August 12, 2013 - Harvest Monday

This week saw the last of the summer corn being harvested.  I'm experimenting with a fall planting, so there could be more corn in my future if Mother Nature is nice.  She wasn't nice on Friday night, when we had a strong wind storm.  It blew one of the large broccoli plants over, nearly uprooting it, knocked a few peppers off of their stems, and broke off a few pepper plants.  The extra peppers were given to the daughter, as she is into juicing them.  The wind also blew the empty corn stalks over, but that was no loss.  I spent a day cutting off the stalks and bundling them for garbage collection, and two days digging out the roots.  One more day of digging roots and the corn plot will be ready for compost, then it can rest until spring.

The broccoli plants are going crazy with side shoots, as well as one main head!  I'm surprised they are producing so well, with temperatures still in the mid to high 90s.  The cucumbers are coming on slowly now, and the plants are so ugly and covered with powdery mildew I'm tempted to pull them all out.  Every time I get ready to pull them, I find another nice cuke and give it a reprieve.  The hill that was planted for fall is growing beautifully, so as soon as I begin to see blossoms, the old planting is gone!

I'm finally getting some nice, edible sized carrots!  The roots aren't as long as this variety usually is, but they are fat and sweet, with no hint of the bitterness sometimes found in summer carrots.  The fall planting came up fairly well.  There were a few bare spots that I reseeded yesterday.

I picked the first butternut squash Sunday night.  It will be baked and served with pork chops for dinner this evening.  It was a nice one, weighing over four pounds.

All of the tomatoes are being eaten fresh, given to the youngest son, or turned into tomato juice. On Sunday, I canned 5 1/2 quarts of juice.  I had enough for 6 quarts, but only 5 fit in my canner, along with a pint right in the middle, so the other pint is chilling and will be consumed at breakfast.  Sunday was also the day I baked bread, and just as I was taking it out of the oven my daughter and granddaughters walked in.  Four-year-old Alicyn said "I smell rolls!"  She loves rolls, and has finally been convinced that bread and rolls are the same thing, just different shapes.  Of course, everyone had to have a slice of warm bread and butter, so we went through half the loaf in a matter of minutes.  No problem, I can bake another one whenever we need it.  I enjoy growing and cooking food for my family!
















This Week's Harvest

Beans (bush): 18.7 ounces 
Beans (pole): 28.1 ounces
Broccoli: 29.2 ounces 
Cabbage: 14.7 ounces
Carrots: 13.4 ounces
Corn: 46.4 ounces
Cucumbers: 54.5 ounces
Peppers (sweet): 150.2 ounces
Rhubarb: 13.1 ounces
Squash (summer): 143.4 ounces
Squash (winter): 65.9 ounces
Strawberries: 13.7 ounces
Tomatoes: 643.5 ounces

Total for week:   1234.8 ounces (77 pounds)
Total to date: 495 pounds

Daphne's Dandelions is the host for Harvest Monday.

36 comments:

  1. Such beautiful harvests. I hope your fall corn works out well. We don't have even enough heat for ONE crop of corn. I get such a kick out of folks that have LONG seasons--I get the enjoyment of seeing harvests for 6 months, instead of just 3.
    Have a great week. And keep slathering that butter!
    :D

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    1. Sue, you will be happy to know I'm eating butter on my toast at this moment :-) I won't count my corn before it hatches. It may amount to nothing, but I had the seeds and I had the space, so it's worth a try.

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  2. Another great and varied harvest! Your butternut looks wonderful, they are so delicious. I know what your mean about liking to cook for family. My younger son is coming for a visit soon and I can't wait to feed him!

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    1. Nutmeg, I love sending home bags and bags of fresh produce for my kids and grandkids to eat. I'm always saying "Here, take more!"

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  3. That is a great harvest! You are still getting a wonderful variety from that garden.

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    1. Ray, it feeds us well. Mr. Granny just asked "How are you fixing the broccoli tonight?". I think he's being a Smart Alec!

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  4. Wow a beautiful harvest this week. It's funny how those of us that live in hotter areas think 90's is cooling off! I've been reading other posts all day with people bragging about 70's and 80's. I'm just glad to be below 100!! :)

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    1. Me too, Stoney! It's been too hot this summer, I'm ready for those 70s and 80s. Not this week though, we're still looking at 92-96 every day, with one forecasting up to 99.

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  5. I'm rolling in the corn right now. I think I'll have to spread my plantings apart better next year. They are too close together. I'd love fall corn too. But I think it will all be over by then.

