Monday, September 8, 2014

Harvest Monday 8 September 2014

The beginning of the week had the same old same old. Beans and cukes. But then I pulled my beans and cukes. So of course the fall beans started to produce in a big way. But I swear there will be no more cukes anymore. All of them are out of the garden.

I did however get more zucchini since the zucchini plants have more sun now. Not a lot. They are shaded in the morning and midday. But at least they get the late afternoon sun and a brief peak earlier. This is pretty typical for the garden in fall, but they are in probably the shadiest spot. I'm glad they are producing even without too much sun as I have plans for my zucchini this winter so I need to be able to preserve some.

And it was a good greens week. Not only did I water the garden, but mother nature did too. And the greens really responded. Especially the chard. Of course the chard was also happy to have the beans ripped out. The beans really shaded them and stole their moisture. But now they are gone and the chard is in heaven. Last week when I picked chard I was thinking it was getting tough and not tasting as good. But this week it was tender and delicious again. I'm glad those beans are gone.

Alvaro

Halona

And then there are the melons. It was a good melon week in a good melon year. And sadly the last melon week as the plants are pulled and I planted some spinach in their spot. And now that all the numbers are in I can do a little evaluation. I grew three varieties of melon - three plants of Halona (22.41 lbs, 7.5 lbs/plant), three plants of Sensation (17.97 lbs, 6 lbs/plant), and two Alvaro (10.43 lbs, 5.2 lbs/plant). Halona was the clear winner in taste and production. Sensation was nice for its difference and also tasted pretty good. Alvaro was the bottom in all categories.

The one thing that was nice about Alvaro was its late production. If all my melons got harvested in the same week I'd never be able to eat them. I did give 2.5 melons away over time, but most of them I ate (or will eat this week). Melons are a major treat from the garden and I don't like missing them. I give them away if I have more than two melons at a time in the fridge. I tend to eat half a melon a day. So that works out pretty well. Though Alvaro was OK. It certainly was very sweet. I obviously don't like the charentais melon taste as much as the cantaloupe taste. I just need to plant a later cantaloupe I think. Or try a different kind of melon that is later.

With the melons being pulled it marks the transition from the summer crops into the fall crops. Though I've picked small bits of fall crops over the last few weeks, next week I'll be picking Asian greens again. I've noticed a large Napa that needs picking soon. But I will really miss the summer fruit. The only fruit I'll get is little handfuls of raspberries this fall. I got them this week, and I'm sure I'll continue all through fall.

  • Beans: 2.14 lbs
  • Broccoli: 0.94 lbs
  • Cucumbers 3.09 lbs
  • Greens: 2.33 lbs
  • Melons: 15.89 lbs
  • Squash, Summer: 1.85 lbs
  • Weekly Total: 26.24 lbs
  • Yearly Total: 448.17 lbs
  • Yearly Tally: $649.02

  • Fruit
  • Raspberries: 0.38 lbs

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.

25 comments:

  1. I am swooning over the melons. I have to make room for melons next year. It's nice that your zucchini is getting a second wave with the additional sunlight. How are you going to preserve them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want them for zucchini bread and for fritters, so I'm going to grate them and freeze.

      Delete
  2. As you say, we are definitely into Fall / Autumn now, and the crops will be very different from now on. I wish I had a glut of beans though - my beans have produced a very modest crop this year, so I haven't been able to freeze any. In late August I put my hosepipe away, but now I have had to get it out again, because the weather has turned dry again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish my cucumbers were still coming in, yours look great. Your cantaloup's look awesome. Maybe next year I will have to try growing some.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very green this week and oh more melons!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I too have melon envy! It is great that yours didn't all come on at once. And it's nice to be able to have them as long as possible. I've grown several of the charentais melons in the past and I never found one I really liked. The Sensation I did like, and I will have to grow it again.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Add me to the list of melon envy. Did not grow cucumber this year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Echoing melon envy. I never have much "luck" (skill?) with them, and this year, the puny vines just withered and died before producing much of anything. So sad...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great harvest. I'll say it again, I'm mighty jealous of your melons this year. I'm gonna try growing them under black plastic next year and maybe try to get some chicken manure from my neighbors.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The end of summer makes me so sad; but I am getting a bit better at embracing Autumn, with the help of fall plantings. I look forward to learning what others do for fall and winter gardens, thanks to your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Though vegetables want as much sun as possible, I'm sometimes surprised at how little sun they can get by on. Like the zucchini or late beans. I garden between a two-story house and a garage so sun is at a premium.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful melons, We are a ways away from the fall conversion yet, but i'm looking forward to the switch!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm still waiting for my melons to ripen, every time I look they seem to be getting larger, but no sign of ripeness yet. I really wish I could send you some of my zucchini, egads, I just looked, I just passed 100 pounds this week.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice melons! I haven't had much luck with melons - - well, this was only my second year trying them. Last year, a heat wave killed all of the blossoms and this year, they seem to succumb to spider mites. Though, this year it looks like I will harvest a grand total of three melons (two mini watermelons and one medium sized mystery melon).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh I so envy those melons - just picked one up at the store yesterday and was thinking how nice (and infinitely more fragrant and delicious) it would be to pick it out of a bed instead..

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those melons look so good and delicious, I'm testing small size melon this year, the Korean melon is early and I'm waiting for the charentais to ripen.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Green and orange - signs of Autumn.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That would be a terrific harvest in August, in September it's darn near amazing. I've just got to make room for a melon plant next year.

    ReplyDelete
  18. As I was scrolling down I could almost smell the melons, they look lovely again. Yes definitely feels like the change in seasons is here. I've come to the end of some crops too. Still, we've had a nice few sunny days here in Norwich :) in fact my beans could actually do with a water!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ooh the melons again! Lovely. And yes, I am having a good week for swiss chard also. I look forward to hearing about your winter zucchini plans!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love seeing what everyone is getting right now. Harvest time is my favorite time of year. It's like it's Christmas every day!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I usually feel a bit uncomfortable telling a woman that her melons look fantastic, but not today. Those melons are magnificent. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  22. You are still getting a nice variety of harvest! What are your plans for your zucchini this winter? I pulled out my bean plants but the cukes still have some flowers so hoping for more. I am ready to clean up the garden and be done but then will miss all the fresh produce. You are getting a lot more than I am at this point. Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll use zucchini in three things. Soups, zucchini bread, and zucchini fritters. I'm hoping the zucchini fritters work well with the frozen zucchini since I've never tried it.

      Delete
  23. Wow cucumbers, beans, zucchini, broccoli and MELONS, gorgeous melons, oh and squash (you can keep those). Such a harvest Daphne, it is a wonderful haul and you have worked hard to reap these rewards :D

    ReplyDelete