This week was a highlight in the garden in so many ways. I was harvesting everyday, sometimes more than once. Needless to say I have a lot of photos. And though it was the highest harvest week so far, this was only because I'm adding in somethings from the old garden.
Unknown softneck in a braid, German Extra Hardy, Bogatyr (small ones on top)
Tiny Onions
Yes I added in the garlic and onions. They are both dry right now so it was time to weigh them. The garlic was picked at the appropriate time, but the onions weren't. I picked a lot of them early because it was that or lose them. I left about a third for the new owners, but the smaller ones. I was a bit afraid the onions would wouldn't dry well since they were picked early, but they seem to be doing fine. As there are only just over 3 lbs in this bowl, I don't expect them to last all year anyway.
And in other big news the first of the dried beans were picked. They look totally unassuming in their husks, but once they are stripped out...
Don't they look just beautiful? These seeds were from Dan.
The first Early Kus Ali tomato is hiding in there. The first taste of it was just OK. Nothing special. Nothing great, but the first ones often aren't as good, so I'm holding out hope the next ones will be better.
My first Cherokee Purple tomato. Oh how yummy it was. Even with the first one I'm impressed. I hope the next ones get even better.
My Heinz tomatoes under the cherries. They were very dry inside as a paste tomato should be. The fresh taste was nothing to write home about, but since it is a paste, eventually I'll want to taste how it makes sauce.
I never plant a lot of green beans. I'm the only one in my family to eat them. I hope by picking a few every couple of days to have enough for eating fresh one day a week. So far so good. This week was 6.1 oz which is a fine serving of beans for me.
The tomatillos are really starting to ramp up. You can see one or two in previous photos, but on Sunday I noticed a lot had dropped to the ground and a lot were ripe on the vine. I now have them in a large bowl. When I get a lot I'll make salsa.
The last of the big news is that I'm positive for the year right now. The numbers are a little bit in flux though. Last time I bought tomatoes from the market they were $4.99 (heirloom IPM tomatoes from the farmers market). I have my tomatoes listed as $3.99. But I bought early tomatoes. I'll have to check this week and see if they have raised the price permanently or if $4.99 was just for the early ones. I also haven't checked on tomatillos yet this year. In fact a lot of my prices haven't been checked out for the year. I have work to do on Wednesday. I hope I remember to bring a notepad.
- Alliums 6.35
- Beans 0.78 lbs
- Cucurbits 2.39 lbs
- Pepper 0.14
- Tomatillo 1.93 lbs
- Tomato 4.23 lbs
- Spent this week: $0
- Total harvested this week 15.81 lbs
- Total for the year 68.17 lbs
- 2010 Tally 5.07
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.
Awesome harvest Daphne! I love the beans and tomatillos. How do you know when they are ready? I'm growing purple tomatillos this year and a few have broken through their husks but they are still green.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and delicious-looking vegetable harvest! Here in Florida the heat prevents most vegetables from being grown in the summer, but I have an abundance of tree fruits right now.
ReplyDeleteThe abundance of your harvest is impressive! I would've never guessed that you would get such lovely colored beans from those plain-looking dried pods.
ReplyDeleteI've also been playing around with my spreadsheet to figure out my garden cost vs. value. It's kinda tricky when supermarket veggie prices change all the time. Also, I hesitate to say that I "saved" $XXX by growing my own, because if I weren't growing my own organic tomatoes, I probably wouldn't spend $4.99/lb on supermarket organics anyway. But either way, I'm still WAY in the red so far this year, so no real worries for me. :)
I love the variety of tomatoes you have this year. They're so beautiful and colorful.
ReplyDeleteThat Cherokee Purple tomato looks delicious. I have some growing but they are little green balls at the moment - a long ways away from being a ripe tomato yet. Lack of any real summer time heat is slowing everything down to a crawl. Regardless, if luck is with me I will get at least one batch fo ripe CP tomatoes to enjoy before the fall cold rains arrrive and kills all the tomato plants. The dried beans are really pretty. They deserve to be displayed in a glass jar so they can be admired!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvests as always. I am jealous of those tomatoes, as I'm still waiting. I'm trying dried beans for the first time this year but went with the simple black beans. They're just blooming so I'll have to wait to see how they turn out.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Harvest!
