EEEEEK! It can't be August already! Please, tell me I'm having a nightmare, and when I wake up it will still be July. My garden is just now going into July. Nobody bothered to tell it that it's August.
I did finish pruning the raspberries last night. That's usually a mid-July job.
The cosmos and sunflowers are over six feet high and haven't begun to blossom yet. That's usually a mid-July event.
The sweet peppers aren't anywhere ready to pick. I usually begin picking them mid-July.
I only have one butternut squash baby. I always have big green butternuts by mid-July.
The zinnias are still wearing their pretty July dresses.OK, rant finished. On to Harvest Monday.
7/25 - Fortex pole beans, tomatoes, parsley and stubby little carrots.
7/25 - A big container of Red Sails lettuce from the summer planting, sweet and tender even in the summer's heat.
7/26 - Plump shallots. I'm extremely happy with the size of these. They were planted in the spring, and they are every bit as large as those I've planted in the fall for harvesting the following year.
7/26 - I pulled the last of the stubby carrots. No, they were not a stubby variety, and I have no idea why they grew like this.
7/26 - Baskets of bush beans, basil and strawberries.
7/26 - Tomatoes. Clockwise from top: Pink Brandywine, Bloody Butcher, Matt's Wild Cherry, Una Heartstock, Sunsugar.
7/27 - Sorry for the glare of the flash on the onions. The first Sungold tomato, and the first cucumber, puny and deformed as it is.
7/27 - More Fortex pole beans, being readied for the freezer. They are trimmmed, blanched in boiling water for four minutes, cooled in ice water, and drained. I love these beans!
Once they have drained, I place them on a wire rack in the freezer.
After the beans are frozen solid, they are bagged and sealed with the super sack sucker (Rival Vacuum Sealer).
7/28 - More of the sweet, succulent Red Sails lettuce. It is really making some nice salads for us and the pet rabbit.
7/28 - Pole and bush beans, strawberries and tomatoes.
7/28 - Oops! I missed a few in the previous picture.
7/29 - Rhubarb, the second picking of the year.
It was frozen and bagged for a future pie. I'm not baking in this heat!
7/30 - The Fortex beans are making Granny very happy! The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are getting larger and tastier.
7/30 - I'm still harvesting a few broccoli side shoots.
7/30 - Finally! Pretty carrots! These are from a later planting of the same variety as the ugly, hairy, stubby ones that were pulled this week.
7/31 - A final walk through the garden on the last day of July. First I harvested a big colander of Fortex pole beans. Have I mentioned how I love these beans?
Then I picked a few tomatoes and stopped to admire the zinnias. Have I mentioned how I love my zinnias? This is the first year I've grown pretty ones. They're usually eaten by bugs before they blossom.
By the time I reach the patio, my colander is full. Guess what we had for dinner.....Fortex beans, beautiful carrots and lots of tomatoes.
Then another quick trip to the garden to pick the strawberries. Luckily there were still some shortcake biscuits in the freezer, so it was a strawberry shortcake night.
Beans, bush - 1.25 pounds
Beans, pole - 4.19 pounds
Broccoli - 3 ounces
Carrots - 3.19 pounds
Cucumbers - 3 ounces
Herbs - 10 ounces
Lettuce - 2.38 pounds
Onions - 6 ounces
Rhubarb - 1.38 pounds
Shallots - 1.38 pounds
Strawberries - 3.31 pounds
Tomatoes - 5.63 pounds
Total harvest for the week: - 24.06 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: - 228.5 pounds
Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!
I'm jealous of your continued broccoli harvests. I pulled mine. With no rain whatsoever, they didn't give me a side shoot at all.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's August either. Don and I took a walk the other morning and saw Goldenrod. Cripes. Snow is just around the bend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sue, after I picked that small amount of broccoli I pulled all but one of the plants. I mean, three huge plants for three ounces of broccoli? The remaining one is over by the compost bin, not bothering anything, so I'll let it stay for now. I'm expecting a long warm autumn. I have Mother Nature scared of me, ya know. She said she'd be good now ;-)
ReplyDeleteI bet you will have a nice long warm autumn...and then you will be complaining that garden won't stop producing!!
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling about time passing. Look at the bright side. If no one told the garden that it is August, it will produce for a longer time. You have quite a harvest this week.
