August 6, 2012 - Harvest Monday

This week's harvest put me over the 400 pound mark for the year, which is quite a bit ahead of any previous year in which records were kept.  In comparison, previous year's harvests at this time of the year were:

2009 - 382 lb.
2010 - 304 lb.
2011 - 251 lb.
2012 - 412 lb.

*2009, 2010 and 2011 data as of 8/9 (four days more of harvests than this year's current total)
*2012 data as of 8/5



 7/31 - Corn, zucchini, cucumber, bush beans and tomatoes.


8/01 - Corn, broccoli side shoots, strawberries, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and three misshapen green bell peppers that had bunched up on one plant.  There is also a bit of snipped chives, but I haven't been weighing the herbs.


8/02 - My youngest son needed onions, so I brought in the first of the "keepers".


8/02 - More tomatoes and broccoli side shoots.


8/03 - Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and a good bunch of broccoli side shoots.


8/03 - One broccoli side shoot was nearly as large as some of the main heads I cut this year.


8/04 - A tiny ear of corn, yellow crookneck squash, green sweet pepper, bush and pole beans.


8/05 - The last harvest of the first planting of corn, I ended up with a total of 15-1/2 pounds (shucked weight) from the 7'x8' bed.  Zucchini (one that might be called a baseball bat, will be used for bread), yellow crookneck squash, strawberries, carrots and my largest yet picking of tomatoes, almost 7 pounds.


Harvest for the Week of  7/31-8/5


Beans, bush - 13.1 ounces
Beans, pole - 19 ounces (1.19 pounds)
Broccoli - 15.6 ounces
Carrots - 34.3 ounces (2.14 pounds, weighed without tops)
Corn - 197.9 ounces (12.37 pounds, shucked weight)
Cucumbers - 35.5 ounces (2.22 pounds)
Onions - 30 ounces (1.88 pounds)
Peppers, sweet - 14.3 ounces
Squash, summer - 213.8 ounces (13.36 pounds)
Strawberries - 36.5 (2.28 pounds)
Tomatoes - 278.5 ounces (17.41 pounds)

Week's Total  55.53 pounds
Year to Date: 411.91 pounds


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!

68 comments:

  1. Your carrots are so lovely. Nice tomato harvest. Is there enough there to can, yet? I just stuck the 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes in the crock. Well, technically only about half the bucket would fit. I still have some of the nicer ones left for eating. Once the bug-eaten spots were removed, I have a nice pail to go out to the hens, too. At least the "girls" enjoy when the bugs get to the garden.

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    1. Langela, I'm just now getting a very few of the larger tomatoes, so still not enough for canning. These small ones are so prolific, and great for sauce, but not for the diced tomatoes I like to have on hand. I do think I might end up canning them as "whole tomatoes" though, I just want some jars on the shelves, and I'm out of freezer room!

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  2. What beautiful produce! You could open a market! Those strawberries look especially nice.

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    1. Thanks, Nutmeg. The strawberries are really dwindling, and the berries are getting smaller and smaller. We're not even getting enough for shortcakes now, I just freeze them whole and add them to the big bag in the freezer. They'll be great in smoothies next winter!

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  3. WOW! You've really out done yourself! I just started planting my Fall/Winter garden...hopefully I'll get a better harvest than I did with the Summer garden.

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    1. Thanks, Lynda. I hope I get a decent fall garden too, but it's been 100+ and not expecting to be cooler than the high 90s for a while. I'm thinking I should have waited a bit to plant the lettuce!

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  4. Beautiful harvest! Love your corn, beans and carrots. Which variety of carrots are these? Mine never get this long for some reason (probably because of clay soil).

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    1. Jenny, those are either Imperator or Burpee #1 Hybrid, but next year I'm going back to planting Ingot Hybrid, which is a Nantes variety. I'd prefer them a little fatter, rather than so long.

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  5. Congrats on the 400 pound mark! I will be thrilled if I hit 100 this year it has been a sorry year.

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    1. Vanessa, you have had a bad year. I'm sure next year will be great :-)

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  6. I always weigh by corn on the cob since most of it is eaten that way. The price reflects it though. I weighed some farmers market corn one year to tell how much it weighed on average. I really wish I could weigh it off the cob as I do a total clean up of all my other crops before I weigh them, but it is just too hard with that one.

