Monday, September 21, 2009

Harvset Monday September 21, 2009

Tuesday's harvest

The harvest season is starting to wind down. I pulled a lot of plants this weekend. Soon I won't have harvests. How will I continue to do Harvest Mondays when I'm locked in ice over the winter? My plan is to recruit someone from the southern hemisphere. Though someone from a place like Texas or Florida where they can't grow in the summer due to heat, and have better harvests in the winter would be a good choice too.

This is a call for volunteers (November-April). Now I know that this is a lot of work to get a harvest post on the same day every week in time for people to join in. Take today for instance. Right now I'm in a little bed and breakfast in NH. I'm sure I'm having a great time. But I had to remember to write this post on Saturday so it would get up on time. If you agree to do it, it is a commitment to continue. Obviously if there are emergencies and such it wouldn't happen, but under normal operating conditions it would.

I've also thought that if it was too much work for one person to do then maybe we could have four people and you could do it just once a month. Anyway if you have harvests from November through April and would like to do one or more harvests posts every month email me. I don't care what format you use. You can use Mr. Linky or if you can't do that you can just have people comment and leave their links there. You don't have to tally anything. The only requirement is harvest photos and asking people to join in. BTW if we have multiple hosts I'm going to ask all the hosts to remind people where the official harvest post will be that week. I will too.

If I get no volunteers, I'll continue to do them until I get no one putting up posts. Yup, I'll do harvest posts even when I don't have harvests as long as people continue to join in. I might be talking about something other than my harvest of icicles though. If no one joins in during the winter (my winter that is) then I'll discontinue them until my harvests start up again in May. Well it is time to get back to the pretty harvest photos.

Thursday's harvest

The cucurbits were this week's big winner. The cucumbers really put out this week. Most likely my last zucchini was harvested. Ah the end of the summer veggies. BTW in the photo above that is a baby neck pumpkin and it was not counted in the tally. I knew it wouldn't ripen in time so I took it in to see what it tasted like. It tastes a bit like a cross between a zucchini and a butternut squash. However it was bitter so I tossed it.

Saturday's harvest

The big news was that my first winter squash was picked. It is a Magdalena Big Cheese. Whoot! It may be my only winter squash. The one other one that set this year may not ripen up in time. Sadly I forgot to take photos of the pretty raspberries. I usually harvest them early in the morning and dump them in my cereal so photos are often forgotten.

So here are the weekly tally totals:

  • Beans 0.73 lbs
  • Berries 0.99 lbs
  • Broccoli 0.23 lbs
  • Cucurbits 5.01 lbs
  • Peppers 0.34 lbs
  • Tomatillo 0.16 lbs

Weekly total: 7.80 lbs
Weekly spent: $0
Yearly total: 183.99 lbs
Yearly earned: $633.73

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!

21 comments:

  1. What a beautiful zucchini! I'd offer to keep posting, but no doubt I'll be out of vegggies soon, too.
    Ali

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  2. Beautiful cukes! My cucumbers are down and out for the rest of the season, they never really produced well after their late start with all the rain we had.

    Your broccoli looks wonderful too! Enjoy NH!

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  3. Hi Daphne, your harvest posts are wonderful and it will be sad to see them go. Maybe you can still harvest herbs for a while after the main garden is pulled. I can't help you, we are about done too and anything weekly is impossible. I couldn't even keep up with once a month for Tina's veggie day on the 20th. I like hearing your voice, whether you have any veggies or not. :-)
    Frances

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  4. Well, I didn't take any harvest photos last week.....As the days get shorter, there's just not enough time for it. However, I did take a harvest video on Saturday, that hasn't been uploaded yet. That squash looks strange, but those are usually the best kind!

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  5. I have not been participating in the Monday harvest posts because I cannot consistently get to them timely. For the same reasons, I am going to refrain from volunteering to help out - as I am unable to honor the commitment of sticking to the scheduled day. Hopefully someone else will step up, or we will have to wait until spring to see it resurface again.

    The harvest looks good. I was wondering what baby pumpkins or winter squash might taste like!

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  6. Hi Daphne, this is my first time participating in Harvest Monday. My family and I moved into our new home at the end of July - barely in time for a fall garden. I'm a bit embarrassed to show off my little harvests thus far when everyone else seem to still be enjoying their summer bounty! (It's like grade school all over again.) :)
    I'm trying my hand at a winter garden this year using cold frames and floating row cover- a tough prospect given our harsh New England winters. I have no idea what to expect. If everything goes according to plan and you still haven't found anyone further south willing to take this over, I might be able to at least help keep this going for December...that is, if I can figure out what a "Mr. Linky" is. :)

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  7. Pretty pretty squash. I'd offer, as I plan to harvest year-round, but I am a blogging slacker and no doubt wouldn't remember.

    Do you not keep anything under mulch a la Coleman?

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  8. Hmm, I harvest year round also, but the pickings get kind of slim in the dead of winter. I could share duties with another blogger but I'm not sure I could commit to every week. And I would have to work at getting my posts up earlier...

    Good looking head of broccoli. That Magadalena Big Cheese is gorgeous. My plants are running rampant and finally setting some fruit. How long did it take for your squash to mature?

    I'm always a little sad when the summer harvests come to an end, even zucchini.

