August 30, 2010: Harvest Monday

Daphne's Dandelions is the host for Harvest Monday, where everyone can share links to their harvest for the week. Please visit her blog and leave a link, so we can enjoy your harvest photos!












The week of August 23-August 29
36 oz. bush beans
46 oz. pole beans
16 oz. beets
28 oz. carrots
84 oz. cucumbers
9 oz. lettuce
70 oz. sweet peppers
54 oz. butternut
6 oz. yellow crookneck squash
52 oz. zucchini
24 oz. strawberries
968 oz. tomatoes

Total for week: 1393 ounces = 87 pounds
Total ytd: 603 pounds



Cooler days and chilly nights are slowing down the tomato production, not to mention that I've ripped out a few more plants this week.  The sweet peppers are huge, but slow turning color.  I probably have three or four that are turning red or yellow now.  My second planting of pole beans is beginning to bear, but certainly not in the amounts the Fortex have given me.  Fortex continues to be the largest provider of green beans for freezer and table, but I think I'll stop picking them now so they can produce seeds for me to plant next year.

I've been narrowing down my tomato choices for the 2011 garden, determined not to grow so many next year.  The three that are definitely on my grow list so far, are Suduth's Strain Brandywine (thank you, Dan), Amish Paste (thank you, Kelly) and Eva Purple Ball (thank you, DaBeardedOne).  I have seeds from these three fermenting in small cups on my windowsill.  Those will be my three indeterminates.  My determinate is yet to be chosen, but I may go back to growing Celebrity, which has been my tomato of choice in past years.

31 comments:

  1. I thought I had big peppers. Oh my goodness.

    Have you tried the Cherokee Purples? Mmmm, yum here.

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  2. ThOse are some big peppers you have granny!
    Can't believe you are still getting so many tomatoes. The lettuce and strawberries look beautiful and we, on the east coast don't get strawberries this time of year.

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  3. Those tomatoes are still coming in well for you! My bell peppers are plentiful but not really turning color either, i think the last will be picked green and ripped out. They could continue to produce through Sept here, but they have to go to make room!

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  4. I'd like to place my order, please. I'd like that huge bell pepper. Grab it quick before somebody else does. I'd also like the strawberries, the cute little colorful cherry tomatoes, and I'd like to give that butternut squash a try. I hear it tastes great baked with butter and sugar. And I must make one complaint to the management. Somebody in picture 5 has been sampling the produce and should be spoken to immediately. All in all, a great selection today. ;-)

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  5. Ytd, 603 pounds of produce...amazing Granny. Your peppers are huge.:) Hope the windstorm we had the other day did not damage anything in your area...perhaps it missed you altogether.

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  6. Your harvest is still bountiful! Love the green bell peppers!

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  7. Stefaneener, that's what I love about that variety of sweet peppers. They are always huge and really sweet, even when green.

    I know I'm in the minority, but I wasn't all that impressed with Cherokee Purple. The flavor was good, but they were too juicy and seedy for me. I like more meat in my tomatoes, so prefer the Brandywines.

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    Johanna, if you grew the day neutral varieties of strawberries, you'd get them this time of year...until frost! You don't get very many all at once, but they bear from June and into November for us most years.

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    Erin, I'm going to be taking out more tomatoes this week. I'll be leaving just six of the main crop, and the cherries that are around the patio, mainly because I like their greenery.

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    LOL, Cheryl. You'll have to speak to the chain link fencing! That cucumber was growing on both sides of a link, and had to be broken loose.

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    Mr. H., I'm actually going to be down quite a bit from last year's garden, mainly from a smaller tomato harvest. I had fewer plants last year, but they were more productive. I also gave a lot more away last year! I don't have pumpkins to bring up the poundage this year, either.

    We didn't get high winds here, only enough to snap a couple of branches from the peppers and eggplants, and to make another pine tree mess on the driveway. We only got the wind because Mr. Granny had just cleaned the driveway. Happens every time ;-)

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    RandomGardener, those peppers are so productive. I still have a couple of gallon bags in the freezer from last year! Only last year they all got beautifully red.

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  8. Your veggies are so darn pretty! I laughed at that pepper tho! HUGE!

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  9. Amish Paste did well here too. I'll have to check out Eva Purple Ball. Sadly, we got no Brandwines here this year.

    Those peppers are ginormous!

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  10. As always Granny, your harvests are amazing. I see you have a blue basket with a handle for harvesting. I just bought baskets like this at Target for $1! Woohoo!

