Monday, October 4, 2010

Harvest Monday - 4 October 2010

Though the totals are less this week, I was out harvesting more often this week, so there are more photos. The reason for this is that my landscape workers are gone so I can get to the garden during the day easily now.

Ah Cherokee Purple. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Or at least the poundage. So far I have harvested 34.4 pounds of tomatoes from this one plant. I've never had a tomato perform like this. I'm a little worried that the spectacular results are just weather based and in a normal year it won't produce much at all. This was a trial year for tomatoes for me and what I really want to know is how they do in bad years, not in good years. But I can't help but love the results of this variety this year. The next closest in weight (ignoring the cherries) is Amish Paste and Market Miracle. Each produced only half the weight of this one plant. And Cherokee Purple is the best tasting of all of these.

Lettuce thinnings, turnips, and zucchini

This week brought harvests of more turnips and zucchini. In fact seven little zucchinis were picked this last week. Two weren't photographed, but it has really picked up production. The flowers mostly aren't pollinated due to the lack of male blossoms, but I pick them when the flowers have been open for a day or two. They are never very big, but at least they are numerous.

My parsley plants were getting way too big. I have two plants left that were shading my beer radishes, so the parsley got cut back by about a half. The radishes were appropriately grateful and started taking off. The parsley was given to my townhouse mates. She asked how to preserve it. I said dry it (and offered my dehydrator) or chop it up in the food processor with some water and freeze it in small blocks.

The cherry tomatoes are still coming in. The Chocolate Cherries are off a plant that is essentially dead, but still I get a few here and there. Most of them split when I pick them and they don't get into the harvest tally. The others do.

Yesterday I was out thinning my Asian greens again. I got a large pile of Chinese broccoli, bok choy, tatsoi, and a little bit of Fun Jen. My husband called me in as my kids were on the computer and wanted to play online games together so I tossed the greens in a bag in the fridge. It got photographed this morning. The harvests just can't compete with time with the kids. They are both off at college and Sundays tend to be the days I gab with them on Skype or in Vent if we are playing games together.

  • Cucurbits 1.5 lbs
  • Greens 2.34 lbs
  • Herbs 0.98 lbs
  • Turnip 0.31 lbs
  • Tomato 6.69 lbs
  • Spent this week: $0
  • Total harvested this week 11.82 lbs
  • Total for the year 296.76 lbs
  • 2010 Tally $931.92

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.

29 comments:

  1. You always have such great tomato harvests! I'm picking a lot of different fruits now and the quantities will be increasing as cooler weather arrives.

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  2. The tomatoes keep on coming. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm tired of dealing with them.

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  3. Wow, 34 lbs from the one plant! My Cherokee Purples are always one of the lowest yielding...but, they are the best tasting!

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  4. What did you feed that Cherokee Purple! That is a great amount of production from just one plant!

    Does the landscapers moving on mean that your project is wrapped up? Pictures coming soon?

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  5. Man...that's alot of tomatoes from a single plant! My CP tomatoes didn't do too well this year, but the brandywine did...

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  6. Your greens look so pristine, I guess that row cover really does its job! I'm planning on growing some CP next year, and I hope to have half as much success as you do!

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  7. Great production from CP. Ours don't produce as much, but it may be that I can improve that. I'd also like to know what you are feeding yours!

    -Mary

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  8. Great harvest Daphne! Your Asian greens look awesome! I can't seem to keep the slugs away from mine for some reason. Next year, I will definitely have to use floating row cover.

    Yes, I too wonder if the tomatoes will be as good every year. I will definitely be growing Amish Paste and Cherokee Purple again as they were the best producers in my garden as well.

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  9. In addition to being good producers, I think the cherokee purple tomatoes are gorgeous. Congrats on another great harvest.

    I harvested yesterday to beat the predicted frost and forgot to take pictures. No frost but it came close.

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  10. Very nice harvest this week. Nice to have a good producing plant! I just love that!

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  11. Look at your harvests! I love the variety that the fall brings with it.

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  12. Linking up! Thanks Daphne, you're a gem!Now, give it up and do tell about the beer radishes. What makes them different? Do you do anything with beer with them? Are they the white ones there?

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  13. Those greens really look great Daphne!!

    We harvested the last of our peppers (both bell and hungarian wax) for the season, we also dug up the last potato plants. The green beans and dry beans are still producing.
    We also got what will undoubtedtly be the biggest leak of the season, it weighed in at a bit over 3/4 of a lb.

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  14. Your greens look beautiful! You reminded me last week with your harvest that it was time to check out my Asian greens, thanks for that ;)

    Um, what are beer radishes?

