Monday, July 20, 2015

Harvest Monday, 20 July 2015

I kept my dehydrator going for a long time this week. I dehydrated mint, parsley, winter savory, and marjoram. Two of which got their photos taken. The other two were shy. This is my first harvest of the winter savory. Since it was seeded in the spring I've been letting it get big instead of smaller pickings. And I hadn't tasted it before. I really do love it. It seems to be somewhere between thyme and oregano in taste. And it has a hint of lemon in it too. It isn't a very common spice in the US, but it ought to be.

I also picked some lettuce which is really nice. I've been pulling a lot as it has been bolting prematurely. I taste a leaf as the plants start to bolt. If I detect that icky bitter taste, I'll toss it. If not, like the above oak leave lettuce, I'll keep it.

On the allium front - most of the garlic is in the bike shed drying, but I had to get a couple for the kitchen. I might have to do that again before it is all dry and cleaned up. I picked all of the tiny onions under the Brussels sprouts. The sprouts had shaded them out fairly early. I figured it would take longer. I also picked a couple more Walla Wallas.

I picked chard twice this week. It hadn't been picked in a while and was getting out of control. I think it is again. I love chard as it produces so well and taste so good.

The summer harvests are just starting to come in. Though only one is shown, I picked two zucchinis and a few beans every couple of days. The cucumbers are one of my favorite summer treats. Mostly I eat them as cucumber salads or make them into pickles. In the past I've made a simple oil and vinegar (mostly vinegar) dressing for them. But my townhouse mate induced me to try the Greek yogurt from our little local corner store, which happens to be a Greek grocery store. I love all the interesting things you can buy there, but I've never bought their yogurt. I'm guessing it is imported from Greece in a huge tub as it is packed in deli packs. I'm not a fan of American style yogurt. The only one I'll buy from the store is Fage which is technically a Greek yogurt. It is decent. But oh this unnamed Greek yogurt is to die for. And so much thicker than American style Greek yogurt. More like a cream cheese almost than a yogurt. And so tangy. I've been using any excuse to eat it. A cucumber dressing seemed appropriate. Though next time I'll use more yogurt. Or I could just make a maast-o-khiar (Persian yogurt, cucumber, and mint dish) and dispense with the idea that the cucumbers are the reason why I'm eating it at all.

The biggest harvest this week by far was the spring carrot harvest. They had to get pulled so the fall cabbages could get planted. They look a bit tiny in this photo, but that is 20 pounds of carrots. So lots and lots of carrots. I'll be eating them for the next couple of months until the fall carrots start to get big enough to pick.

And last are the only weighed picking of the alpine strawberries. When I eat them it tends to be outside as I pick them and I rarely do. But one of my townhouse mates is out of town and she tends to graze on them, so I usually see very few. Since she was gone no one was picking them. I went out and picked the lot. Heaven forbid they go to waste. They are too good for that.

  • Alliums, 1.90 lbs
  • Beans, 0.08 lbs
  • Carrots, 20.23 lbs
  • Cucumbers, 1.07 lbs
  • Greens, 4.06 lbs
  • Herbs, 0.72 lbs
  • Summer Squash, 0.80 lbs
  • Weekly total, 28.85
  • Yearly total, 240.01 lbs, $481.51

  • Fruits
  • Alpine Strawberries, 0.14 lbs
  • Fruit Yearly total, 36.39 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.

27 comments:

  1. I love the flavor of Alpine strawberries but found them to be a pain to harvest so got rid of them. How will you be storing your 20 pounds of carrots? Will they keep for that long in the fridge?

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    1. I'm storing them in one of my crisper drawers with damp towels around them. And yes they will store for months that way.

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  2. Really nice harvest. I envy the cucumbers, will be a few more weeks for me. On the yogurt front, I have been using a lot of Cabot's Greek yogurt. Trouble with Fage around here is the stores only carry the lowfat/no fat versions and I only buy whole milk yogurts. Teh Cabot is pretty good.

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  3. Congratulations on 20 pounds of carrots! I am so happy with my chard this year as well. It just keeps producing such big beautiful leaves this year. I need to start dehydrating herbs this week too.

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  4. Oh no teasing me again with those lovely carrots

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  5. Savory is not well known, but it is a herb I really like to eat with Broad Beans. They seem to go together as well as Mint with Lamb.

