Monday, December 7, 2009

Harvest Monday - 7 December 2009

Monday I went out and picked all of the lettuce. We had some lows predicted and I didn't want any tip burn on the leaves. Red Sails and MQS doesn't seem to get it, but Deer Tongue does and I just love the taste of Deer Tongue.

Then on Wednesday my husband was out of town and I needed a bit of broccoli to go with some leftovers. I'm always amazed at the taste of fresh picked broccoli. It is so much better than store bought. The leftovers however still tasted like leftovers.

Thursday I was doing a stirfry so needed some Chinese cabbage. I ate the little head and the big head is being saved for later. And the leaves in front were composted. I'm always amazed at how much I toss with Chinese cabbage. The slugs do love them.

Friday was the big harvest day. I picked all the chard, broccoli, mizuna, and one leaf of kale that broke while picking the broccoli. There is more broccoli than it appears since most of it is on the bottom of the bowl.

Then it was over to the alliums. All the leeks were picked and one of the bunching onions. The little leek on the bottom had a bulb to it. I've had it happen before with Lincoln. I think next year I'm switching to a different variety.

Last but not least were the carrots. These are all trimmed up and ready to weigh then eat. Fall carrots are so sweet.

I pretty much stripped the garden. I left some bunching onions, spinach, and mache for overwintering. I still have two dwarf kale plants. So I'll get one or two more harvests from them, but otherwise I'm done. Next week I'll do the tally overview for 2009 and let you know how I thought I did.

Even though I won't have harvests, I will keep up with Harvest Monday as long as I still get people that add their harvests or how they are using them. For my posts I might do an overview of what is still stored from the garden and the farmers markets and how I'm using it. I will be using local food all winter long, but mostly of the preserved variety. So I'll show it off. I even rearranged my pantry this week and put all my home canned items together and it looks really pretty.

Now onto the tally.

  • Alliums 1.12 lbs
  • Broccoli 0.88 lbs
  • Carrots 0.29 lbs
  • Greens 2.94 lbs

Weekly total: 5.34 lbs
Weekly spent: $0
Yearly total: 219.14 lbs
Yearly earned: $750.91

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!

13 comments:

  1. Fall veggies are beautiful, both because of the deep colors the cold temps give them, and their rarity! I have carrot and broccoli envy :-)

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  2. That's nice sized harvest, Daphne! Who would think that such bounty is possible in New England in December.

    The greens look great and your broccoli seems prolific. I can't wait to grow some next year.

    Our temps are expected to dip down into the 20s this week...hopefully, it our remaining veggies will still be ok.

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  3. Lots of lovely veg, that's a great harvest!

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  4. Deer Tongue is a favorite here, too. I've got to get out and plant some.

    The first time I tried homegrown broccoli, I was stunned! It tasted so much better than the sulfurous store bought, even farmer's market bought, kind.

    Lovely harvest. Enjoy your "off" time.

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  5. You amaze, amaze, amaze me! Lovely harvest.

    I wish I still had some of my Chinese cabbage in the garden. Like you, I compost many outer leaves...or feed them to the chickens. Darn slugs. I've turned some of the cabbage into Chinese sauerkraut for stir-fry.

    Now it's time for more white than green...time to dream of next year!

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  6. That is an impressive December harvest. We've got a blast of arctic chill headed our way and I'm dreading the impact it's going to have on the garden. My harvest posts could get a boring.

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  7. Awesomely bountiful and beautiful harvest for a New England garden in December. Simply amazing. I've added what I plant to my Harvest Monday blog, since we plant and harvest all year long in southern California. I'll keep on posting so I hope you keep Harvest Monday going, and add planting to it. We can all grow sprouts indoors in the winter, and that counts too. I may get my sprouter going soon.

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  8. Ali, the carrots are good. I'd trade you for some brussels sprouts if we lived close.

    Thomas, I'm shocked about it myself. Usually the ground is frozen already and I've pulled everything out in Novembers. It has been a really strange year. I'm hoping your veggies make it.

    Jan, thanks.

    Stefaneener, I have Dan to thanks for the Deer Tongue. I didn't ask for it but he threw some in the trade anyway so I had to try it. The lettuce I asked for I didn't particularly like, but Deer Tongue was fabulous.

    June, I need someone with chickens close. they would have loved the earlier leaves when the slugs were rampant. They would have had quite a treat.

    Michelle, I hope the winter posts don't get too boring :>

    Lou, I'm glad we will at least have you to keep us going all winter long. Hopefully others like the inept balcony gardener will keep us going too. I'm really not much of a sprout person. I do like bean sprouts, but my mother force fed me alfalfa sprouts as a kid and I just hated them. So I've been avoiding them ever since. I should grow sprouts for stirfries though. I ought to buy some mung beans and try it.

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  9. Very impressive harvest! I'm going to definitely try to plan better for next year's fall garden. We are seeing some teen digits predicted in our local forecast for the end of the week. Brrr.

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  10. Wonderful harvest. I'm wishing I had planted late broccoli to have those yummy sweet shoots right now.

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  11. Glade you liked the deer tongue so much, I liked it too. I think I have lots of seed left if you need some more. I can send them with those pepper seeds when we get to doing a trade.

    You had a huge harvest this time. My garden clearing did not result in nearly as much produce. I will continue Harvests Mondays until my enclosures are snowed/frozen shut. Now that my lettuce is all done I will have to start picking the chard and asian greens.

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  12. I get the same slug fest on chinese cabbages - the outer leaves end up down right "lacey" from the slug gnawing.

    Beautiful harvests. Your garden did you proud this year. Well done!

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  13. GrafixMuse, Even here in southern New England we might see teens in a couple of days. Ack! I'm not quite ready for the really cold weather yet. Not that a temp in the teens is really cold, but it feels like it to me.

    Emily, Thanks!

    Dan, I saved seed from it this year so I don't need to trade for it, but your Cherokee Purple tomatoes are another matter. I am hoping for some of those. I did get a lot from the garden last week, but only because I was being stingy about harvesting the previous weeks. Now I have an abundance and have to start using it up.

    kitsapFG, Thanks!

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