Monday, August 24, 2009

Harvest Monday August 23, 2009

Part of Monday's harvest 8/17: tomatoes, bunching onions, zucchini, tomatillos.

Hot months always have the high harvest and August has been by far our hottest. June languished in the 60°Fs (15-20C). July picked up a bit but still was below normal. In August we have had some hot weather. This last week we finally made it into the 90°Fs (32C) for the first time this summer. OK maybe it was only one day, but we got there. The heat has been a boon for my tomatoes (yes tomatoes yet again). They have finally turned with all the hot weather. This week was the week of the tomato. I harvested over 30lbs of tomatoes. Some of them were just turning and are now ripening on the windowsill.

More of Monday's harvest: komatsuna, chard, mizuna, tatsoi and squash blossoms. Not shown on Monday: more tomatoes and eggplant.

Next week I won't get nearly as many. When my late blight hit I trimmed all the blossoms and small tomatoes off of my Market Miracle plants so they just had about 20 tomatoes each left on them. I only left the sprays with the biggest ones so the plants would put all of their energy into getting those ones ripe. Well it was a success considering the late blight, but I will always wonder what my yields would have been without having to cut all of the little ones off. I tried to do this with my other tomatoes too but they keep trying to put out more foliage and tomatoes and I didn't keep up with them. I may yet get some September tomatoes if I don't have another bad round of late blight.

Tuesday (photo not taken): tomatillos, cucumber, squash blossoms, tomatoes.

Wednesday: squash blossoms, tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers.

The heat finally made the cucumbers take off. Well not really take off but at least produce a little. I have nine cucumber plants. I should be canning away, but not this year. At least I have enough for some nice refrigerator pickles.


Thursday (two photos): coriander, dill seed (not weighed yet, will do this after I finish the harvest), cayenne, serrano, jalapeno, tomato, tomatillo. Not shown: beans, tropea onion.

The zucchini did produce a little, but it never took off. Powdery mildew is taking over so I'll never get much of a harvest. Today I had two female blooms on my plants. There were no male blooms to be seen of that species. So sad. They probably won't set. I'm hoping they open up again tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic.

Friday: eggplant, cucumber, tomatillo, tomato.

My beans are slowly starting to put on a harvest again. They have liked the hot weather this week. Soon I'll get some more. My dried beans are just starting to dry out their first pods. I'll wait until we get some dry weather this coming week and pick all the ones that are ready.

Saturday: tomato, cucumber, beans, tomatillo.

The Slim Jim eggplants are in production now. I've picked off several. One Lavender Touch eggplant put out one tiny eggplant then succumbed to blight (at least that is what it looks like). I pulled it up. The tomatillo is happy to spread into its spot. The other one is not doing very well even though it is trying to put out its first eggplant. I think this variety is not good for me. It needs more heat. Not that it matters much. I think I'm not going to grow eggplants again. I just don't like eating them enough. I'd rather have more hot peppers and tomatoes for salsa.

Sunday: tomato, tomatillo, eggplant. Not shown: beans.

I found an error in my spreadsheet. It was not adding all the money up. It had just the Sungolds prices on, not the other tomatoes and it was missing the squash blossoms. Whoops! Only the yearly totals were wrong, but I think I have it all fixed up. So here are the weekly tally totals:

  • Alliums 1.34
  • Beans 0.26 lbs
  • Cucurbits 3.54 lbs
  • Eggplant 0.59 lbs
  • Greens 1.52 lbs
  • Peppers 1.00 lbs
  • Tomatillo 0.18
  • Tomatoes 32.58 lbs

Weekly total: 41.01 lbs
Weekly spent: $0
Yearly total: 128.40 lbs
Yearly earned: $442.55

I'm way over the 100 lb mark. This week made me feel a bit like Annie's Granny - without all the canning since I'm freezing everything.