ReplyDeleteThings look great, Daphne! Especially your garlic. I need to get mine taken care of, it is still hanging in the barn attic, sigh.
ReplyDeleteThose dried beans look so pretty. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWow Daphne! Your garden is really producing!!!
ReplyDeleteI love those dry beans! Do you know what kind they are?
Here in Wyoming my garden is just starting to really produce nicely! Late August is typically our big harvest time!
Thank you for providing the link system so that we can share our garden harvest excitement!
Are you feeling settled in your new home, or still unpacking?
Wahoo! Tomatoes! Congrats on your great harvest. I'll bet that Cherokee Purple was heaven for you. I've never grown dry beans or tomatillos. Actually, I've never used tomatillos. What do you do with them? Awesome job on your new garden. I'm still impressed that you are able to get it up and going this soon, and then to get such a nice harvest! You rock!
ReplyDelete~~Lori
A perfect portrait of summer in the garden!
ReplyDeleteHow many dry beans do you hope to harvest and how much space do they need? I've tried growing them in the past but I stopped when I realized that the yield compared with green beans was pretty low. I would need half my garden just to grow enough dry beans for the year. I am wondering how other gardeners approach growing dry beans...
Your right you did have a good harvest! It always looks so pretty! I can't wait to try to grow garlic for the first time this fall!
ReplyDeleteThose beans are GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeletePretty beans! My cranberry and Trail of Tears beans that you sent are doing well. I can't remember which was planted where, but the ones on the fence have big fat pods, while the ones on the patio are reaching for the roof.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting too many tomatoes for two people to eat, but not enough to can.
Yay, you're in the black, or should that be the green! That's a lot of nice variety in your harvests. I didn't grow any tomatillos this year but did let one plant volunteer along the edge of the path so perhaps I'll get enough for a couple of bowls of salsa before I get tired of stepping over it to get to the zucchinis.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous harvest Daphne!
ReplyDeleteI have only cut 2 zucchini this year, and they were eaten so fast they never made it on film.
Tomatoes both red and green were harvested this week. The green ones were due to a plant being pulled from the ground though :-(
ReplyDeleteI got my first cranberry beans as well, though it was only 4 beans in total from 2 undersized pods.
Boy Daphne, your garlic, onions & beans are beautiful!!! Everything else too!! Dry beans are just so pretty. I can't wait until mine are ready. Shelling is so much fun :)
ReplyDeleteWow, beautiful and abundance harvest.
ReplyDeleteWhole Foods is selling "organic heirloom tomatoes" from Mexico at $6.99/lb (that's what the sign says).
Thomas, I try to pick them when they are about to fall off but honestly most of them get picked when they fall to the ground. Typically people pick them when they have filled out the husk and they start to split open, so picked when not quite ripe. I've done both over the years. Salsa verde is typically done with the underripe ones, but it really doesn't matter. The taste is slightly different, but frankly it has been so long since I've grown them I don't remember the difference.
ReplyDeleteGrower Jim, I wish I had tree fruits. Last week at the farmer's market I bought both peaches and plums.
thyme2garden, I love the way all the different beans look too. So pretty. I would buy the $4.99 ones. In fact I have already this year for early tomatoes before mine came in. They were much loved.
kitsapFG, that was us last year. Last year the tomatoes were about two weeks behind what they are this year. The beans are really fast too. I can't believe I'm picking dried beans this early. I'm three weeks ahead of last year with those. Sun makes all the difference. Last year was our bad year. This year is the year of heat. Good luck getting your CPs to ripen.
Emily, I picked my first black beans today. I'll have them up for next week's harvest.
johanna, thanks
Ali, well I'm sure it will keep just fine there. Last year I didn't deal with mine for a while, but this year it was drying at the end on the floor in my dining room so had to get done. My husband was making comments whenever we ate.
sweetlocal, thanks.
