July 8, 2013 - Harvest Monday


Early July harvests are bringing more variety to the table.

7/1 & 2 - Peppers, green and yellow bush beans, a few broccoli side shoots, strawberries, potatoes, one cucumber, zucchini, carrots and crookneck squash.

7/5 - A big harvest of green and yellow bush beans, baby beets, Walla Walla onions, red potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, a lone tomato and my biggest picking yet of strawberries.

7/2 - More strawberries, the last picking of raspberries, bush beans, a yellow squash and another single tomato.  7/6 - Way too much parsley and basil, carrots, white potatoes, bush beans and strawberries.  The last sweet onion, two more crookneck squash, a bit of broccoli and the first two Fortex pole beans.

7/7 - The zucchini that got away from me (hello zucchini bread!), along with a normal sized zucchini, one crookneck squash, one cucumber, yellow bush beans (the plants got pulled to make room for the melons that were beginning to grow over them), a big bowl of Red Sails lettuce, and a few tomatoes.  I ate about at least a dozen Sungold cherry tomatoes that didn't make it inside to be photographed.

Beans, blanched and waiting to be put on a tray.  They were frozen, then bagged.  The strawberries that escaped being eaten in shortcakes were also frozen and then bagged, waiting to be made into yummy smoothies.  This is the second one-gallon size bag I've put in the freezer so far.  

This may be the best year yet for strawberries.  I pick every day or two, and they are still loaded with green berries and blossoms, and should continue producing until October or November.  I've already harvested 19 pounds, and my very best year gave me 24 pounds.  I think I'll easily beat that!

The raspberries are done, and the old canes have been pruned out.  It wasn't my best year for raspberries, but it was pretty good.  I picked 12 pounds, which was more than double what I picked last year.  In my best year, 2011, the patch yielded 17 pounds.

The last of the apricots that were gifted to me were made into more Apricot-Pineapple jam.  I think I have a lifetime supply of it now, as I had a few jars left from last year.  Those, with the 14 jars I made this week, gave me 23 pints total.  

This Week's Harvest

Beans (bush): 88.1 ounces
Beets: 20.3 ounces
Broccoli: 2.9 ounces
Carrots: 17.9 ounces
Cucumbers: 47.7 ounces 
Herbs: 37.5 ounces
Lettuce: 14.2 ounces
Onions: 86.9 ounces
Peppers (sweet): 18.1 ounces
Potatoes: 101 ounces
Raspberries: 6.8 ounces
Squash (summer): 148.3 ounces
Strawberries: 80.1 ounces 
Tomatoes: 17.3 ounces (several more eaten and not weighed)

Total for week: 687.1 ounces (42.9 pounds)
Total to date: 167.98 pounds

Be sure to check out Daphne's Dandelions to see what others have harvested this week!

41 comments:

  1. You're still getting lettuce? That's awesome, Granny! All your harvests are impressive. The tomatoes I want the most. I only had 1 tiny (Sun Sugar) tomato so far. I can't wait forever for tomatoes, I might just buy some from the market.

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    1. I have a lot of lettuce, in all stages of growth. Surprisingly, the Red Sails held up beautifully through our 100+ degree days! In fact, this is the first of that planting where I harvested three whole heads, rather than taking outer leaves, because there is just more out there than we'll be able to eat. I got my first full sized (although rather small) tomato today, so there is hope!

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  2. I love seeing your harvests! Makes me smile to see all of that coming out of a garden. Lovely as always AG.

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  3. Impressive! I haven't been out to the garden in two days because of all of the rain. I'm scared at the size of squash I'm going to come across.

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    1. Ribbit, how do those zucchini always manage to hide? I swear I looked under every leaf the day before, but I still missed the big 'un, LOL!

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  4. Hey Gran, hope all is well. The harvest looks fantastic, though I wouldn't have expected anything less.

    I hope you're doing well!