If you would like to join in showing off your harvest, put your name and URL into Mr. Linky below. It doesn't matter how big or small your harvest is. You don't have to count the pounds like I do. If you have had a harvest this last week, show us and join in!

26 comments:

  1. Thanks to the pumpkins and butternut squash, I had another good week.

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  2. Good morning Daphne, what a wonderful post. So many delicious and beautiful veggies you have harvest! I know that you and I sow our leeks at the same time and yours are looking so much better then my leeks.
    I'm up in my country home now so this weeks harvest comes from the woods.

    xoxo Tyra

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  3. Annie's Granny, I think you had another good week even without the pumpkins.

    Tyra, I loved your harvest of chantarelles. They look so good.

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  4. Another good week of harvesting Daphne! Glad to hear you are getting some warmer weather finally.

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  5. I love the striped zucchini you have this year. My zucchini have performed poorly as well. What are you doing with all those cherry tomatoes?

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  6. Those are beautiful pictures. I'm with you on the eggplants -- I just don't like or eat them enough to make that a priority. Same with cabbage heads. I just like them every so often, and don't want to give the attention to them they would need or deserve!

    You're still an organizational inspiration, though.

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  7. Hi Daphne, I added my link for today's melon post, hope that is okay. You are really hauling in the produce! It is so impressive. We have had a poor year for cukes, no pickles made and finally just pulled up the squash. That is one better from the farmer's market, takes too much room and always has problems. Your assortment of tomatoes is amazing, as pretty as flowers. :-)
    Frances

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  8. Hi Daphne, That's a really impressive harvest this week. It's a shame about the late blight in your tomatoes. And you've finally got a couple of zucchini, but dang that powdery mildew...

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  9. Lovely harvest. I've heard of a lot of problems with late blight this year. I guess it's related to the weather.

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  10. I'm limping through late blight. But thanks to advice from you and lessons learned the hard way in previous years, I am still getting a small harvest. Tomatoes are precious as gold this year, so I'm not complaining. It sure is a pleasure to see your bounty!

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  11. kitsapFG, thanks! Sadly the weather won't last. Come Thursday it will go back into the 70s. My garden might not like it as much but I really do.

    Emily, that zucchini is Costata Romenesca. The seed was from Ali at Henbogle. I really like its taste raw. I find it much better than the other variety I'm growing. If I had a lot I would see what it tastes like pickled. The cherry tomatoes are quite a bit to eat. I eat them in fresh salsa and in tomato salads. I give them away. I also make sauce out of them since I have so many. If I think they will rot on the counter before they are eaten fresh, they get tossed in the Victorio strainer with my other tomatoes and get preserved for the winter. The black cherries actually have quite a bit of flesh on them.

    Stefaneener, Oh I love cabbage, but in the fall I usually just buy them from the farm when they go on sale. A dollar for a huge cabbage is pretty cheap and would take a lot of space in the garden. So I stock up on some for winter slaws.

    Frances, Oh the melon post makes a fine harvest. I was drooling over it myself. I so wish I could grow melons here, but usually they don't ripen in time. It is very hit or miss. This year I'm glad I didn't try, it would have been a big miss year. Even the squash is missing big time.

    Michelle, thanks. But at least I got tomatoes this year. I feel really sorry for those that got hit with it and got none.

    Ottawa Gardener, thanks! That and the big box stores shipping infected plants up here in the spring. With both together we got it bad.

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  12. June, I find it weird that this is the best tomato harvest I've ever had here. I know some of the reasons why (new amendments, the sunniest bed is finally free of the apple tree, double digging the bed, planting more than twice the tomatoes as previous years), but keep thinking 'what if'. I have to quit doing that. Then again it give me something to look forward to next year.

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  13. I want those cherry toms, Daphne, name your price !
    I can't believe how many you've harvested. Magnifico ! Nice peppers too !

    Lovely harvest !

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  14. It certainly was a week for tomatoes for you! They all look wonderful. What do you do with your mizuna? I planted some for a fall crop but have no idea what to do with it, salads? I have yet to have my tomato week but I am thinking when it comes it will look much like yours.