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  9. I might not even have an internet connection when I get to AZ next month, so I'm afraid I can't help you. That's the problem with tiny towns, we don't have a lot of services or options.

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  10. Good looking harvests there.

    I'm WAY down south! and my lot will be producing in the next month or so but it's a teeny weeny plot so.....

    http://veggie-might-sp8.blogspot.com/

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  11. I may be able to volunteer for a post later, after I see how my fall veggies go. Since I've got a shortage of sun, I don't often grow veggies here. At any rate, keep on posting. It's great to hear you.

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  12. Your winter squash look beautiful. I'd like to continue posting harvests though I don't know how long mine will hold out in the Vermont weather, even if they are protected by the col frame.
    Thanks for hosting these posts, they get me motivated to update the blog, even when teaching keeps me busy.

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  13. Looks like your harvests are still coming in nicely. I love the big cheese! My zuc had its last harvest last week, I think at least. I need to harvest my winter squash soon, the skins are hard and the vines are almost dead, should do that soon.

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  14. Nice cukes, and I'm glad you're getting some decent broccoli. I think mine is winding down.

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  15. What a wonderful squash! going to harvest beets and purple cabbage for borscht tomorrow, and since we're in for a week of sun (hooray!) will be able to pick ripe tomatoes right up till the end of September.
    :-)

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  16. Thanks everyone. I'll get back to you as soon as I get home. I have an internet connection, but the computer is driving me crazy. Everytime I type something it gets erased.

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  17. Hi Daphne,
    How about Winter gardening for salad greens like Eliot Colman teaches or window sill gardening? Would growing sprouts count as a harvest? Just some things you might consider to have harvest posts through the Winter.

    By the way, I have Big Cheese squash envy.

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  18. Love your Big Cheese, Daphne! But I have B&B in NH envy! I wonder if maybe you could switch from harvest to purchase posts, tracking what and how much produce you buy at the store (and what you eat from home storage of yoru garden's bounty) until the garden's producing again? It would be kind of fascinating to compare the two.

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  19. henbogle, the curse of the New England winters. You at least have a greenhouse. I just dream about them.

    GrafixMuse, NH was wonderful. It is amazing to go there and not see any crowds. No one is there in September.

    Frances, thanks!

    EG, it is a strange looking squash. I can't wait to eat it, but they are supposed to be better if you wait a while for them to cure. So I will.

    kitsapFG, the baby winter squash actually taste quite good except for that bitter underflavor. It destroys it though.

    Thomas, I thought your radishes looked really pretty. Nothing to be ashamed of. I hope your attempt at winter gardening works. Someday I'll try that out.

    Stefaneener, last winter I tried keeping things alive, but wasn't very successful. My tunnels collapsed. I need EG to build me something sturdy for the winter. I should just build something myself, but since I've been trying to move for a year I just haven't bothered to make something more permanent.

    Michelle, Hmm I saw my first female bud on my Magdelena at the end of July. So about 1 1/2 months for me.

    Annie's Granny, Oh I hope you get a connection. It will be sad if we have to say goodbye for six months.

    SP8, thanks for the offer. I think I might have Robin do it. Though if she has trouble I'll keep you in mind. It would be interesting to see if a balcony gardener could pull off a harvest every week.

    Mary Delle, Thanks.

    Emily, yeah we need a southern blogger. It will be fun to see the different seasons.

    Dan, It will be fun to see your squash harvest. I really wish my squash had grown this year. I planted six winter squash and only got one, maybe two squash. Sigh.

    Sally, I hope the side shoots start coming soon. I so love broccoli.

    gumboot goddess, I wish I had some tomatoes left. I miss them.

    Linda, I am going to try to overwinter some things, but I don't expect a lot of harvests during the winter itself. There isn't much sun here during the winter, so things don't grow well. The sun is low enough that my neighbor's house shades the garden in the afternoon. Mine shades it in the morning, so it just gets peeks of sun during certain parts of the day.

    our friend Ben, lol it was a really nice B&B well worth the envy. And Sally and Dick the innkeepers were really very nice. I like your idea. My problem in the winter is that I don't eat as well as I do in the summer. The garden forces me to eat a lot of veggies. In the winter I tend to slack off and eat more of the things that are bad for me.

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  20. Oh BTW I still am not sure about Harvest Mondays. I have one volunteer that seems to have a good sized garden and lives in TX that would do it. She has a really lovely blog. My only hesitation is that she doesn't have comments enabled on her blog. I think of Harvest Monday as a community of like minded folks talking to each other about their harvest. OK and eye candy. Who couldn't see Thomas's big spray of radishes and drool. Or Michelle's tomatoes. But we also comment on each others' blogs. I could do something based on our friend Ben's idea. I'm really unsure. Maybe if I'm still unsure next week I'll have you all vote on it.

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  21. Forgot to comment, forgot to link ! Where's my head at ? Out in the garden, that's where. Busy working on the addition and too pooped to turn on the puter lately.

    The Big Cheese is amazing, Daphne ! Lovely harvest.

    I don't think there's any point in this Zone 4 gardener offering her services to host Harvest Mondays, unless y'all want to see snow every week ! :D

    Whatever happens to HM, thx for your time hosting, Daphne. Much appreciated.

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