tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36981340757092959152024-02-19T06:42:08.173-05:00Daphne's DandelionsA blog about urban vegetable gardening.Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.comBlogger1467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-17755576366394931152015-10-01T13:27:00.000-04:002015-10-01T13:27:03.300-04:00New Harvest Monday Host<p>Dave of <a href="http://www.ourhappyacres.com/">Our Happy Acres</a> will be the new host. Dave has been a regular on Harvest Monday since 2012. He grows a lot of interesting vegetables and varieties. This year I'm growing Thai Rai Kaw Tok squash because of how he described it. And I can't wait to try my first bite. He is always informative and fun to read. He will make a great host. So come Monday head on over there to link up.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpy0u4JLR5TjnbsUMZR5lVzmGhI9xKEIIGFd2KcjUSrnIFR_GNMi21Ut7Vd7sAjDra7lPhTSIvgYanvLRZfiGu5mzJVu4JmxLoVBnQE2lob1BzsODpNewit3Sa2qCwqTk_zqegDFBSe0/s1600/20150929Dugup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpy0u4JLR5TjnbsUMZR5lVzmGhI9xKEIIGFd2KcjUSrnIFR_GNMi21Ut7Vd7sAjDra7lPhTSIvgYanvLRZfiGu5mzJVu4JmxLoVBnQE2lob1BzsODpNewit3Sa2qCwqTk_zqegDFBSe0/s1600/20150929Dugup.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And I just couldn't resist. I harvested my sweet potatoes on Tuesday. Do you remember the experiment where I used mycorrhizae as a soil amendment? It seemed to help my corn a bit, but not a lot. The piles on the left side are with the amendment. On the right is without. I don't see much of a difference if at all. The difference I do see is large piles (each pile represents a single plant) on the sides. The sides are where there is a lot of brick paving. So the biggest difference is which ones get more heat. Those were the ones that grew bigger, especially the ones at the corners.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkqGuQQXFRIoCGNJvgKiCuiNKgoNEPIwTAC7r4hKZL2fuiv28bKPscwc9P3_8TZijnUMzTA-6PQh38E0uvmoeaLIebgZ7h-zf2fDZX8yWE3DApAAlj90_tdrS0LEaYol0ef8xa1ovpCU/s1600/20150929Garnet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkqGuQQXFRIoCGNJvgKiCuiNKgoNEPIwTAC7r4hKZL2fuiv28bKPscwc9P3_8TZijnUMzTA-6PQh38E0uvmoeaLIebgZ7h-zf2fDZX8yWE3DApAAlj90_tdrS0LEaYol0ef8xa1ovpCU/s1600/20150929Garnet.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Mostly the Purple grew into large tubers, but the above Garnet got pretty big too. Mostly the Garnet set a lot of tubers and some grew huge and some didn't. Almost all the Purples grew huge.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zPOl_R04mP1YFJhOhCnRuKzGHC0tBi0UAtJDwvIklRcWkhwDNDLcevDzMN8nAb-i17e5-9zMKEcJUjxrpa6bKhNumgcBdvR9EWEdB6dsnZu_7grsAnC_RVhA3vlh1HCi80yqYCnY5hY/s1600/20150929Packedup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zPOl_R04mP1YFJhOhCnRuKzGHC0tBi0UAtJDwvIklRcWkhwDNDLcevDzMN8nAb-i17e5-9zMKEcJUjxrpa6bKhNumgcBdvR9EWEdB6dsnZu_7grsAnC_RVhA3vlh1HCi80yqYCnY5hY/s1600/20150929Packedup.jpg" /></a>Purple top, Garnet bottom</div>
<p>All in all it was 61 pounds, split about half and half. Though I had more Purple plants, the Garnets got the good spot near the paving, so it evened out. 61 pounds is huge. Last year I got 42 pounds. Sadly though there is some insect damage, so I'll have to cut around that when using it. But still a wonderful harvest. I'll be curing them for a few weeks before I use them. I can't wait to eat sweet potatoes again.
Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-1682454145357621512015-09-28T07:54:00.000-04:002015-09-28T07:54:08.849-04:00Harvest Monday, 28 September 2015<p>I started Harvest Monday in 2009. It wasn't my original creation. <a href="http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.com/">The Ottawa Gardener</a> started it but only kept it up for a few months. I thought a regular harvest celebration was a wonderful thing and I kept doing it, then I started hosting it. I've been blogging for even longer - 8 1/2 years. I started for very different reasons than other people. I was crafting and not using a good portion of my brain doing that. Though I loved crafting, I wanted to challenge myself in other ways. Writing was very very hard for me. It used to take me hours to write a post. After a few years it became much easier, but I kept with it for the community. You all are such wonderful people. But it is time for me to move on. I'll still be gardening and preserving the harvest, just not blogging anymore. I might put up an end of the year post to finish out my totals. I do hate when things aren't completed.
<p>I would love if Harvest Monday or a monthly harvest celebration still existed. So if anyone would like to continue the tradition and play host, <a href="mailto:daphne@alum.mit.edu">email me</a>. Personally I've always thought it should be split into two. A northern gardener that did June-November and a southern gardener (probably Australian) that did December-May. I didn't do it that way because everyone begged me not to. If we do get volunteers, I'll let you know next Monday with a link to their blog(s).
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPSDdLiDTSHUT5heX47xrpahyphenhyphenzAbbcrAJd6mbUpZMJx3etLmP29Q6RVpfUrkBJsQVBEYsoXZAWJvNKy92wAVfScEuDilBbE7IgcMG9zdpsc_-05cV4al3vUCe0ggsNMqkpCHYamUZ0kE/s1600/20150921Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPSDdLiDTSHUT5heX47xrpahyphenhyphenzAbbcrAJd6mbUpZMJx3etLmP29Q6RVpfUrkBJsQVBEYsoXZAWJvNKy92wAVfScEuDilBbE7IgcMG9zdpsc_-05cV4al3vUCe0ggsNMqkpCHYamUZ0kE/s1600/20150921Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Anyway onto this week's harvest. Early in the week I had a very nice harvest of broccoli, a small bit of zucchini, and some celery and parsley. And the first of the fall carrots. I finally used up the last of the June harvested carrots. The fall carrots really aren't that big yet. The storage ones are bigger, but will stay in for a month or two more before the big harvest of those. The fresh eating ones just aren't getting a lot of sun right now so are growing slowly. But I am getting enough to harvest and they taste pretty good.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtWEx13smCBv-9dkBZbkMp6G_U__3_yEY1qBdBs9bzfj9EsWZG8MvRqosiDMmApK33w6_HAXnatc9dt5mo3Z1ziyhyZJ9Eo8zBcR-pl-PnmUWQfDn4pEgdYErWZhoGByAxUuv88hWGJI/s1600/20150924Carrots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtWEx13smCBv-9dkBZbkMp6G_U__3_yEY1qBdBs9bzfj9EsWZG8MvRqosiDMmApK33w6_HAXnatc9dt5mo3Z1ziyhyZJ9Eo8zBcR-pl-PnmUWQfDn4pEgdYErWZhoGByAxUuv88hWGJI/s1600/20150924Carrots.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I had a total of three small harvests, just picking what I needed to give them as long of a growing time as I can.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PuUCdVPQt-24Maz29GX_6_sNDLF5VYsvI9Rh8TdEK1-SX38Pwp4q-kWUzb28lckU3ziU-vFrjbsbuQOLPZNFX4UHcnOhyphenhyphenBp1z_z2YbT6JZPdgPgeZvCkJg33V6J_F1GbEv_-YJYazUI/s1600/20150926Zucchini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PuUCdVPQt-24Maz29GX_6_sNDLF5VYsvI9Rh8TdEK1-SX38Pwp4q-kWUzb28lckU3ziU-vFrjbsbuQOLPZNFX4UHcnOhyphenhyphenBp1z_z2YbT6JZPdgPgeZvCkJg33V6J_F1GbEv_-YJYazUI/s1600/20150926Zucchini.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And I had a very respectable zucchini harvest. The bottom one got large, but was still quite firm and good.
