Monday, May 28, 2012

Harvest Monday, May 28th, 2012

The week started off with a nice strawberry harvest.

Then we had some hot weather predicted, so I decided I need to get some things harvested. First was the lettuce with some turnips. I have Paris Island, Red Sails, and Deer Tongue. I found one of those nasty large brown spiders in one of the heads of romaine and freaked out again. I was washing the lettuce at the kitchen sink so tossed the head outside then got the spider out. Ahhhhhhhh! I looked it up though and brown recluse spiders don't live anywhere near New England, so it is just a look alike. It still freaks me out though.

Then I had the big harvest of greens. Mostly bok choys and mostly baby white stemmed bok choy. They were all starting to bolt. So out they came. There were a few green stemmed bok choy from the earlier planting, but the green stemmed one doesn't bolt as easily. All of those will come out this coming week though. On Friday I want to plant my sweet potato slips and those are in the way. But it will be time for them. An early planting of the smaller Asian greens really worked out well timing wise to plant before the sweet potatoes. And what I did with all those Asian greens, well, I'll let you know on Thursday for Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.

The strawberries ought to be picked more than two times a week. They really need to be picked every other day, but that just didn't happen. I'm going to be better this week. Maybe.

The first of the chamomile was harvested for tea. I picked some mint too, but I totally messed it up and over dried it. I forgot to take photos too, so I guess it was not meant to be. I never added it to the tally.

This is just a small bit of self seeded cilantro. It was where my melon patch was going to be so I ripped them out. The melons might turn out well this year since we have been hotter earlier this year than normal. I just might get some good ones.

Friday I harvested the last of the spinach. So long good friend. Though I froze most of it, I did save a good portion to eat up this week. I'll miss spinach, but then again I have that way too huge patch of chard to start eating. Or giving away again. I really need to get out and pick it. I swear at this point in the garden harvests take up more time than anything else. Between the time it takes to pick, wash, and process everything, it really adds up.

And I just want to talk a bit about my tally this week. I've had a lot of questions. I'll talk about the fruit tally right now. I have two tallies, my fruit tally and the vegetable tally. I separated the fruit tally because of the nature of producing fruit. Some fruits like strawberries and raspberries are fairly quick. But most take longer. When we bought the house it was just subsoil. So everything is new. The fruits were all planted last year. This was a huge expense and all upfront. I could have amortized the costs, but I thought it would be more fun to see how it added up over the years and when the fruits would break even. Some fruits have huge expenses since they are being espaliered and needed trellises. They won't produce for a couple more years at least. The raspberries also needed a trellis, but at least they started producing a bit in their first year. Some fruit has barely any expense. The alpine strawberries were grown from seed from Pinetree. So for just a couple of dollars I got a beautiful border for my front yard. And BTW if you are looking for a pretty front border to a garden, Alpine strawberries really are so beautiful. Regular strawberries are a bit messy. Mine are in my front yard too, but as a ground cover for the trellised fruit trees. I keep this tally on my sidebar. You can see I had over $800 of expenses the first year. This year I had a bit more (and have a bit that hasn't been added yet). But then the expenses will taper off to just maintenance. And in a few years the fruit ought to really ramp up a lot. I think it will be fun to watch over time.

  • Greens 12.62 lbs
  • Herbs 0.61 lbs
  • Turnip 0.44 lbs
  • Weekly total 13.67 lbs
  • Yearly total 92.55 lbs
  • Tally -$325.96
  • Fruits 
  • Strawberries 3.8 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.

47 comments:

  1. I am sooooo jealous of your strawberries. I posted strawberry too, but only ONE. Your bok choy is really beautiful.

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  2. Your strawberries are absolutely beautiful and perfect. And your greens lovely as usual. Can't wait to see how you prepared them. I didn't take pictures this week but did enjoy more harvests of kale, spinach, and lettuce. It was a great spring for greens.

    Spiders freak me out too. I had one crawl along my hand and up my arm yesterday and I ended up dancing a little jig trying to shake her off. I don't mind them in the garden, but please don't crawl on me.

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    1. Supposedly they can infest buildings outside of their range, but they haven't been found to live in the wild outside of their range. I'm not sure why the experts say that. But recluse or not, the things scare the heebee jeebees out of me. Hopefully there aren't any more of them in the garden. Though I'm sure there are. Ahhhhhhhhh!