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  11. Apple Pie Gal, that variety does grow huge. I don't think they're a large as last year though!

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    Villager, I basically picked those three for their small seed cavities and flavor. All three are nice for making salsa or diced canned tomatoes, yet are delicious when sliced and served raw.

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    Meemsnyc, I got mine last year at the dollar store!

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  12. Those yellow tomatoes look good, what kind are they? I've had no luck with the SS Branywine yet but I hear it is suppose to be very good. Good to hear you like it! Last year blight killed the plant and this year the eavestrough overflowed smashing the plant to bits.

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  13. What a great harvest! The bell peppers are an amazing size. Do you recall what variety they are?

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  14. Dan, that is Golden Dwarf Champion; compact dwarf plant; Very attractive plants with rugose leaves. The fruits are a nice bright lemon-yellow with firm - lighter yellow flesh. They weigh from two to five ounces and are globe-shaped. Very productive. The 1899 W. Atlee Burpee Seed Annual described that the original seed was sent to them by a customer in about 1896. It was released in about 1898.

    The plant is strong, stocky and only 2 1/2-3 feet tall. Mine is looking rather bedraggled now, but it is still loaded with tomatoes. The flavor is mild, but they are so pretty mixed with the reds and purples, and they take up such little room, they're worth growing. I'll save you some seeds if you want them.

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  15. Foodgardenkitchen, the variety is Quadrato Rosso D'Asti, and I purchased the seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds

    http://www.ohioheirloomseeds.com

    They are an excellent company to deal with, and all their seeds are priced at $1.29. Shipping is $1.99, no matter how many packages you order. I can vouch for their customer service, which is the best.

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  16. Another banner week in AG's garden! That pepper is definitely bragging material - what a beauty! You are an inspiration.

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  17. What a nice variety in your harvest. Your peppers are huge. Glad to see they have overcome the mysterious brown blotches that occurred earlier in the season.

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  18. your peppers are gorgeous and I can't believe the strawberries you have! amazing.

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  19. Dang Gran! You're really kicking butt on the harvest totals. I don't think anyone is even close to where you are at right now. I'm guessing you'll be over 1000 lbs again this year.

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  20. Kitsap, the peppers aren't turning red quickly, as they did last year. There also aren't nearly as many, even though I have a few more plants. Luckily, they make up for it in size.

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    GrafixMuse, it looks like most of the remaining peppers have escaped the brown blotch, but I did spot a couple with small scarring on them. There aren't as many peppers on the plants this year, maybe they brown blotched themselves to death and dropped off :-(

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    Abigail, the strawberries aren't performing so well this year. I think I need to thin out the bed and let some new plants take over.

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    Thomas, I don't think I'm going to get close to last year's 1000+ pounds. There's not much heavy stuff left to pick, other than the butternuts.



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  21. Oh my... I am so jealous of your harvest everything looks wonderful!!

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  22. Glad to see your lovely pepper harvest! I remember you posting about something eating away at your peppers earlier in the season - something like BER, but it was something else, I think? Do you think the pepper turning color is dependent on weather? If anything, I would think that all this heat would be good for the ripening process, but that's just a guess on my part.

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  23. Thank you, Vanessa @

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    Thyme2, Our weather has been so unpredictable, hot to cold to hotter to "I'm freezing in August!" I don't think the peppers know what to do. I picked three or four with some color today, but if it doesn't warm up again, I'll be picking the rest of them green. We're way below normal temperatures this week, I even had to wear a sweater out to the garden this afternoon.

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  24. Stevie, I checked around today, and I think that was probably the largest one I'll get.

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  25. What a wonderful pepper. And all those tomatoes are beautiful. A lot of my tomato plants are starting to look ragged. They aren't producing as high quality fruit as before. The Cherokee Purple, the Market Miracle and GabrielleAnn are still putting out really nice fruit but the other plants are hit and miss.

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  26. That one butternut is the size of both of mine put together. But hey, my girl sure had fun swinging them! Ha! Everything looks so good!

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  27. Wow, those peppers look amazing. I'm a HUGE fan of Brandywine, my favorite no doubt, but have you tried Paul Robeson? The plant and yield have been great and the taste is right up there with Brandywine. If you'd like, I can send you a few seeds.

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  28. Vic, I got a lot of those huge peppers last year, not so many this year.

    Thank you for the seed offer, that's so sweet of you! But....I have told myself I have to get this tomato craziness under control, and I'm only going to plant one each of four varieties next year. If I find I just can't resist, I'll send you an SOS :-)

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