ReplyDeleteToni, They are Tiger Eye beans. I haven't a clue what they taste like yet. As to our new house. We are slowly getting settled. We are getting some furniture made by some local craftsmen. I think we will have everything big in the house by mid September. Of course my dining room table was supposed to be finished by the end of June and it still isn't here yet. It is hard to finish unpacking before you have all your furniture.
Dirt Lover, you make salsa verde with them. Which can be used for lots of things like cooking pork and chicken or on enchiladas. Or just as salsa with chips.
Angela, well the 6 oz of beans that I picked grew in about 3 1/2 sqft. So it is a space hog for the weight and the monetary return, but I love dried beans. I really adore them. So to me it is worth it. In addition they take little effort for me (so great for this year with me being so busy). I plant. I weed once. After that the beans fill in and just grow. When they are done pull the plant and take off all the pods. Very simple. Getting the beans out is work, but I do it when watching TV so it is something to do with my hands.
Shawn Ann, I hope your garlic works out well.
Taylor, thanks
Annie's Granny, The ones with the big fat striped pods are the cranberry beans. The trail of tears is the one that tries to take over the world. I think if you gave it 20' to climb it would get there before the end of the year. Its pods are thin and straight. When they start to dry they turn a pretty maroon color before they turn brown. I'm going to be canning in small lots I think. It is easier to do big lots but I want to see what each of the tomatoes taste like in sauce. But then again I might get lazy and do big batches. We will see.
michelle, Well right now I'm in the red - tomato red. I'm loving it too.
Kelly, mine keep putting out flowers but they don't have the strength to really set them. Occasionally they do. I'm happy to get every one.
Fred, so sorry you had to pull your plant. I hate having to do that. I did with one of my tomatoes last week. It was just not growing well and getting diseased. It wasn't worth keeping it in there.
Robin, right now I have a few varieties mixed in together. I'll have to sort them out as I shell.
Mac, wow $6.99. I usually take my prices from the farmers market. This is where I usually buy my vegetables in the summer (that I don't grow myself) so I figure it is closer to what I'm saving. I've used WFs prices at times though when I couldn't find things at the market.
Oooh, what do you do with your squash blossoms? How do you cook them?
ReplyDeleteYour harvest looks fantastic! My garden is looking like a barren wasteland at the moment. The heat has been terrible down here. Anyway, keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteDaphne, your harvest and photos are beautiful. I so envy your squash blossoms. While my plants still lived, I loved having the blossoms stuffed and battered and fried. I consider that pure summer bliss.
ReplyDeleteNext year I think I'll try growing the zucchini and summer squash on the concrete. I seem to have fewer problems with plants there than when they're mixed into my flower garden.
Enjoy your new house and that double harvest as well.
You have a beautiful and colourful harvest! Those dry beans look very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice, varied harvest for the week! The number of tomatillos is impressive. We have two tomatillo plants but have harvested very few tomatillos as they seem to rot in their husks while still on the vine more often than not.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a chance to research what the problem might be. Do you have similar problems with tomatillos?
Daphne, your harvest looks great! How do you store the dry beans? I am really going to need to expand my garden for next year to grow all the things I want to add for next year like the CPs.
ReplyDeletemeemsnyc, I don't always cook them. Sometimes I just throw them into salads. It is probably my most common use of them. I want to get a baked dish for stuffed squash blossoms but haven't done it yet.
ReplyDeleteRichard, It has been a hot year for the south. We call our temperatures hot when they get into the 90s. I don't even want to imagine southern heat.
Martha, this year was so hard on the zucchini. It ought to be a good year for them but it just wasn't.
vrtlarica, thanks.
foodgardenkitchen, I've not had that problem. I've had one rot on the vine so far this year. But usually I don't get any.
debiclegg, You have to make sure they are very dry first. Right now they are drying on the counter. When they are hit by a hammer and shatter they are dry enough. Then I put them in my chest freezer for at least three days to kill any weevil eggs that might be on them. Then I put them in glass jars so I can see them. They are so pretty. It really is best to have them in something dark, but I think they are too pretty to hide away.