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  3. I once read about someone in New England being bitten by a brown recluse spider, so many thanks for clarifying their range. Sounds like they can travel into the area (via furniture, go figure), so I'll still be on the lookout for them but maybe less paranoid!

    We're just looking into putting in strawberries — what variety are these, and do you also harvest the alpine ones? Mouthwatering harvest!

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    1. Whoops replied to the wrong person. lol look just above to what I was going to reply.

      And as to the alpine strawberries. Yes I harvest them, but they rarely if ever make it inside. The berries are small so the harvests are small. If you do plant alpines, the Yellow Wonder is so good, but the red ones I've eaten are bland. I wish I had only planted the yellow ones.

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  4. Your harvest looks great as usual. I can almost taste those strawberries.

    I harvest my lettuce leaf by leaf. This way I can avoid any surprises when I am cleaning them. A large brown spider would freak me out as well!

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  5. Your strawberries look amazing!

    Brown recluses are extremely common here in Missouri, but luckily I have never (knowingly) seen one. A friend of mine recently told me she picked up a log while camping and saw a brown recluse hanging out on top of a copperhead snake... talk about a double whammy of creepy and dangerous!

    We mostly have wolf spiders hanging around our garden, and they get absolutely huge. I killed a few of them just because they got a little too close to my hand... but then one day I saw one carrying off a grasshopper in his mouth. A truce was then called, and I have not smashed a spider since!

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    1. The spiders to eat a lot of insects - good and bad, so I have a truce with most of them. I grew up in Colorado where they have both the brown recluse and the black widow. I never saw a recluse, but the black widow I saw a lot. I even found one in my bathtub once. Boy did I scream for my dad to deal with it. And there we had tons of wolf spiders too. We don't seem to get them as much here. Though they do live here. One person thought the spider I found was a wolf spider, but I think of wolf spiders as having really big bodies for their legs. And really hairy.

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  6. I've tried harvesting lettuce one leaf at a time, but still, there will always be surprises in the garden! :) I've not had nice results with my strawberries the last couple of years. I think it's time to clean out the beds and plant new ones.

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  7. Wow! Everything looks fantastic, Daphne. I am impressed with your chamomille harvest. I've never tried growing it. I'll have to do that this coming winter! :)

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  8. Great harvest, Daphne! Your strawberries and chamomile look absolutely wonderful!

    Glad your spider wasn't dangerous! I tend to not get freaked out by spiders or bugs in general, but brown recluses and black widows are among my least favorite creepy crawlies.

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  9. The strawberries look delicious! We went picking at a local strawberry farm, but how wonderful to have a harvest right at your doorstep!

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  10. I am jealous of the strawberries too. I planted 30 and have two in the garden and two in hanging baskets that survived. I have no idea why they didn't live.
    I lover your chamomile. I planted some one year and need to try it again.

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  11. OMG, look at those strawberries! I knew I should have bought replacement plants this year, I really need a June bearer. I got a total of one strawberry yesterday!

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    1. Maybe when the runners threaten to take over my life later, I'll rip some rooted ones out and send them too you. I so love my June bearers. They are more tasty than the everbearers and healthier too since they don't need to keep producing all year long.

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  12. That's a LOT of strawberries. Ours are just starting to rev up -- I think we've picked two ripe ones. I'm going to have to buy some if I want bulk.

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  13. Why would anyone want grocery store strawberries? I imagine yours are red all the way through, juicy and sweet. Nice harvest all around! And how many people do you feed? Susan

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    1. That is a hard question to answer. Normally it is just me and my husband, but my daughter is here with us until mid July. My husband doesn't eat veggies. Or fruits really. But he does when they are hidden. For instance he eats chicken pot pie. I can't put peas in it, but I puree the onions, celery, and carrots. Then he can't see them and complain. The funny thing is that he loves the taste of a lot of the veggies, but he hates the texture. So the blender is my friend. He will eat the corn. No greens though.

      And I share with my townhouse mates a lot. I try to keep them in veggies during the summer. I share with the neighbors. And I try to preserve a lot for the winter. So it gets used, but not always by me.

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  14. wow that is a lovely berry harvest! I really need to put in more strawberries! Just have to figure out where, since out in the open they will have to be netted. Perhaps in my new space when I plant it up this winter.

    I don't mind most spiders, but I will kill the widows and the recluse. We don't have the actual brown recluse but we have one very similar and just as nasty a bite.

