I've noticed a distinct change in my eating habits as Fall gets colder. In summer I would try to eat from the garden in every meal (though breakfasts only if I have raspberries). Often my meals would contain more vegetables than anything else. Now when lunch rolls around I'm eating less vegetables and more heavy carbs. It isn't that I don't have things to pick in the garden. I do. I haven't picked my lettuce or chard in weeks.
I do this every year. I wonder if it is a biological drive to fatten up for the winter. But my lunches have been homemade whole wheat and spelt tortillas, beans, and cheese. Yes I put some of those pickled peppers on top and some of my homemade salsa from the summer, but nothing fresh. I ought to at least add some lettuce. I swear I'll try to this week. I have also been going for grilled bread. I keep a container of bread dough in the fridge and just grab a bit to grill for lunch. I have an indoor grill on my stove so it is easy and quick. I add cheese and some of my apple butter or raspberry jam. Yes the bread is half whole wheat flour but it still isn't a very healthy lunch like my summer lunches are.
So I decided I needed to bring in something that I would eat. I picked carrots and made them into carrot sticks. The first batch was eaten for dinner when my MIL was in town (she also got garlic mashed potatoes from my stored potatoes and garlic). The rest I made later and have at least been nibbling on them. I'll endevour to pick carrots a couple of times a week and eat them up. I have plenty still in the garden.
I also picked some Chinese cabbge this week and a couple of side shoots of broccoli. So far they have ended up in a stirfry. At least that dinner was pretty healthy.
At the farmers market I'm still stocking up. Sadly the egg lady was out of eggs again. I'll have to buy from the store. Sigh. I'll try this Wednesday to remember to get there right as the market opens and get a few dozen. We obviously need more egg sellers at the market in the fall when the chickens don't produce as well. They had disappeared after only a couple of hours (maybe sooner). I still haven't bought my cabbage. Last year I got three huge heads from Wilson's Farm (which was eaten all the way into February). They had a sale for IPM cabbage at $1 a head. So far this fall they haven't had this (or I haven't noticed).
Now onto the tally.
- Berries 0.19 lbs
- Broccoli 0.05 lbs
- Carrots 1.05 lbs
- Greens 1.06 lbs
Weekly total: 2.35 lbs
Weekly spent: $0
Yearly total: 201.83 lbs
Yearly earned: $707.13
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!
Aaargh! I forgot all about Harvest Monday! We're just the same with the vegetables now that the weather's cooler. We can't grow lettuce in the summer, and now that it's growing we don't want to eat it!
ReplyDeleteZero harvest here, Daphne, but you are giving me ideas for healthier eating, thanks! What a perfect chinese cabbage, almost too pretty to eat, almost.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Hi Daphne - out of curiosity, when did you sow your carrots? I sowed mine in mid August and they seem to be taking forever to mature. I think the problem is that I did not water them regularly in the beginning so they got off to a really slow start.
ReplyDeleteNice looking head of cabbage! My asian greens are still showing signs of pest damage...now it appears to be slugs. I know what you mean about eating habits...I feel like lately, it's been nothing but pasta pasta pasta.
We go for the heartier fare in fall as well, Daphne. I think it's instinctual as cold weather arrives. And I never feel guilty about it, since I always try to make sure there are plenty of veggies in our pastas and we're baking lots of sweet potatoes and making carrots and greens (or broccoli or broccoflower or spinach) as side dishes and serving up a hearty salad alongside. Why not enjoy this season's delights as well as the others? Great time for baked apples as dessert, too! And I agree with everyone else---that's the most beautiful Chinese cabbage I've ever seen! Please tell us how you use the cabbages you get from the farmers' market. We love coleslaw and sauteed cabbage, but could use a few more suggestions!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely do the same thing Daphne. We eat much higher levels of carbs in the fall and winter. I work hard to keep the vegetable level up - but even then they are the winter crops and (with the exception of the greens) are more carby too - parsnips, carrots, winter squash, pumpkin, and stored potatoes!
ReplyDeleteAll I harvested were about 7 green beans (gave to Jude), and 10 muscadine grapes. Question....how does that chinese cabbage taste? I'm interested in growing it next year, and really like it's compact size. Does it taste like conventional cabbage?
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne. All my carrots are in the root-cellar now, but next year I'll sow some under cover in late August I think, so I can carry on pulling fresh ones for longer. Though then I'll probably end up with a carrot glut to equal this year's cabbage one!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm going to be down your way in early November, but I don't think US Customs will let me bring any cabbages across the border...
I notice that I want to sleep a lot more in the winter! I figure if I lived in Alaska I'd do that crazy stay up all night all summer thing.