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    1. Daphne, I think I'll do two large planting next year, about 2-3 weeks apart, all the same variety. Maybe. It all depends on how the fall planted corn does this year. I found a list of corn varieties by sweetness, I'll email you a copy.

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  6. Oh - I just love seeing everything that comes out of your garden! You have such beautiful harvests. And now I am thinking about baking bread too...

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    1. Me too, Susan. Grandson came today, and yesterday's loaf of bread is kaput!

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  7. Your corn looks wonderful. I didn't pant any this year because I didn't have room. That is a huge butternut. I hope it taste good with dinner tonight. Beautiful and bountiful harvests as usual.

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    1. Rachel, germination wasn't great on the first planting, so I didn't get as much corn as I thought I would. It did just barely beat last year's harvest total though. Of course, I planted almost twice as much as I did last year!

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  8. Wow!! You have a great variety of yumminess coming out of the garden!

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    1. Holly, it has been a better year than I thought it would, given the cool spring and overly hot summer!

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  9. Looks like you had a fantastic week and harvest! :-)

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    1. It was a good week, Ben. This week looks like it might be even better!

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  10. Beautiful harvest. I am jealous of your corn, since the squirrels stole mine! I hope you can get more with your fall planting.

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    1. Shawn Ann, the squirrels didn't touch mine, but the corn ear worms sure took their toll during the last couple of harvests.

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  11. I love your harvest pictures! The rainbow of peppers is beautiful.

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    1. 4theluv, aren't they pretty? I don't think I got more than a dozen peppers that colored up last year, but I'm sure making up for it this year! Wait until the next Monday Harvest post...I picked five pounds of colorful ones just today!

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  12. As usual you have a wonderful harvest! What is with this challenging weather we all seem to be getting! I think my batch of cuke plants may be on the way out but have another spot planted. I think I love cucumbers and lettuce best from the garden over the other veggies! I smell your wonderful bread clear over here! Yum! Nancy

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    1. LOL, Nancy, there's another loaf rising right now. I might be up until midnight getting it baked, but Grandson is coming for breakfast tomorrow. These grandkids do love the home baked bread! I think my cukes are going bye-bye this week. I don't care, because I don't like them, but Mr. Granny loves them.

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  13. Your harvest is wonderful. I have been following you for over a year. I just moved into a new house and can't wait to complete the prep of my new garden in Chatlotte, NC..

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    1. Jovardy, I hope you'll blog about your garden adventure when it begins. I love to watch new gardens take shape and grow!

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  14. I'm jealous of your harvest, although I have to admit that I need to work more on my garden. It's pretty depressing though, all this rain and my tomatoes are just rotting and NO new blossoms. Squash plants from the fall garden are growing, but again, no new flowers. Beans from the fall planting rotted in the ground. Three weeks of constant rain does that I guess.

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    1. Carolyn, as good as my garden has done this year, I've had some dismal failures as well. My beets won't get bigger than a golf ball, if that big. Tomato plants are dropping left and right, and I managed to kill off every fall seedling I'd started (only three six packs, luckily) by leaving them outside in 99 degree heat all day. But I'm thankful everything else has gone quite well.

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  15. I love looking at your harvest photos. This year I have barely taken any and haven't weighed anything. Of course, quite a bit gets eaten as it's picked by the kids! I'll be interested in seeing how your corn does, too. Keep us updated.

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    1. Oh, I will, Langela. I have my fingers crossed for that fall corn! If we have a "normal" fall freeze date, the corn still has about 62 days left to grow and mature. It's a 63 day to maturity variety, and it's already knee high.

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  16. Wow, your garden sure was productive, I'm sure it kept you plenty busy! Beautiful. I still have weeks to go before my my tomatoes start rolling in like that.

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    1. Michelle, it has kept me busy, but I have no life so I can spend lots of time out there, LOL! That's what is lovely about retirement, I have choices....shall I pull weeds today, or clean the toilets? That's the "excitement" of my life in a nutshell :-D

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  17. With great harvests come, back breaking work in kitchen :) Having said that, I love your variety of harvests. So pretty!! I can't wait to go out and harvest more of mine!!

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    1. Random, you saw that big zucchini I just brought in, didn't you? Admit it...you were watching me! I swear, it wasn't out there yesterday! I see more kitchen work, with a couple of loaves of zucchini bread this week.

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  18. Great looking harvests! How was the rhubarb? I noticed my plant is looking good at the moment, I don't think I have tried it in the summer before.

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    1. It was fantastic, Dan. I didn't have very many strawberries that day, so the pie was mostly rhubarb, but it was just perfect. I won't be taking any more from the plant now, I want good growth next year.

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