July 15, 2013 - Harvest Monday

 The Velour bush beans were ready for their first picking, so I had both green and purple beans this week.  I'm trying to only dig Red Norland potatoes as we use them, but they are getting quite large so I may have to go ahead and dig the rest of them next week.  At least one plant of the Grand Bell Mix sweet peppers turned out to be a beautiful purple variety.  I also harvested two Quadrato Rosso D'Asti red peppers, a Happy Yummy Sweet (orange) and several green peppers that were suffering from sun scald.  The carrots are still small, but Annie and Otto have begun to expect them for an evening snack.  Luckily a later planting looks to be shaping up nicely, so Mr. Granny and I might get our carrots yet!  Cucumbers, zucchini and crookneck squash are coming on fast.

 The sweet peppers were so pretty, they got their own close-up photo.  Some of them ended up being tossed with a bit of olive oil and cooked on the grill, with sweet onions, zucchini slices and pineapple, and served with teriyaki grilled pork tenderloin and chicken breast.

 A basket of crisp Anuenue lettuce was a welcome addition to our salads this week.  The Fortex beans are slowly yielding, I hope I have better luck with the later planting.  These were from the vines that were ravaged by earwigs, and they never fully recovered.  I'm still getting a few broccoli side shoots from the early broccoli plants.  My experiment with planting potatoes in chopped leaves didn't turn out too well.  I got four potatoes from an entire barrel (3 or four seeds).

 I don't know how many more strawberry shortcakes my body can stand, LOL!  This week I've been eating the berries for breakfast, with vanilla yogurt.

I dug the rest of the "Yukon Gold potatoes that were not" (mislabeled, probably Russets).  The yield wasn't very good, whatever they were.  I got a lot more from the one row of true Yukon Gold seed potatoes than from a double row of this variety.  We're getting just enough tomatoes for fresh eating now, but certainly not a surplus.  The Sungolds are very flavorful, the others are still a bit mealy and bland, but getting better.  Strawberries were picked six of the seven days this week!  I only missed Tuesday, because I was away from home that day.

 The first crop of bush beans was pretty much kaput, so I pulled them to make more room for the ever expanding squash plants.  Then I decided instead to plant that bed with some leftover early corn seeds, just to see how they do when planted mid-July.  If they grow and produce, fine.  If not, I hadn't planned on using that seed next year anyway.  I pulled these test carrots from the bed that looks to be doing well, and I was pleased to see they are growing straight, with no sign of root knot nematodes.  I think I'm finding the zucchinis before they get too big (like the one last week), but I suppose there are one or two hiding under all that foliage, and they'll just jump out and surprise me someday soon.  Like that one big cucumber in the photo.  I swear, I just checked the vines the previous day, and that thing wasn't there!

 The corn ears of this early variety are so small!  I had to pull a few more carrots from some that were planted (and hiding) under the tomatoes.  Too bad I can't just leave them alone until they are more mature, but I'm impatient.  I should rename my blog "The Impatient Gardener".  Oh heck, that name is already taken!  Two tomatoes and another sweet pepper were promptly eaten for dinner, and I ate the ear of corn as a snack.  Mr. Granny got his share on Sunday.

My all time highest year for strawberries was 24.56 pounds in 2009.  I almost equaled that already this week, with a total for the year so far of 24.54 pounds!  I'm just .02 lb. short of the record, with at least three more months of picking ahead!

We ate well Sunday night, consuming all of the corn, both crookneck squash, and all of the tomatoes.  Everything else got put in the refrigerator....which is packed full of uneaten zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce and beans.  I'll have to eat the broccoli, as Mr. Granny says he'll pass.  This head of broccoli is the first harvest from my second planting.  It's not very large, but with temperatures in the high 90s I was afraid it was going to burst into flower, so I went ahead and cut it.  More strawberries were picked, but not photographed.  They all look alike.  

This Week's Harvest

Beans (bush): 34.4 ounces

Beans (pole): 10.4 ounces

Broccoli: 8.2 ounces

Carrots: 6.1 ounces

Corn: 19.2 ounces

Cucumbers: 95.7 ounces 

Peppers (hot) 5.7 ounces

Peppers (sweet): 32.1 ounces

Potatoes: 213.3 ounces

Squash (summer): 121.1 ounces

Strawberries: 90.4 ounces 

Tomatoes: 37.7 ounces

Total for week: 674.3 ounces (42 pounds)

Total to date: 210 pounds

 Too many cucumber too eat fresh, so 2 quarts of refrigerator dills were made with garden fresh onions, garlic, and dill weed.  The dill seeds are from the 2012 harvest.  I also made two half-pints of Cowboy Candy (hot peppers in a vinegar-sugar syrup) that I'm keeping in the refrigerator rather than canning.  I've never eaten them before, so it's just a test to see if we like them.  You couldn't tell I've given up eating so much white sugar, as the syrup on these two tiny jars consists of 1/2 cup of vinegar to 1 1/2 cups of sugar!  That's a lot of the sweet stuff.

The first ear of corn.  This early variety won't be in next year's garden, as the ears are too small.  That's a salad plate, not a dinner plate.  

Now, if you'll please excuse me......

I'm going to enjoy the fruits of my labors!

Thanks to Daphne's Dandelions for hosting Harvest Monday.