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  6. Nice harvest as always. My garden is just now producing again.

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  7. Will - Eight Gate Farm NHJuly 20, 2015 at 8:03 AM

    What an incredible haul of carrots! I like the powder-blue cucumbers too. I'm also a fan of winter savory, which has done well for us here. What do you do with dehydrated mint? That might be a good use for ours, which is out of control of course.

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    1. I've been getting into Persian food, and it uses a lot of mint. I figured I'd use the dry mint in the winter.

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  8. Amazing harvest of carrots, mine seem very far behind where they normally would be. And the mint - so great! I planted some mint last fall in a spot away from the garden where I didn't think it would go too crazy but turns out it is barely growing at all.

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  9. Beautiful harvests! I'll have to give winter savory a try next year - I'm a sucker for anything with even a hint of lemon. I can't wait for some carrots - mine have just barely emerged from the soil, so I'll be waiting a while but it will be so worth it!

    Seems like you and I are in the same lettuce boat - I was doing the old rip & taste before harvesting it as well. Two of my romaine varieties are still holding up well & I'm hoping that continues just a bit longer until I can get my successions going.

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  10. You've piqued my interest in winter savory. Possibly a cool weather herb I'd try in the winter? Quite a carrot harvest. I'm anxious for cucumbers too but it will be awhile. Wish I had a Greek grocery nearby!

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  11. What a coincidence, I made a yogurt and cucumber salad last night. I agree, most American yogurts are awful. I'm fortunate to have a few good local producers that make whole milk yogurts with no thickeners and that have a great tangy flavor. My favorite is from a local sheep milk cheese producer, her yogurt isn't super thick but it is incredibly tangy and delicious.

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  12. We made our own yogurt for years, and it is difficult to find a good tasting one now. Most of the commercial ones taste terrible to me. I need to start drying mint here soon. We use the dried a lot for teas, though the fresh goes in a lot of things. I made a fattoush type salad yesterday with a mint and parsley lemon dressing.

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  13. I got out my dehydrator this weekend and dried some strawberries, but not successfully : ( My husband will be jealous to see your carrots, so I am going to exit from your blog soon. As always fab show of what is coming from your garden. I will keep an eye out for the shoots from my broc too.

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  14. Great looking harvest! Our spring carrots were a total failure this year so I'm a bit jealous of that big pile!

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  15. Oo! Those strawberries look so tasty! I am glad that you saved them from going to waste.

    And, wow, 20 pounds of carrots! Job well done.

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  16. Nice harvest Daphne. I pulled up winter savory a few weeks ago. It was out of control and crowding out other herbs. I do like it, it is especially good in beef stew.

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  17. I love to see what other people across the country are harvesting. Your carrots look great! Will you just store those in the refrigerator until you use them?

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    1. Yes I cleaned out one of my crisper drawers and it is stuffed full of them.

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    2. I could have sworn I left a comment yesterday about how our crisper drawers are otherwise occupied.

      fyi, added a link back to your site on CSE. I keep forgetting to do that.

      Your crisper drawers must jam-packed full of carrots

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  18. I use savory a lot - it's called "bean herb" in German, since it supposedly helps make beans easier to digest, and it really seems to help. (When we cut back the plants at work because they are getting too big to help, all the clippings go into my bag instead of to the compost heap - my balcony is too small to grow as much as I like to use.)

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  19. The carrots again...wow. And I like the 'not letting anything go to waste' attitude! I just had a couple of friends over to help themselves to the masses of berries on my plot.

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  20. your crops are inspiring. I must try some 'different' zukes next season - I tend to love the classic black jack variety.
    interesting to read also about your greek yoghurt adventures. greek or natural yoghurts are amazing also for baking cakes (use instead of milk) and a big creamy dollop is divine on muesli with a drizzle of honey - honey and yoghurt is a classic greek pairing.

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  21. Oh yummy all except the swiss chard. I don't care much for it. Is the Winter Savory a perennial? The greek yogurt dressing sounds good on the cucumbers. I need to check my carrots but doubtful they are large enough. Nancy

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  22. What a lovely harvest, I must say this is my first time here despite meaning to come by often.

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  23. 20 pounds of carrots and 4 pounds of greens is amazing, especially considering we're deep into summer. Cucumbers are so delicious, I'm going to miss them when they're gone.

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