    P.S. - Is it just me or is that corn field starting to look awfully like the one you have years ago. ;)

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    1. THOMAS!!! Do you realize how much I've missed you and worried about you? Please email me, sweetie.

      My little corn field is about twice the size of any I've had in this garden, but nowhere near what I grew years ago, LOL! I wish I had that garden back. Heck, sometimes I even wish I had that big house back!

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  5. Your harvests look beautiful! I couldn't agree more that with July harvests are starting to look like summer and more things are coming in.

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    1. Thanks, Vanessa. I'm even finding myself eating a few meals that are almost entirely from the garden. I don't miss meat when there are so many fresh veggies to choose from.

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  6. Beautiful harvest! I love your pictures.

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  7. Beautiful harvests as usual. I love how the yellow and green beans look mixed together. I see some more nice and straight carrots there too! Hooray! The raspberries and strawberries have me drooling. I am not having luck with my raspberries as the Japanese Beetles ruin the fruit before I get to it. I may need to cut all the canes and hope for a fall harvest instead of an everbearing one.

    Isn't it great to hear from Thomas?

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    1. Those carrots are quite small, Rachel, and Annie and Otto keep begging for them so we don't get many for ourselves!

      Yes, I've been so worried about Thomas!

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  8. Such a beautiful bounty and such variety, I don't even know what to comment on! It's all gorgeous! You do grow some beautiful big onions!

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    1. Thank you, Nutmeg. Some of the onions were big and beautiful, but too many of the others were way small in comparison. I replanted the bed with beets, and they aren't germinating well, either. I think that bed must need some serious amendments!

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  9. Geez - How do you ever see your countertops, Granny? You must stay busy 24/7! Beautiful harvests!!!

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  10. I hear you about the zucchini that got away - I made zucchini bread today with one I missed! You've got a tremendous variety of goodies there. I'm not surprised at that either! ;-)

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    1. LOL, Dave, I have two loaves in the oven now, and getting ready to make some potato/zucchini pancakes for dinner with more shredded zucchini. Yesterday it was zucchini/cabbage slaw. Tomorrow...who knows?

      By the way, about this year's 2 Happy Yummy "hot" plants. One turned out sweet, but my son is still trying to catch his breath from tasting the other one! Oddly enough, the hot one is shaped like a jalapeno, but the leaves are different than the two jalapeno plants I grew. The Happy Yummys are a paler green than the jalapenos.

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  11. Beautiful crops! This is the fun time of gardening, isn't it. I had 3 ears of fresh Kandy Korn sweet corn an hour ago. Yummm!

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    1. Ray, that sounds sooooo good! My stalks are developing ears now, so I'm not too far behind you. I bought some Sugar Dot at the local farm stand last week, but they pick it too mature for my liking. It was good, but could have been better, and their price goes up every year! I have the kitchen filled with goodies from the garden that are going into tonight's dinner, green beans, crookneck squash, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, onions, lettuce....yes, it's a fun time to garden and to eat!

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  12. I found a squash today that got away from me. So easy to do. Especially when it won't stop raining and you can't get out there. That was my problem this week. I can't believe you are getting color on your peppers already. I am going to have to fight the chipmunks for my peppers it seems.

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    1. Shawn Ann, I found another one today, and I swear I looked under every leaf yesterday. My daughter actually spotted it from outside the fence, I couldn't see it at all standing in the middle of the hill of zucchini. I used it for two loaves of zucchini bread, so that other (bigger) one is still on the counter, staring at me!

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  13. Wow Granny! You've got a little bit of everything! My raspberries are just starting and we haven't been able to get over there and pick some. I know your said that your carrots didn't do well....but, they look good to me! I'll probably only get a few

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    1. Robin, they were really good and sweet, but small. After annie and Otto ate their fill, there weren't a lot left for us! I had to make "mixed veggies", with green beans and crookneck squash just to have enough for our dinner.

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  14. Awesome harvest Granny! We miss our strawberries. We had to replant this year and we are not letting any berries develop until fall so that the plants get a good start.