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish someone would send the memo to my garden as well! It's August for pete's sake!
ReplyDeleteGranny I missed the butternut picture. How could you have only one baby and I am already picking mine? My plant is putting out new shoots so if I am lucky, I will have a second surge of butternut. I might outdo you in the butternut arena this year.
ReplyDeleteI was totally taken by your basil picture. I see there you have purple basil. I also planted purple basil this year, but its not staying purple! Only the top set or two of leaves stay purple, and the rest on down are green with purple veins. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I need to do something special to keep them purple? I am half tempted to just dye the dirt or throw some beet juice in there to give them some color.... ERG!!!
ReplyDeleteYep...it's August...I can't hardly believe it myself!!! Congrats on your wonderful harvests! I particularly love your heart shaped tomato from July 26th!
ReplyDeleteHoly cats you got a lot of beans! Nice week of harvesting. Do you freeze the carrots too?
ReplyDeleteYou can complain about your harvests being behind, but you can't complain about the quantity or the quality - just LOOK at that! Gorgeous, Granny!
ReplyDeleteThere is no shortage at your house for nothing! Everything grew well for you...Guess it's all that hard work that pays off...I'm jealous of that Rhubarb..I can't seem to get one going.:o(
ReplyDeleteRobin, in a way that's what I'm hoping for. Half of me wants to continue harvesting the good stuff clear through October, the other half wants to go sit in front of the fireplace and watch TV.
ReplyDelete********
Johanna, see my comment to Robin, above ;-)
********
APG, see my comments to Robin & Johanna, above :-D
********
Tiny Gardener, I wonder if it might just be the variety. I did notice a few lower leaves on mine turning green early on, but as it matured it was deep purple. The pots that are in afternoon shade were much deeper purple than those in the sunny garden, so that might be a clue as to why the leaves are green.
********
Thank you, Bee Girl! Hey, at this point I'm loving every tomato I get, regardless of shape! They've been too few and far between so far.
********
David, I think I have about fourteen 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pound bags of green beans in the freezer so far, and lots more coming on before it freezes. I have never liked frozen carrots, they get a rather rubbery texture, but I am considering trying just a few that could be tossed into soups or stews and cooked to death, which might make them palatable. Have you ever frozen them?
********
Thanks, Barbie. The harvest is getting a bit of variation from the beans and lettuce we have been eating. I'm still hungry for squash.
********
Ginny, I'm happy I got two harvests from that plant this year, and might even get a third. I don't want to take too much from it, so that I can get it large enough for multiple harvests in the future. Two rhubarb pies a year is better than none!
Johanna, I just have to blame the weather. I definitely planted the seeds at the usual time. It is a different variety, bush rather than vining, but that shouldn't make any difference. None of my winter squash have fruited, other than that one little butternut. My summer squash don't even have blossoms yet, but that's my fault for planting them late. They still have time to fruit.
ReplyDeleteGranny, what model of the Rival vacuum sealer do you have?
ReplyDeleteSpiderjohn, it's this one (can't find a model number), but I sure didn't pay that much for it. I got mine when it was offered on Woot.com for $17.99 plus tax and shipping, which totaled $24.90.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Rival-Vacuum-Sealer/dp/B004JPU6XI
It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the other models, but I've found it serves my purposes just fine. I do, however, always freeze the foods before I seal them. Otherwise it sucks the juices out and the bags don't seal properly. No biggie, I can even put soft foods like sliced strawberries in the bag, fold the top over and hold it shut with a bag clip, set it upright in the freezer overnight, then seal it the next morning.
Beautiful Harvests! Just love those Fortex beans. There's nothing like them.
ReplyDeleteOh Granny, you had better get Mother Nature back in line. I'm going to catch up to you soon.
ReplyDeleteYou are getting a great bean harvest. Mine are in a lull right now. Last week was a good bean week. Today there were exactly zero beans ready. But I'm seeing more flowers again. I think the heat of a couple weeks ago shut the flower production down. Maybe next week I'll get to eat beans again.
What an awesome bean harvest. I'll definately be looking into growing Fortrex next year. Lucky you to still be getting non-bitter lettuce. We can't get non-bitter lettuce until September here.