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    1. Daphne, I weigh mine on the cob, but shucked, because that's the way I freeze it. If I'm going to cut it fresh off the cob for a meal, I still weigh it on the cob first to keep the playing field level. We buy ours by the ear, so that's how I try to figure out what the crop was worth. Here they sell for $4.80 per dozen, and I picked 4 dozen ears from that patch. $19.20 worth of corn!

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    2. They sell them by the ear here too. It varies from year to year though. Some years it is .50 per ear and sometimes .75.

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    3. That seems like an awful lot for an ear of corn we get it 5/$1 currently and on good years maybe 10/$1

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    4. Gaby, if I could buy corn for that price, I wouldn't bother growing it! We haven't seen corn at 5/$1 here in about ten years. I can remember buying it by the gunny sack when my children were small (45 years ago) for $2/100!

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  7. I'm reading your blog while I'm hungry. My stomach is literally growling so much I am wondering if the painters in the next room can hear it. You're lucky I can't reach through the screen because if I could, you'd be missing some corn and tomatoes, and that's just for starters! Wonderful harvest!

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    1. Patricia, don't feel badly. It's 10:30 and I haven't eaten yet, so I'm growling too! That corn that is in the fridge is sounding pretty good, even for breakfast ;-)

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  8. Interesting to me that most of the other years are more in line with this year, though this year is a little higher, but last year was A LOT lower. Did you do something different last year?

    Congrats on so much produce.

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    1. Crafty Cristy, last year was a lot cooler than our normal growing temperatures, which cut the yield down on several of the crops. Summer squash was a complete bust, as were cucumbers. I didn't grow any potatoes last year, but over 100 pounds this year. There will be even a larger difference later on as I begin to harvest winter squash (bush variety last year was lower yielding) and melons...if they ever get ripe. I expect this year to come close to the 1000 pound target, assuming the tomatoes do anything at all.

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  9. Beautiful harvest you have! And congratulations on 400 lbs! Next year I will have to weigh mine but it will be more like 40 lbs! You could set up a roadside stand! Nancy

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    1. Nancy, more than once I've put stuff out by the mailbox with a "free" sign on it! I haven't had to do that so far this year.

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  10. I'm stilllllllll waiting on tomatoes. I guess I'll really appreciate them--if they ripen before our first frosts--in THREE WEEKS. ARGH!

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    1. Oh, Sue....I don't even want to think about the first frost. I'm just getting into high gear!

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  11. 400 pounds! Fantastic! You have a wonderful garden Granny! And you are not even halfway there? Bravo!

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    1. Susan, let's hope not. With all those butternut squash out there, the poundage should go up pretty good. Of course it kind of depends on tomato production, too.

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  12. 400 pounds is just flippin amazing!!! I know you make sauce with your 'maters, and you guys eat a lot of your produce, but honestly, what in the heck do you do with it all?!?! And where do you put it???

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    1. Ashlee, when I run out of room I call the kids to come and get stuff. I do supply them with a lot of their fresh veggies, especially my youngest son who is an apartment dweller. A couple of the kids decided to grow their own gardens this year, but are happy to carry off potatoes and onions. When I get way too much of anything that I don't want to preserve, or it won't store well, I donate it to a low income apartment complex in town. However, in the past it was mostly mentally disabled living there, now they seem to be letting in a bit of the scum of the earth. I think I'll have to find myself a new recipient.

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  13. Granny, I will give you one guess on what my favorite harvest is in this post :-)

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    1. Oh, Kris, you're so *corny*! LOL

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    2. Lol you know me all too well. My friend at work calls me the ultimate corn dawg.

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  14. My mouth is watering thinking about eating that corn. Maybe someday I'll have enough room to try corn.

    Congatulations on what looks like it will be your most productive year yet.

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    1. Ed, I think next year's garden just might have a larger corn plot! Granddaughter Alicia is coming this weekend, and her very favorite thing to eat is my corn chowder. It should be extra special with my home grown sweet corn!

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  15. Looks like you had a fantastic harvest. You will be very busy this week dealing with all of these veggies. Can't wait to see Thursday 's kitchen cupboard!

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    1. Agriburbia, with temps up over 100 again, cooking has been at a minimum. Lots of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers!

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  16. Very impressive, Granny! Your carrots are looking very straight and long and the corn is gorgeous.