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  15. Well done Daphne, next week you will hit 300lb ;-)

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  16. Wow! That's an incredible yield from you 'Cherokee Purple', I'm going to have to try CP one more time.

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  17. Grower Jim, I wish I were picking fruits. You can put in a vegetable garden at the drop of a hat - at least a smallish one, But fruit take time.

    The Mom, I know how you feel. I'm getting tired of them too. Mostly processing, but I'm even tired of eating them. How can that happen?

    Emily, thanks

    Robin, I figured it wouldn't produce much either since I've heard it is a low yielding plant, but this one went to town.

    kitsapFG, lol what I usually do. One cup 5-3-3 organic fertilizer, one cup bone meal, one cup powdered eggshells. Mix it deeply into the bottom of the planting hole (deep and wide). I never side dress or anything with tomatoes. I do mulch them with a couple inches of compost. And then have a really really hot summer, but not too hot for them to set fruit. That was our summer. I'm guessing we won't see another one like this for a decade. Yes there are little details (like the fence guy has to come - and the hydroseed person but that is a huge long story). Yes I intend to talk about it very soon, probably tomorrow or Wednesday.

    EG, it was probably too hot for them to set down there. When I say our summer was hot, it means for the north.

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  18. thyme, it does the job for everything but slugs. With the weather we just haven't had many slugs. A few here and there but not enough for me to worry about.

    Mary, well I answered kitsapFG above with what I did to feed them. It is very much my standard regimen for tomatoes.

    Thomas, I barely have any slugs this year. The soil has been bone dry until recently. So not many around here. You must water your yard more than I do. I'm sure the tomatoes will be back to normal next year. Last year I only got ab out 6 1/2lbs per plant on the Sungold F2s. This year I'm at 21 lbs for the one I have. So it has been a spectacular year.

    tempusflits, they are beautiful. I really like the color. They are cracking all along the top due to the recent rains we have been having, but still pretty. I just cut that section off before eating.

    Shawn Ann, I agree. I love the plant.

    Ribbit, yes we finally have greens again. Yay. I love to eat stir fries.

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  19. Barbie, I've never grown German Beer radishes before. They were a gift from Jody and they sounded really interesting. I think you butter and salt the radish and eat them while you drink your beer. It sounded interesting.

    Fred, I so miss leeks. And potatoes. And the obvious soup I make out of it usually in the fall.

    Nartaya, I forget mine sometimes because they are under a cover. I can't really see them so don't notice when I should pick them. I try to look at least once a week though. Radishes that you eat when you drink your beer. Usually they are salted. Though sometimes they have butter or cheese on them.

    Tyra, I hope so.

    Ed, I warn you, most people think they are lower yielding. We seemed to have had just the weather that they liked this year.

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  20. I have to echo the others in saying that the Asian greens look great and the production of your Cherokee tomato plant is amazing.

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  21. I grew Cherokee Purples for the first time this year and was impressed with how prolific they were. The most prolific tomato I grew was Tigerella, which wasn't that great, but the CPs were wonderful. I'll be growing them again!

    Love the lovely fall greens, Daphne, which I'd been better organized about planting some.

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  22. Kudo's for you! Your harvest is amazing. I planted cherokee purple for the first time. They are delcious! This is a slow year for tomatoes in my garden. Slow coming on due to a late Summer. It's a race to see whether Old Man Frost arrives before they ripen.

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  23. Oh, the Asian greens are still a ways away here--we have to plant them late due to the heat, but I could really go for a stirfry. Everything looks delicious!

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  24. What a great tomato plant! I think harvesting 35 pounds from one plant is incredible!!! Congratulations on the tomatoes and the rest of the harvest, which looks beautiful as usual!

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  25. URFarmer, thanks

    Ali, So I'm not the only one they were prolific for. That makes me happier. So many times I see people saying they were not very productive.

    Meredehuit, we had that happen to us last year. Tomatoes were so slow. Our June had more days in the 50s as the high than in the 60s as a high. This year the weather made up for it by being too hot. I'm hoping next year is normal.

    Christina, thanks

    balcony paradise, I'm shocked too. It took over first one of its neighbors cages, then the other. It is just huge.

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  26. I am so surprised that you are still harvesting tomatoes. Our plants stopped producing weeks ago. Wow!

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  27. meemsnyc, I'm shocked too. Usually they get pulled out towards the beginning of September.

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  28. I'm last, as usual. This has been a crazy week, too much to do, but I harvested over 11 lbs of tomatoes. That was it, nothing else. Hey, I just looked at your pics of your new garden beds and your permeable pavers. Fantastic! And you gave up your car for a bike. Utterly awesome.

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