    Love the chamomile. Will have to figure out where to plant some myself, I love the way it smells!

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  15. You had a really pretty harvest this week what witht he beautiful red strawberries and those charming chamomile flowers! The greens were amazing too. I will be interest in seeing how you used some of them in your upcoming Thursday Kitchen Cupboard post.

    My strawberries are flowering and setting fruit but I have a while before I get to enjoy some beauties like yours.

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  16. Your strawberries are still coming in strong and look great. It's been too hot for greens here for a while, so enjoy your last little bit!

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  17. I hope you post about the tea making process with your chamomile!

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    1. I'm going to try to post all that I did. I have quite a bit for that post. It might be long.

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  18. I am eternally jealous of your strawberries and, especially, your chamomile. I really need to plant some for tea...

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  19. Beautiful harvest! And gorgeous strawberries too! Mine unfortunately all rotting on the old bed from too much rain and so far zero harvest of them.

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  20. You are the Queen of Chinese cabbages an other greens!! I can't believe how much you can grow and use! Pretty amazing totals for this early in the year!!

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  21. Oh those strawberries look so yummy! And I love the chamomile too. I planted some this year, but no flowers yet. We've got brown recluses here, but I've never seen one. I have seen black widows. And those wolf spiders, even though they are not poisonous, are startling because they are just so big and hairy with all those beady eyes!

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  22. Wow the chamomile looks good! Haven't had any in ages! Watch out with spiders, you knever know where you can find one, I'm always careful when harvesting things, look in between the leaves just in case!

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  23. 76 pounds of greens already is a LOT. Nothing beats homegrown strawberries.

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  24. Beautiful strawberries. I really want to plant some. Maybe I'll expand the front yard garden next year and plant them.

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  25. Love your strawberries! I lost the last of mine to a wayward chicken...thankfully I got a few quarts first...and thank goodness for the Farmers Market!

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  26. Look at the chamomile - how amazing! I bet it smells heavenly.

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  27. Ick - I wish you hadn't posted that spider story. I'm mildly arachnophobic (which is something of a problem in my job) and I'm struggling with it more than usual lately - I know we don't even have any dangerously poisonous spiders here, but ... just, ick!
    Well, at least I have only looseleaf lettuce, so there's little chance that I'll harvest a head with a spider in it!

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    1. Sorry about that. They really freak me out too. I quit growing grapes because I couldn't take the spiders.

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  28. Hmm, - perhaps I should have seperated out the fruit too. That way my tamarillos could be paying for my dwarf citrus which I don't image will ever recoup their purchase price.

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  29. Hi Daphne, Your strawberries look wonderful! I am envious. Mine have never done well. I will have to try Alpine. The greens are beautiful!
    How do you wash them? Is Pak Choi the same as Bok Choy? Wonderful harvest! Nancy

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    1. Yes. But then the naming of oriental vegetables is really confusing. Part of that is there are so many languages that it comes from so they can have many different names. My understanding is that bok choy and pak choy mean white vegetable. They are transliterations for the same thing. Of course in my mind I always think of bok choy as a particular kind of pak choy. And to my mind a tatsoi would be a pak choy and not a bok choy. But I think the world wouldn't agree with me. It is like the term Chinese cabbage. I think of that as either Napa cabbage or Michihili cabbage. Basically the big heading types. But many people also include the pak choys in that definition too. The naming of Asian greens can be ambiguous sometimes.

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  30. the chamomile is really pretty! Does that make a lot of tea? Its great that such beautiful flowers makes delicious tea!

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    1. Yes it does make a lot of tea. I dry the flowers after I pick them and use a small bit each time. I've never really figured out how many I need though. I always grow too much.

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  31. You are certainly reaping the rewards of all your hard work, fantastic weekly harvest, beautiful strawberries and all those greens.................enjoy!

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  32. Amazing harvest! I love the camomile flowers!

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  33. Great pictures Daphne! Great variety for this time of year. Our spinach looks exactly like yours. We don't expect it to be in very good shape a week from now, when we get home.

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  34. Oh my goodness. Those strawberries look delicious!

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  35. That first photo of strawberries just blew my mind. Incredibly beautiful. I can only dream of a harvest that size. And the amount of greens that you get is most impressive. Also loved the photos of your beds in your last post.

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  36. Thank you so much for hosting Harvest Monday. I love reading your posts and the links give me even more material. I could spend all day just reading through people's gardening blogs :) God bless.

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