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    1. Rachel, the carrots are getting prettier, but they never did get very large. Yes, I agree the corn was gorgeous :-)

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  17. That is really pretty corn you grew this year. Mine is just now silked and tassled and l am hoping we have enough warm weather that it can release enough pollen to get good pollination of the ears. I am totally jealous of all those gorgeous tomatoes.

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    1. Kitsap, I should be getting more corn from my second planting soon. I'm happy to say a few of the regular sized tomatoes have now begun to ripen, although I don't think there will be nearly the amount ia wanted for canning.

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  18. Wow... how many good things! Those corn look so nice and the tomatoes...
    Ciao

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  19. Everything looks so good! I think you must have a set of paints and brushes and some grandchild labor to make it all so perfect :-)

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    1. LOL, Dianefaith! I have the paints and the brushes but, alas, no helpers. Although the 3-year-old did a beautiful job of coloring a pink pig yesterday. She did at least as well as a 6-year-old! Her sister was quite a talented little painter (with a bit of help from Grandma), see:

      http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/09/september-11-2008-alicias-everlasting.html

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    2. Beautiful sunflower painting. . . some people have all the talent!

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    3. Holy cow, that sunflower painting is just perfect.

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    4. Thank you. After I did the sketch, my granddaughter actually did the under painting. I think she did an excellent job!

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  20. Wow, your harvest is inspiring!! Nice job.

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    1. Thank you, 1st. Man. Next year we'll be saying those words to you!

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  21. ? I thought I had left a comment for my favorite Granny! - It looks great, especially the corn.

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    1. I don't see another comment from my favorite David. Maybe Google ate it!

      The corn was sooooo good. I hated to freeze it, and now I'm wishing I had frozen it off the cob. I'm anxiously waiting for the next planting to mature.

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  22. your produce always looks picture perfect! and i love the morning glories header! i planted some my first year and they keep coming back.=)

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  23. Just wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed reading and learning from your blog. In addition to the gardening and work ethic you share, your writing sense of humor has made my summer more enjoyable! I have bigger plans for our backyard garden for next year, and wanted to thank you for the recipe ideas, and especially, for your Thursday meals you share, that may be my favorite of your weekly posts!

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    1. Thank you, Gracie. Actually, I was thinking the Thursday dinner posts were probably beginning to get boring and repetitive, so I was going to stop posting them. Maybe I should continue, but hold it down to the best 2-3 meals each week?

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  24. I'm a "silent" reader via feed, and just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and love your blog. It sounds like you had some ugly comments on a recent post, and I want to let you know that I didn't see anything wrong with it! I totally wish I could get my squash to grow like that. Mine tend to succumb to vine borers. Please keep up the good work, and don't let negativity get you down. You do a great job!

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    1. Thank you so much, Laura. It's readers like you that keep me blogging :-)

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  25. Well done! If I had grown my usual garlic, onions and potatoes this year I think I might have had a record year as well when it comes to weighing but I was completely lazy in the spring this year LOL, congrats on the harvest!

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    1. Erin, I opened a whole new can of worms with the big onion and potato harvests (and the winter squash to come). It will be difficult to match this year's poundage in the future, unless I plant potatoes, onions and squash! Good thing those are the three things we really enjoy and use regularly.

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  26. so I'm finally catching up on the week's happenings and I missed the drama LOL... I got the gist from the first paragraph in my reader and I think I've had the same reaction as you before... well I'm ripping out my tomatoes I'm DONE. when it's over it's over and I know how much I have given to friends and neighbors over the years and I would bet you've done that times a couple hundred over me, so out with the old and unruly vines I say! :)

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    1. That's me, Erin....drama queen! I'm sure you understand :-)

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  27. Hello, I don't think I've ever commented on your blog before, but I read everything you post through RSS. I just want you to know that I absolutely love your blog, and you have been a HUGE inspiration to me! I only started trying to grow vegetables this previous year, and after seeing high-quality blogs like yours (with so much information to share), I was inspired to start my own. I'm sorry it took me so long to comment, but I absolutely adore seeing all of your beautiful garden pictures. :)

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    1. Thank you so much, Marnie. I'd love to read your blog if you'd care to share the URL.

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    2. It's http://myswflgarden.blogspot.com :)

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  28. I love reading your blog and hope you will resume writing your thoughts.

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    1. I'll be back soon, Deanna. I just need a bit of "me" time!

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