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  15. Your harvest is wonderful and makes mine look like slim pickin'! How many strawberry plants do you have to get that many berries? Oh, I am so envious of everything! Nancy

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    1. Nancy, I don't know how many there are now. It started off with thirty plants in the bed, but I'm sure a few more have taken root since spring. It's a 4'x8' bed, and I planted them about 12" apart in all directions (two rows of 8 and two rows of 7).

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  16. Your kitchen is like the produce section of a good local grocer! Holy smokes you are getting a great variety of things right now. My Fortex beans are running like made at the moment, but have yet to start flowering. I think I am about two weeks behind you on those. Thank you for bring that variety of pole bean to my awareness a few years ago, they have proven to be a really good cropper for us. I did not do any bush beans this year, so I am patiently waiting for the pole beans to start setting pods.

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    1. Kitsap, if I could only grow one type of bean, it would be Fortex. They are easy on the back to pick, delicious fresh and absolutely wonderful frozen. Every time I have to go out to pick the bush beans I kick myself for planting them. Nothing I dislike more about gardening than picking those beans! I must admit though, the Provider bush beans have been very good and quite productive.

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  17. We just harvested our first ever potatoes last night. We only took a quarter of what was out there. The reds were ready while the whites were not. We also got lots of bush beans. I haven't grown those either. Can't wait to have them fresh tonight! My tomatoes are coming on strong again this year. The Oxheart are loaded! I'm just so surprised at how good they produce. I thought maybe last year was a fluke, but it doesn't seem to be. We'll have to see how big they get.

    Your harvests look so good! I think I'd be eating meals of only garden produce, too, if I had that kind of harvest. How big is your strawberry bed? That was quite a haul.

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    1. Have you eaten any of your potatoes yet? I LOVE fresh dug potatoes!

      My strawberry bed is 4'x8' and I counted 30 plants in it this spring.

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    2. I have them out in the sun right now. We will eat a few tonight. We just planted a strawberry bed this year with 10 plants- 4 ever bearing and 6 June bearing. The June bearing are quite a bit sweeter. I look forward to more berries next year. Our bed is 4x8 also.

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    3. GET THEM OUT OF THE SUN!!! Never let sunlight get to potatoes, it turns them green and poisonous! Don't wash them, just brush off the dirt with your hands, and keep them in a dark, cool place until ready to use. Although I dig just a few at a time, wash them and keep them in the fridge, but that's just for a few days at most.

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  18. Don't you love this time of year, where everything is ripening and there's so many choices for eating? Your berries look so luscious, everything looks delicious!

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    1. Phuong, even Mr. Granny is impressed with the variety that's coming to the table now. Oh, wait....maybe it's the strawberry shortcake that gets his attention ;-)

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  19. Beautiful strawberries! I'm mainly getting some Alpine strawberries as my regular ones are new. Beans are my favorite crop, yours look good. I picked some wax beans that are cold tolerant. I'm looking forward to my runner beans getting ripe, they usually beat the regular beans. I'm in W. WA and the cold nights here really slow everything down. I can hope for tomatoes by the end of the month. Raspberries, Blueberries and plums are doing great. Strawberry smoothies are really yummy!

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    1. Hannah, I'm surprised at the amount of strawberries I'm getting this year! I usually have to buy frozen berries during the winter, for my smoothies, but I'm already filling my third gallon bag and they should keep bearing right through October! Tonight we had green, yellow and purple beans for dinner, LOL! Last night it was green, yellow and purple bell peppers. If nothing else, the meals are colorful!

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  20. You've been able to harvest quite a few goodies. My garden is just starting to produce, 1 crookneck squash and a few peppers so far. Everything looks great!

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    1. Harvests are really picking up for me this week. Too many cucumbers, too many zucchinis! I don't need pickles or relish this year, and there are too many for us to eat fresh. My fridge is stuffed, I'm going to have to find someone to share them with.

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