The day after I transplanted the lettuce seedlings, it turned really hot again....101F, and it's expected to get around 103F this week. I added some plastic netting around the new lettuce bed, as the sparrows had been ravaging the greens again. The same will be done to the other bed, just as soon as it is planted.

Mr. Granny had never eaten pesto. Mr. Granny would never try Italian sausages, even though I often cooked them for myself when he ate his bratwurst. Last night I decided Mr. Granny was going to eat pesto and Italian sausage, come hell or high water, so I cooked the sausages with tons of sauteed sweet onions and green peppers. I sauteed a bunch of garlic until soft, and tossed it into a bowl of spaghetti along with the home made pesto and all the cherry tomatoes I had on hand, halved. Mr. Granny not only ate Italian sausages and pesto, he ate seconds. And he asked for the leftovers for lunch. He is a convert, and even admits to liking the Italian sausages better than his brats!

27 comments:

  1. What a great harvest! I love the new header photo as well. Congratulations on converting Mr. Granny on the pesto and italian sausage!

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  2. Beautiful harvest going on there Granny. I love Italian sausages but better than Brats…hmmmm, I don’t think so. :o) John

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  3. So, you can teach an old dog new tricks! I am happy to hear that the Mr. likes the sausage and pesto.

    Boy, your strawberries are really taking off...yum!

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  4. You know, I've never thought I liked pesto either. I had a bad batch once, I suppose, on my first try and that was it.

    This last weekend I tried some basil on a pizza and really liked it. I wonder if I'd like pesto after all.

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  5. Mr. Granny meets Pesto! I am sure it was true love, that is definitely a summer garden must. I just love your harvests, they are always so diverse, and you have such a way with cabbages and lettuces - I can't seem to get any this summer. I am very anxious for fall so I can plant lettuce again. I love the tomato reviews, I checked on the post you did last year before I ordered this year (you did a review of your garden varieties), I am going to try and do that this year (with my 4 little varieties that made it through the heat LOL) - but for sure it will be noted that they withstood this heat!

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  6. Oh, you're good. You got a man to broaden his culinary horizons.

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  7. Oh, we looove pesto! Another convert won over...woohoo!! Your harvest looks wonderful! I would love to try out mushrooms!! Can you send your green thumb this way, please?

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  8. Your harvest looks great! Your Italian dinner last night sounds wonderful. Mr Granny might think twice next time he doesn't want to try something, but I think you could make a old boot taste good.

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  9. Great looking harvest Gran! Your day-neutral strawberries seem to be cranking out fruit all summer long.

    I liked the Clear Pink Early as well...much sweeter than I would expect from an early variety. Mine is an indeterminate plant though.

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  10. Nartaya, the old header was my garden in 2002 or 2003. I figured it was time to update!

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    John, I think brats are just nasty! See, I'm as bad as Mr. Granny...but he doesn't do the cooking ;-)

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    Robin, we had strawberry shortcake twice last week! I do hope I get enough for jam this summer.

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    Ribbit, I've never been a big user of fresh basil, simply because the aroma is so strong one expects the flavor to be overpowering. I left the cheese out of my pesto, because I just cannot stand the barfy smell of Parmesan, and I had a bit too much olive oil in the spaghetti, from the sauteed garlic (next time I'll remember to chop the garlic with the basil), but the flavor is fantastic. A welcome change from marinara sauce.

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    Erin, the tomato reviews are a bit premature, but I was excited to finally get a tomato that tasted like a tomato! I really am going to cut back on them next year, and I would like to find 3-4 good determinates or short indeterminates that have excellent flavors. Of course, that excludes the Black Cherry that is up over the roof right now, but I'll make an exception for it. I honestly want to cut down to no more than 10 plants next year. Or maybe 12. LOL

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    Cheryl, every woman needs a broadened man. Mr. Granny is definitely getting broad. My jeans are getting a bit on the tight side, too!

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    Apple Pie Gal, since I don't care for mushrooms, to me they're like chewing on rubber bands, my green thumb would probably turn black in their presence!

    I'm going to make a batch of pesto for my daughter next. She can add her own parmesan, LOL!

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    Jeana, I've had Mr. Granny for 48 years now, so he's quite used to me springing new foods on him. He's not always that receptive to them though ;-)

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  11. Seriously, what's not to like in pesto or Italian sausage? Don't take that man to Italy. Wasted, I tell you.

    Lovely harvest, and I applaud your "out with you" approach to so so tomatoes. Life is way too short for those!