ReplyDeleteGreat Harvest. Love the pictures! My zinnias are growing like crazy this year too. I guess its a good year for them and bad for almost everything else. Before seeing your raspberries I had no idea you were suppose to prune them. gotta get reading on that. I also made your tomato and onion relish green bean recipe for lunch. YUMMY!!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, I swear I'm planting 4x as many Fortex next year. I'm growing these from seeds saved last year, so I'll be sure to save seeds again.
ReplyDelete********
Daphne, I might not keep up with you this year, but wait until you read my next blog post. I'm gonna make you jealous! Yes I am!
********
Ed, do try Fortex. The seeds are rather expensive, but I saved seeds from last year's crop. I'll save even more this year, so I should be in pretty good shape for future pole beans.
********
Mrs. Pickles, Google "Pruning raspberries" for some good tutorials.
The zinnias have given me hope for more good zinnia years in the future. I'm surprised they blossomed with all the earwigs we had this year. I guess the bugs just liked my lettuce better!
So you don't cut your raspberries down to the ground. I need to get all this figured out! I have both summer and fall ones in the same bed and from what I have read need to be pruned differently! I have not pruned the summer ones yet.
ReplyDeleteI have 3 Butternut vines and I have not noticed a single female! Not on the buttercup either! I think the vine borers got to them too quickly!
Your harvest is beautiful! I like the beans!
Shawn Ann, just remember the summer raspberries grow on 1-year old canes. You only cut the old (brown) canes and the small (thin or thinner than a pencil) new canes to the ground. Having both varieties in the same bed will be a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteI had a surprise in the squash bed today, will blog about it tomorrow.
I have taken a liking to zinnias too this year. They are certainly beautiful when they are in full bloom. I like the color on yours.
ReplyDeleteKris, even Mr. Granny is commenting on and enjoying the zinnias! I think there will be even more planted next year.
ReplyDeleteWow! Looks like you had a great harvest this week! Congratz!
ReplyDeleteHey, Ben....there were even some onions!
ReplyDeleteHi Granny..Love the color of those beautiful zinnias..:)
ReplyDeleteHangKebon, I love them too. In fact, I need to cut some for a bouquet or two for the house. They need to be enjoyed inside and outside!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any butternut fruit set yet. Honestly, I think I may be doomed as it relates to winter squash this year. I do have some sugar pie pumpkins formed but they are TINY yet. Usually they are nice fat little green balls by this time of year. Everything is at least three weeks behind normal schedule and unless I am blessed with a wonderful indian summer (not likely around here) then some things will just not get a chance to mature before the cold fall rains arrive. (sigh)
ReplyDeleteYour harvest is gorgeous this week! So much produce comes out of your garden - it really is quite impressive.
Kitsap, we've been doing a lot of sighing this year, haven't we? I do hope we have a long, warm autumn. I want my baby butternut squash to mature!
ReplyDeleteGran, you had quite the harvest this week. This is the second summer that I've had to drool over your strawberries. I can't seem to talk my plants into producing a decent crop. Although I'm sure the chipmunks have a lot to do with it.
ReplyDeleteI blanched and froze some beans the other day as well. Out of curiousity, do they semi-crispy when defrosted?
Thomas, I haven't had a lot of strawberries yet, I'm hoping they start giving me a larger crop. We have had our fill of shortcakes, but I'd like at least one batch of jam.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how crispy the beans are, as I happen to like mine cooked to death. They are still crisp after I blanch them, and when I buy frozen stir-fry veggies the beans are a bit too crisp for my liking, so I'd say they stay pretty crunchy. I didn't used to like frozen or fresh beans, only canned. Now I can't stand the canned ones, I want them fresh or frozen! Same with corn and peas. I haven't bought a can of veggies in years. Except beets, I still like those canned.
Gran, you're so funny. I don't mind my green beans cooked to death either. It's Marc that only eats them crispy. Uggghh.
ReplyDeleteI meant to ask you. Is there a reason why you pruned your raspberries so drastically. Doesn't this mean they are done producing for the year?
Thomas, I see you already answered your question. Yep, they were all finished fruiting, being a summer bearing variety.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Your harvest is just outstanding! Congrats! Question for you on the freezing of the rhubarb. Do you just cut the rhubarb and freeze it? Or do you blanch it first?
ReplyDeleteNo blanching, Meems. Just trim off the leaves and the ends, slice and freeze. I like to freeze before I bag, then I can take out just the amount I want to use.
ReplyDelete