This week was much like last week, but instead of Chinese cabbage I harvested chard. I only took half the chard. I don't think I can eat more in a week anyway. Whatever is munching on it will have one more week before I pick the rest.
I also harvested lots of carrots and some lettuce. The carrots got eaten fresh and added to some nice chicken pot pie. I'm still staring at the lettuce thinking I should eat it soon.
At the farmers market I didn't get a lot. I got three pounds of Honey Crisp apples. They will be savored fresh over the course of the next month, though I'm sure I'll sacrifice a bit for some apple cake. And this week I timed it right. I came at 1:05, just after the market opened and waited in line for my last eggs of the season. These three dozen will last a couple of weeks. Maybe this winter I'll start going to Wilson's Farm for eggs. They aren't quite as good as the eggs I've been getting, but still good.
And speaking of Wilson's Farm I went over to stock up on cabbage. I bought three huge heads, each about 6 pounds. Two of the fit in some old apple bags. The other got rapped up in a plastic shopping bag. Sadly they were a bit too big. Last year's cabbage fit along the back of my refrigerator on the bottom shelf. These ones are so big that they don't fit under one of the shelves. Whoops. Right now I have them on different shelves, but they take up way too much space that way. When my kids come home and want apple juice and milk in the fridge I won't be able to fit it all. For Thanksgiving I'll have to take them out and put them in the garage, but hopefully by Christmas they will be pared down a bit.
Now onto the tally.
- Berries 0.32 lbs
- Carrots 0.98 lbs
- Greens 0.91 lbs
Weekly total: 2.21 lbs
Weekly spent: $0
Yearly total: 204.04 lbs
Yearly earned: $715.36
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!
Gotta love the chard, it is tasty, beautiful, and has a long season. We are still enjoying it, and the hens, too. Mmmmmmmm MM nothing like eggs from hens with a chard and brassica heavy diet!
ReplyDeleteAli, Chard really can't be beat as a veggie. Its only big issue is leaf miners and they aren't all that hard to control. I wish I could taste those eggs. I could compare them to the ones I get from the farmers market.
ReplyDeleteYour chard is beautiful. Love the Honey Crisp apples too. The orchard we pick at has them but unfortunately they don't let you pick them yet because the trees are too small.
ReplyDeleteYour chard look great, Daphne. I can only dream of harvesting some right now. And it looks like your fall carrots have worked out for you. Mine are still small. I sowed mine in mid-August and they just haven't had enough time to do their thing. Your lettuce looks perfect. The slugs are running rampant in my garden.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to try chard. Maybe next year i'll try it...
ReplyDeleteChard is perfect, and ours seems to be trouble free... oh, apart from a dose of greenfly early this year.
ReplyDeleteYour chard is gorgeous, Daphne! Much like the chard we got from our CSA. (Like Henbogle, ours gets passed along to the chickens once we've admired it.) Sounds like it's time to turn that great big cabbage into coleslaw and sauteed wedges to make a bit more room in the fridge! (Any excuse, right?!) And yes, we love Honeycrisps, too. Honeycrisps, Ginger Golds, and Braeburns are our faves!
ReplyDeleteThat's a LOT of cabbage!
ReplyDeleteI only like chard a little bit, so I have to hide it in other greens or stuff the leaves like cabbage leaves to get by, But it's a reliable producer, leaf miners and all.
The chard is so pretty, I love the multiple colors. I don't have any in the garden right now, it didn't survive the summer pests and diseases :( Oh well, I have plenty of kale to get met through the winter.
ReplyDeleteThe cabbages are amazing - 6+ pounds each! My husband and I stopped at a veggie stand on the coast this weekend and bought brussels sprouts on the stalk. It pretty much takes up a whole shelf in the fridge. But we'll probably it them all in the next couple of weeks.
Yay! I'm back on Monday Harvest!
ReplyDeleteDaphne, your chard is so pretty. I've never tasted chard, but everyone grows it but me so I guess I'll have to give it a try next year.
Dan, it is my all time favorite apple. If I ever get apple trees I'll have one of those.
ReplyDeleteThomas, I sowed a small patch I think at the beginning of August and they aren't ready yet either. Hmm I haven't checked them in a while. I suppose I ought to. For some reason my slugs don't like my lettuce all that much. They eat it when it is a seedling, but not older. I might occasionally find a slug on one of them, but it is really rare. I think the brassicas are my real slug magnets.
EG, try it next year. Not everyone loves it like I do, but you never know until you try.
Jan, hmm I wonder what greenfly is. Aphids maybe? I guess I've never had aphids on the chard. They like my peas that grew close so much better. Also the chard was right next to my leeks. Maybe that kept them away.
our friend Ben, My intention is to let it take up the fridge for a few more weeks. Then I'll start working on it. Right now is Chinese cabbage season and that doesn't keep well at all. Oh Ginger Golds are one of my faves too. I'm trying to think if I've ever had a Braeburn. I've seen them. I'll have to try them next year.
Stefaneener, it is a lot of cabbage. I expect it to last a few months. I think it will.
Michelle, You have such a different climate than I do. I couldn't imagine my chard dying on me here. It is hard to keep down. I keep it really well picked so I don't have to spend a lot of time on leaf miner searches. It always amazes me that it can handle being defoliated like that.
Annie's Granny, Yay! It must be such a shock for you to go from you massively plentiful garden to your little AZ garden. But at least you have lettuce :>
Something a little different from me today: mushrooms! Glad you got the eggs this time. Interesting to hear that hens are fond of it - will have to test that out with mine!
ReplyDeleteWe harvested Arugula this weekend for a salad. Not sure if I'll get it posted today since we have some friends in town, but I am still harvesting!
ReplyDeleteMy chard is looking pretty beat with the cold, but my biggest problem by far is that the cold frame seems to have become a slug shelter and they are tearing things apart.
Chard is my favorite. But for some reason I can't get it to grow in my garden. I can however grow Arugula like nobodys business.
ReplyDeleteLovely chard! My production (fall) was small this year, but every little bit was delicious. Can't wait to grow it again next Spring.
ReplyDeleteNice chard, and I'm having lettuce envy again (what variety is that lettuce, by the way) and as I may have mentioned last week, Farmers Market withdrawal. I may have to venture out of Boston in search of one this weekend.
ReplyDeleteChard is one of my favorite crops - so realiable and beautiful - and oh so tasty too!
ReplyDeleteGood haul from the farmer's market!
Amanda, I'd be scared to death to pick wild mushrooms. I have a ton of them. I do keep thinking about planting portobello spawn. I have plenty of trees here. I could easily cut down a scraggly oak over the winter, but just haven't gotten up the gumption to do it yet.
ReplyDeleteEmily, yeah the slugs probably love the warmth and moisture in the cold frame. Luckily my chard is still fine, but then I live in southern New England. The weather was probably just a tad bit warmer.
selina, oh how sad. There are certain things that won't grow here either. I keep trying.
miss m, I'm glad you got some. I just couldn't imagine not having chard in the garden.
Sally, it is a mix between Red Sails and New Red Fire. New Red Fire I think was bred to replace Red Sails, but I haven't found that it is any better. I think I'll use the seed up but will probably stick with Red Sails which is a wonderful plant. It is slow to bolt and makes some huge heads in the spring. In the fall it is smaller, but still nice.
kitsapFG, sadly it was the last farmer's market of the season. It is going to be sad going back to the produce market at the store. This summer I only bought a couple of lemons and ginger.