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  12. Thomas, my day neutral strawberries are just now beginning to bear enough to bother picking. They start off slowly, and pick up mid summer. I don't think they are going to do as well this year as last, so I'm thinking I should dig half of them out each year to let the bed renew itself. This would normally only have to be done every three years.

    Your CPE is an indeterminate? I guess I'd better be sure to save seed from mine then, because the compact size is one thing I really like about it. A google search for the variety is showing it as a short, compact plant. What was your seed source? Maybe you got something else? My supposed Cherokee Purple looks, performs and tastes like an Early Girl! I'm thinking Dan got the seed mixed up, or it crossed with something.

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  13. Stefaneener, I have enough to do without tending to nasty tomato plants! I ripped out a productive (volunteer) summer squash, too. Another one goes today. Lovely, healthy plants, but more than we need, too hard to get to, and crowding out the tomatoes.

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  14. Yum yum, that looks like a yummy bounty!

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  15. meemsnyc, it was pretty good! Except for all those zucchinis that are still in my fridge ;-)

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  16. Woo Hoo! Sausage and pesto sounds great! I like brats, especially when you boil them in beer before grilling, then make a mustard sauce...but I grew up in the Northeast, so Italian food is and always will be my favorite...

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  17. SB, interestingly enough, I'm not a fan of pasta in Italian dishes, although I do like it with pesto. If I have pasta, I'm more likely to combine it with a stir fry, using teriyaki sauce. If I have marinara sauce, I just dunk my garlic bread into it and skip the pasta.

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  18. Thanks Granny, now I'm hungry. Lunch has past and dinner is a long ways out...I should have known better than to read one of your posts.:) Obviously, your garden produce is amazingly wonderful as always and yes I am very jealous of your zucchini, tomatoes, and corn. Corn already?

    Seriously though, if you don't mind my asking as I'm sure you already mentioned it somewhere, what variety is that beautiful long green bean you are growing?

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  19. You're welcome, Mr. H., LOL!

    Those are Fortex pole beans, which have, unfortunately, stopped producing for now. I do hope they get a second(and third) wind when this heat wave is over. I must say, they have been my favorite for flavor, if not the most prolific bearers. The first bean I've ever grown that's an absolute joy to pick! I'll know to plant double next year.

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  20. Pesto and Italian sausage all in one meal? Sounds good to me! Did you have some mini donuts for dessert? ;-) I can't believe you waited this long to convince Mr. G to try pesto. What's next on the list of new foods to try for our Mr. G?

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  21. Thyme2, ha-ha, yer funny! I don't have time to experiment on Mr. G this week. The neighbor's peaches are ripe, and she's not feeling well enough to do anything with them. Looks like I'll be picking peaches and making jam this week. And Mr. Granny wants a peach pie, of course. I ran out of flour, so will have to hit the store tonight. Maybe I'll buy donuts while I'm there ;-)

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  22. Granny you have the BEST harvests!

    That's so funny about Mr. Granny!

    I'm going to make some pesto for the first time! Can't wait to try it on pasta... or maybe even on my spaghetti squash!!!

    You inspired me to plant Royal Burgundy beans this year... I'm just starting to harvest some now.

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  23. Oh you had me worried for a sec. I was afraid that Mr. G would turn up his nose at your food and you would have to try to give him away again. I wish I could get my husband to eat pesto, but he even hates when I pick the basil. He doesn't like the smell. Right now I have four glasses of water filled with basil on the counter. I think the room smells heavenly. My husband is not in agreement.

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  24. Toni, that's great! I planted Royal Burgundy for my neighbor, now it looks as though I'm going to have to pick and freeze them for her. She always manages to get sick when it's bean picking time :-(

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    Daphne, it's a good thing he ate the food, 'cause I only had one taker the last time i gave him away ;-)

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  25. I have mixed feelings about black cherry. I like its larger size too but wish that it was a heavier producer in my garden. Some people say that they get loads of them but I've always found the harvest modest. I will steer clear of gardenperle (sp?).

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  26. Boy, I wish I had the time, space and energy to have the kind of harvests you have! I am so impressed! Someday, my kids will be old enough to put them to work! Ha!

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  27. Ali, I planted two Black Cherry toms, and one looks like it will give me a ton of tomatoes, the other is quite sparse. The loaded one gets a lot more sun, and is twice the size of the other plant.

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    Shawn Ann, my garden isn't really very large, I just plant stuff anywhere I can find a foot or two of ground!

    Child labor is good.

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