ReplyDeleteIt can be hard to eat more veggies -- do soups sound good? You could sneak an awful lot of produce into something that would feel nurturing in the dark, cold weather. Not fresh, maybe, but better than a steady carb diet!! Eating well is a struggle even for me, with our lovely year-round weather. I made scrambled eggs and toast for dinner last night.
Nice carrots--makes me want to try again next year. I admire your efforts to eat healthy. I think the garden has been a positive influence on my diet. The past week there has been a lot of eating on the go and not many veggies. I'm looking forward to a slower week and more veggies, even if they are no longer from the garden.
ReplyDeleteJan, I've never had this issue before. I've always loved fall salads. I think I ate too many plain salads in the spring when there wasn't anything else.
ReplyDeletefairegarden, it is pretty, but if not eaten it goes bad pretty quickly, so I'm trying to eat it all up.
Thomas, these carrots were planted in May between the peppers and tomatoes. They were shaded all summer long so grew really slowly. I have planted carrots in mid July and gotten full sized carrots, but if I do it later they don't size up. I planted some at the beginning of August too and they are too small.
our friend Ben, for some reason the greens just aren't exciting me right now so I've been mostly ignoring them. Well I'm much like you. I love coleslaw and they also end up in stirfries. I put it in soups occasionally. I don't do anything really interesting with them.
kitsapFG, I'm going to start on my squash soon. They are just so good. And yes they are the heavy carbs too. They fit with my eating habits right now.
EG, hmm how to describe a Chinese cabbage? Well they are a bit more mustardy. Other than that it is hard to say. They do taste different. I love them both. Be forewarned however. Regular cabbage can keep for months in the fridge, but Chinese cabbage can't. It doesn't store very long, so you don't want to pick them all at the same time. They also bolt more easily in the spring than cabbage, but not in the fall. They love the fall weather.
Amanda, sometimes gluts are good. Cabbage and carrots are good for gluts since they store so long. And you never know about what veggies they will let you bring over the border. When I took a trip to Montreal in August I brought fresh tomatoes from the garden to snack on. Neither the border guards going there or coming home cared about them. The ones coming into the US really cared a lot about citrus fruit, but since we didn't have any of that he was happy. But I think this week I'm stocking up on cabbage. I'll get to the market soon.
Stefaneener, soups are a really good way of getting my veggies. Right now I just want black bean soup. I cooked up a lot of black beans this morning. I'll make some soup soon. It is such a struggle to eat well sometimes. The garden helps so much with that since usually I'm keen on using up all the garden produces so I have to eat a lot.
Sally, I've found that less busy times are easier on the diet too. Cooking doesn't take that long, but sometimes you just don't want to devote a lot of energy to it. Right now I'm devoting plenty of energy, but I'm focusing on things like pumpkin cake.
Your harvest may be small but it is lovely - a perfect chinese cabbage!
ReplyDeleteCold weather certainly hasn't been a valid excuse for me lately, the weather has been beautiful and I'm eating, eating, eating. Maybe it's the shorter days? I usually eat a lot of vegetables year round but find that I eat heartier fare when the days get colder, more meat. But soup is a favorite in winter also and I do load my soups with veggies.
Just a few tomatoes last week, they're going, going...
No more harvests for GrafixMuse’s Garden Spot, but I am enjoying all the harvests posted here for Harvest Monday. I too have noticed a change in the types of foods we are eating. We seem to be sick of salads, but enjoying more hearty meals like pastas, soups, and stews.
ReplyDeleteYou have grown some excellent Chinese cabbage this season. I have some growing but I don't think they will amount to much, started to late.
ReplyDeleteI really don't eat well in the fall either, to much meat and starch. I am guessing you are correct in thinking it's a biological thing. I do eat well in the winter thought with lots of soups & stews so it all evens out I hope.
Michelle, I love how the Chinese cabbages are coming along this fall. In spring they bolted because of our really weird weather. Last year I tried a fall crop but planted them too late. Live and learn.
ReplyDeleteGrafixMuse, sadly it looks like a lot of people are done for the year. Hopefully I'll keep getting some small harvests for a few more weeks, but once a hard freeze hits I'll have to harvest everything quickly or lose it.
Dan, I started mine late last year. I'm always learning better timing. Things grow so slowly in the fall. I always followed the package directions. x number of weeks before the fall frost. It never worked since the light levels in my garden are too low in the fall.
Hi there, I'm just coming into spring here in NZ and this is my first ever garden so will deffinately be recording my harvest as I go especially from the 20 tomato plants I thought I needed! Love reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening
Lauren