This last week was fairly cold. We hovered around 60F with lows in the 40s. Some days we never made it out of the 50s. This week had a couple of firsts. In the basket you will see my first bunching onion harvested. I planted them in July as transplants from my other garden. They never grew much in the heat, but once fall hit they started to take off.
You might also notice the plastic baggie in the photo. When I was outside I saw my neighbor and he handed me one of his pickled tomatoes to try. I told him I didn't like green tomatoes. Sadly I had to tell him, I still don't like green tomatoes, but I like pickled ones better than other kinds.
The other new thing was the German Beer Radishes sent by Jody. They looked ready so I pulled all that had sized up. My townhouse mates had the beer and I brought the radishes. I salted them before eating them. We tried them. They are spicy radishes. I can see why the Germans eat them with beer. I don't think I would eat them straight. Interesting, but I don't know if I'll grow them again. I might try cooking them next time. The greens were saved and weighed too as I'm thinking of making my radish top soup today if I get a chance.
Sunday I decided to peek under the row cover. Something is starting to eat my greens. But I also noticed that the Chinese broccoli was starting to bloom. Whoops. I'm supposed to pick it before the flowers open. No biggie though. They really are more about the stem than the flower.
It was a pretty good harvest week. I didn't even add in the ripening green tomatoes either. I think I'll do that this coming week. Most of them have turned red at this point. I'll see which ones are still good and toss them in the freezer for when I make sauce next time.
I spent more money this week. I bought out all of Home Depot's good 2x6 cedar. The ones left in the bin were very warped or had bad imperfections (like long cracks). I got enough for all but one bed. While I was there I bought two more lights for growing seedlings next spring. I figure I need at least that to grow seedlings for the beds. I have more than twice the growing space. I ought to have more than twice the lighting space, but the reality is that I don't. I just doubled the seedling space so things will still be tight. These did get into the tally. I always just put that kind of thing in the tally when I buy it. They had the ones with the foot wide reflectors that I came to love last spring.
- Alliums 0.21 lbs
- Cucurbits 0.70 lbs
- Greens 0.77 lbs
- Herbs 0.14 lbs
- Turnip and Radish 2.09 lbs
- Pepper 1.31 lbs
- Tomato 4.56 lbs
- Spent this week: $63.26
- Total harvested this week 9.78 lbs
- Total for the year 313.68 lbs
- 2010 Tally $911.95
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.
Nice harvest! I am loving the fall lettuce, it has a nice texture and great flavor. I need to do some reading on the different onions -- how are bunching onions different than scallion? I wonder how bunching onions would overwinter in the hoophouse?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvests as usual. Tomatoes still!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading your blog for a while now and I want to thank you for the time that you invest in creating the blog and your garden. I will be starting a school garden from scratch this year and your blog has been very useful and inspirational to me.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! I will join harvest Monday later today;) Not much left to harvest though. We had very cold weather this weekend:(
ReplyDeleteStill looks beautiful. My peppers are about the size of yours. i guess I have to cut them all. the freeze is around the corner.
ReplyDeleteWe had pretty much the same temperatures here this past week too. I noticed that the sun is much lower on the horizon now too - so the sun strength is diminishing considerably as well. You got a great harvest for the week despite the cooler temps - even some peppers and tomatoes in the mix! I am not a radish fan so the spicy beer radish holds no appeal for me. If I grow them, I want them very mild.
ReplyDeleteI love the bunching onions. It's so nice being able to go get one or two when I need them in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese broccoli looks really nice!
I didn't realize bunching onions were a cool weather vegetable. Maybe that's why none of mine grew much over the long hot summer. The spicy German beer radishes sound interesting, the shape in your picture is much more elongated than I would have guessed for a radish. I try to like everything I grow, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way; and I'm okay with that! Thanks for hosting another Harvest Monday!
ReplyDeleteHmmm- The stem is what tat is grown for? Looks like the leaves would be somewhat spinach like, no?
ReplyDeleteHmm, how interesting: the beer garden. Nice looking harvest as always.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice harvest! I had Tons of bunching onions this yr! ButI didn't think to plant some later...nice for u to get some now!
ReplyDeleteGerman beer radishes! Those must be the radishes that my German father in law so loves. He is known in his family as a great lover of radishes but he consistently dislikes the little round red radishes that I grow, it must be that he likes precisely those big white radishes that you grew.
ReplyDeleteI love chinese broccoli! It's delicious! I'll have to see if I can grow those next year. Those radishes look really interesting! I love eating radish tops too. I always try to save them if they don't look too beaten up.
ReplyDeleteOh that Chinese Broccoli looks so interesting Daphne! You're always inspiring me to grow Asian greens!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat does the light look like that you purchased at Home Depot? Could you post a picture of it? I need to start thinking about getting myself set up for spring seedling growing!
That's great that you got more cedar wood for your beds! On my mind is covering my beds so that the soil doesn't blow away or get filled with weed seeds during the winter!
Ali, scallions can be onions that haven't bulbed up yet. Bunching onions never bulb up. They stay that way. Supposedly they will send out side shoots and multiply, but I've overwintered some (without protection in zone six). They still didn't send out side shoots. Maybe I need to be in a warmer climate to make them happy over the winter. I think they would be great for an unheated hoophouse.