What I like to do with green beans is wash them, trim off the ends, cut them in half to get manageable size pieces, and toss them with garlic olive oil or sesame seed oil in a baking dish and zap them in the microwave for about 10-15 minutes, until they're cooked (they'll shrink a bit when ready and get a bit brown.) The time would vary by ovens. They stay pretty firm.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I came up with as a lazy person's version of Chinese sauteed green beans.
Looks great Daphne! Glade the tigers eyes are doing well. I found mine didn't produce a whole lot but there are only have 8 plants. I have harvested a few of the trail of tears already, lots more coming too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful garlic! My hardneck variety is still curing. How did you get them so clean? Mine are still pretty dirty as I read that you should not clean them completely upon pulling them out of the ground. This is my first "garlic-growing experience" so I hope that I am going about things the right way!
ReplyDeleteI know I'm repeating others above, but I am AMAZED that you are harvesting dry beans. My bush beans aren't even ready yet! We had such a cold June (not entirely uncommon here in the PNW), so our tomatoes are just starting, and the beans, zukes, cukes, and peppers are still just a twinkle in my garden's eye. I think it's the cooler nights, too. No humidity is good and bad, I guess! But your photos inspire of things to come...
ReplyDeleteI never tried the tomatillos, but I noticed at one of the community gardens we visited that most of the people had some plants growing in their plots. There were tons of fruit on the plants too.
ReplyDeleteThe garlic is so pretty. I have every intention of planting garlic in my little community garden this fall. That way it won't tie up my early planting in the back yard.
Love Harvest Mondays
I just knew you'd enjoy Cherokee Purple.. I hope the rest are just as good!
ReplyDeleteImpressive harvest Daphne!
ReplyDeleteAmazing harvest, Daphne !! I can't wait to sample my tomatillos. Fruit is setting but taking forever (it seems) to fill out the husk. The plants are huge. Didn't expect them to get so big. I noticed the plants produce suckers like tomatoes. Are we supposed to nip those off ?
ReplyDeleteI love the way those beans look! I usually pick my tomatillos when they're green...fill the husk for the most part, but still green. I like them tangy-er.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm a day late, but maybe by next week I'll catch up with you!
ReplyDeleteI'm a day late too, as usual. Love the photos of garlic and dry beans. I've never even heard of tiger eye beans. I'm trying dry beans for the first time this year, Cherokee Trail of Tears. I'm learning so much by reading about the gardens of others. Thanks for hosting Harvest Mondays.
ReplyDeleteKaren Anne, That sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteDan, I had a lot more than that. I planted with a 6"x6" grid. I should have had about 24 plants.
alizardinthegarden, Once they are dry I brush off the dirt and remove the outer most skin. They clean up very easily like that. I also feel it removes a lot of the mold spores that will decay the garlic. Last year they kept for a whole year like this. Some people think that removing anything will make them keep for a shorter period of time. So to each his own. But I hate the dirt in the kitchen when I'm cooking so make sure they are pretty clean before storing.
Toni, I can't believe I'm harvesting them either. Last year the first ones came toward the end of August. But then last year I had a year like you are having now.
Cheryl, garlic is good for the community garden. It is plant and wait. All you have to do is weed. Though I think I would never plant green beans there, they have to be picked so often.
EG, So far it is the best from the garden.
Carolina_URFarmer, thanks
Miss M, No! don't cut anything off. The fruits form in the crotch between the branches so if you cut them off there won't be anymore branches and no more fruit. The more it branches the better.
mamaraby, I have a mix of them right now. I think about half of them are green and half of them are ripe to semi ripe.
Amanda, I'm pretty late reading them all.
Lou Murray, I love Cherokee Trail of Tears. I'm growing that one too, but so far no dried beans from it.
BTW I'm having trouble finding time to get to everyone's post. I will get there sometime this week I promise. Usually I'm done by now.
Wow, Daphne...what a harvest you have!! Really nice! You'll be happy to hear that all of you veggie gardeners are influencing me to plant a few veggies this fall (Florida's summers are too hot to grow most veggies). I'll keep you posted!
ReplyDelete