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  15. Hi Daphne

    Looks like a good haul from your garden this week! I've done another garden-to-storecupboard post for your meme today. It's only just finished cooking, so those jars you see are still warm!!

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  16. Miss M, well I brought a whole bunch of them up when I went to Montreal. I didn't even finish them all. When I went back to the US the guard asked if I had any fruit I said no, but we had some vegetables - tomatoes. He gave me this look and said that tomatoes are fruit and the other four 'friends' in the car were laughing at me. Yes I know they are fruit. I wondered if he would take the US grown tomatoes as I went back into the US, but no. He was only looking for citrus fruit.

    Dan, I noticed you had some nice tomatoes this week too. I know what you mean though. It is different when you have to sauce your tomatoes just to keep up with them than when you get enough to eat for the week. Maybe this coming week will be your week.

    Amanda, your chutney looked divine. I need to made some at some point. Maybe I'll use up some more of those pineapple tomatillos. They would add a nice taste to chutney.

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  17. What a wonderful harvest Daphne!

    My eggplants never did anything this year. Those purple eggplants look so good... as does all of your harvest!!!

    What class are you taking? I keep toying with the idea of taking some photography classes... but have to finish my house first!

    When I worked in Boston I used to take some of those enrichment classes... can't remember the name of the organization that put them together... I took keyboard one time! Fun!

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  18. Tony, right now I'm taking dance classes. I'm having a really good time too. Lots of people teach classes around here. I particularly love the Arlington Community Education. But for dance we have two different dance centers. In Medford we have Springstep and in Cambridge we have the Dance Complex. So many options.

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  19. How fun Daphne!!! What a great way to keep in shape!

    Gosh, we used to live in Medford! Memories...

    I need to take a trip to NE!

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  20. Hmmm... What you are calling a tomatillo looks just like what I'm calling a ground cherry (http://jackiessecretgarden.blogspot.com/search/label/ground%20cherry)

    Are your tomatillos green or purple?

    -Jackie

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  21. Hi! We decided to quadruple the veggie patch this year, and I've been keeping track of everything, too. Nice to find this blog!

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  22. Jackie, yes it is a ground cherry. It is called a pineapple tomatillo, but it really isn't a tomatillo, but a ground cherry. And they are yellow.

    Jody M, wow quadrupling it all is a lot. My garden has stayed the same size since its inception, but then I put a cedar fence around it so it is hard to change.

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  23. Hi Daphne,
    Wow, excellent harvest. I'm in awe of your tomatoes. Some of mine have taken an ugly turn (as I will show in my upcoming post).

    Speaking of tomatoes, how much are they going for these days by the pound? I have been away and missed my local farmer's market.

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  24. Gosh, Daphne...that's alot of tomatoes. I hope you're gonna make salsa or something with them. Man....quite an impressive harvest Monday!

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  25. Wow, I'm drooling. I'd love to hear more details about the new amendments for your tomatoes, it seems to be working!

    I am really impressed at how much you are harvesting from your small garden in such a horrible growing year! I have lots more space, but less than half the produce. Do you offer on site consulting?

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  26. Sally, I think the heirlooms are going for $4/lb still at the farmer's market. This is the same price as last year which surprises me since there are fewer people selling them.

    EG, I made salsa yesterday. I mix it up. Sometimes it is salsa, sometimes it is sauce.

    hembogle, I've always put in a balance organic fertilizer, green sand, and bonemeal. This year I didn't have the green sand but put in Azomite (which is also has some potassium, but both are mainly micro nutrients). I also added powdered eggshells. I put in a whole cup of each of the above mixed in below each planting hole. I double dug that bed this year and put in 2-3" of compost mixed into the lower level of soil. Basically they were pampered to death. I put in a ton of work for them this spring but it really paid off. I'm going to double dig next year too for my tomatoes.

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