ReplyDeleteThe Mom, thanks. And yes still tomatoes. No frost yet. Not even close. Maybe Friday night. So I haven't picked them all yet. I might have to do it this week. It will be sad. Or maybe I'll just toss a blanket over them.
Sarah, your welcome. I have to confess that blogging is work to me, but gardening isn't. Well most of the time.
Madame C, I keep waiting for our cold weather to hit, but nope. It has gotten seasonal though. After a hot summer it is nice to have normal temperatures again.
johanna, that is why I picked those. I haven't picked them all yet, but got a lot of the big ones. I have two bells that didn't be picked because they are starting to ripen. I'd love it if they get a little farther along in the process before I have to take them down.
Laura, Sadly I've found out my greens bed hits the house shade now in the morning. Just where the peak is. And has afternoon shade from the fence. It doesn't get a lot of direct sun really, but they are mostly grown. If I can just hold them over the next month it would be fantastic. I might have to pick earlier though.
villager, bunching onions are fabulous that way. They rot out so quickly in the fridge, but just sit in the garden happy as clams waiting for me to pick them.
thyme, It could be the rain and not the temps. The bed was pretty dry all summer long. I did water, but it was hard to keep it in the soil.
Barbie, they are a lot like bok choy leaves. They are good too, but I love the crunchy stem. I just like the leaves. I love it in stirfries.
Ottawa Gardener, now I just need to grow hops and make my own beer to drink. Somehow I think I would make wine before beer though. And hard apple cider would take the forefront.
Shawn Ann, I would think two planting would be best for space use. The ones planted in the spring can be used in the summer. The ones planted in the summer could be used in the fall.
ReplyDeleteAngela, he must. They are a bit different from a normal radish. They still have that radish taste though.
meemsnyc, these looked like wonderful radish tops so I had to use them. They were huge and the insects had left them alone for the most part.
Toni, the light is a fairly typical shop light. T8 4' long. Two bulbs. I buy cool white bulbs and plants can grow foliage just fine in that spectrum (but not flowers). Cool whites are cheap. The reflector is white (important to reflect it back to you plants) and a foot wide. With the wide reflector the plants don't lean so much at the edges.
Beer radish sound interesting, we use radish leaves also, sometimes I pickle them in salt and use in soups or saute with beef or pork, sometimes I make it into Korean kimchi.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that you're continuing to have good harvests. I'm hoping to get a crop of some Asian greens going although I'm probably a bit late, but it's worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will share the recipe for that radish top soup.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest as always and still now in mid October. It is so inspiring to visit. I said it before and I saý it again, next year I'm gonna be like Daphne...a good girl and weigh and register my crop.
ReplyDeleteYour harvests are GORGEOUS! Do you plant with appearance in mind? Or is it all flavor. Or can the two be separated? Maybe its just your artistic presentation!
ReplyDeleteThose spicy german radish sound amazing! I want to grow those next spring.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, your harvest pictures always look so nice. Thanks for sharing the info about the light. I told my sweet husband yesterday that I want to get a light for a few plants this winter. Now I know what to recommend for him to buy. I look forward to each of your post to see what is happening as your garden comes together. I hope to expand my garden in the spring and I am learning through you and all the other gardeners that share on Monday Harvest.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest, Daphne! I just love the greens....
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me about that chinese broccoli --- I think I might have left mine grow too long. Great harvest as always!
ReplyDeletemac, I've never used them in anything but soup. I love the soup and usually only have enough for one batch anyway so I've never gotten tired of it.
ReplyDeletemichelle, it is always worth a try. I'm surprised how well mine did when I started so late. But they did just fine. I think all the warmth early on really got them off to a good start.
ricki, I'll try to remember to do it on Wednesday.
Tyra, ah another convert. I keep thinking about not weighing my harvests (it is work) and then I think I have to do it next year. It is the first year I'll have the new garden. I've got to know how much I can get out of it.
Carol, thanks. No I don't plant with appearance in mind. Granny told me she liked how I staged my harvests. But I don't. I found that when I pick I do think about putting them in the basket, but I don't change them once inside. I plant for flavor though. Things I like to eat. Well mostly. I've grown eggplants in the past and don't really love them very much.
sweetlocal, you should grow them next fall. I think they are one of the winter radishes, so keep well.
debiclegg, Just remember if you use cool white bulbs the foliage will grow really well and they are cheap. If you want them to flower they need some red light too, so the full spectrum ones are best.
EG, thanks.
Nartaya, I always forget mine since it is under the row cover. I can't see it start to bloom. It is a row covers major flaw. They used to make a woven one that you could actually see through, but I haven't seen them in the states in a long time.
Nice harvest. I'm a day late adding my link as we were out of town. I had my post set to go while I was gone but forgot about the link. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteLovely harvest and photos, as always. Interesting about the hot radishes. I grow German white icicle radishes. They're long and sweet. They don't get hot until they get older, but then I don't like them. Eaten young, they're delicious. When I was growing up in Indiana, my family enjoyed German white icicle radishes from my cousin's farm.
ReplyDeleteDo you buy your chinese broccoli seed from Fedco? Does it have a name other than chinese broccoli. I'm never grown it before, but want to try it next year.
ReplyDelete