<p>And I was hoping that this weeks would go over 500 pounds as it would be a nice number to go out on. But I'm half a pound short. I was really hoping to be able to dig up the sweet potatoes, but I never got a chance. I will for sure this week. I don't want them to get too cold and the night time temps are starting to dip lower. I suspect that this year's totals will be over 600 pounds, but I won't know until the end of the year.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Broccoli, 1.90 lbs</li>
<li>Carrots, 1.66 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 0.22 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.38 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 2.35 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 6.51 lbs</li>
<li>Yearly total, 499.56 lbs, $1059.41</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=29Sep2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-69101841908293464912015-09-21T07:00:00.001-04:002015-09-21T07:00:57.195-04:00Harvest Monday, 21 September 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5m4XNq_uMz_44-4wIoe4wwuT_lLSoRi6UhEaDDMaAcStOdD1u7vDWIMOsBh6hRNLL_jbAx0viNaTKJtVWAmfligAEOYilL_7IS0qCYFkOSu0ChgmvsoZEYlAZYP-1VlT7ZJqIFDc8zM/s1600/20150914Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5m4XNq_uMz_44-4wIoe4wwuT_lLSoRi6UhEaDDMaAcStOdD1u7vDWIMOsBh6hRNLL_jbAx0viNaTKJtVWAmfligAEOYilL_7IS0qCYFkOSu0ChgmvsoZEYlAZYP-1VlT7ZJqIFDc8zM/s1600/20150914Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9kRcomzTF7XOuTgDjUvwAYEv1dnU8qLN6QEKRSjJeXqCTVecR8XUWpxFy3fZKZg0KY0WfGaXGc_WM9BmybRDcUfh6i5pE5zyeWKrF8qAS3o_NGseT5R8Rjrc_Y0IdSuaJ-E9Yiqg5i4/s1600/20150918Zukes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9kRcomzTF7XOuTgDjUvwAYEv1dnU8qLN6QEKRSjJeXqCTVecR8XUWpxFy3fZKZg0KY0WfGaXGc_WM9BmybRDcUfh6i5pE5zyeWKrF8qAS3o_NGseT5R8Rjrc_Y0IdSuaJ-E9Yiqg5i4/s1600/20150918Zukes.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I had very few harvests this week. I picked the last of the cucumbers. Then I pulled the dead plants. The zucchini are still producing in a small way. And I had one picking of the ever reliable chard. Though I forgot to take a photo, it looks like every other week I've picked chard. A nice huge tub of it. And I grabbed some celery during dinner and neglected to take a photo of that too.
<p>This week I used up the last of the carrots that I picked in July. I'm hoping the next batch of carrots are ready for this coming week, but I haven't checked them. I don't want to lift up the row cover and let any of those nasty carrot flies in.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXt-CTKX3t3azEovxdgIW_uptRbDIAMRidCzZbUWHQWrRWonlua-t3nfYuCvqBXK9CIudQLa7c9k_MYr3PP_7CwekPuBv1nEHfHFuvI8Sk6W31RPI8wQX0KSZIfE4FKHqJRRiUALgkKc/s1600/20150914Alterneria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXt-CTKX3t3azEovxdgIW_uptRbDIAMRidCzZbUWHQWrRWonlua-t3nfYuCvqBXK9CIudQLa7c9k_MYr3PP_7CwekPuBv1nEHfHFuvI8Sk6W31RPI8wQX0KSZIfE4FKHqJRRiUALgkKc/s1600/20150914Alterneria.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Usually I'd be picking my fall brassicas starting now, but that bed ended up first with a horrible case of aphids then with alternaria. I ripped up the whole bed and tossed the infected plants. I'll have to buy my cabbages and kohlrabi from the farmers market this week if I want any. Hopefully the fungus won't spread to the neighboring kale and turnips.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhams7HwjToLvuearop1fhY5MG96iRHPmJGxxYImXQrVaG65NmXneHLrkR4Zi4JoCqrm52DVV2V100WCHK_-yebOHxrDJELEifLu7KpDjLyt4-NrHugG0bS8rFYlesIYb5fkvZisUKy3Js/s1600/20150914Done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhams7HwjToLvuearop1fhY5MG96iRHPmJGxxYImXQrVaG65NmXneHLrkR4Zi4JoCqrm52DVV2V100WCHK_-yebOHxrDJELEifLu7KpDjLyt4-NrHugG0bS8rFYlesIYb5fkvZisUKy3Js/s1600/20150914Done.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I now have two beds I've put to bed for the fall. This one and one of the two sisters beds that had finished producing.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Cucumbers, 0.59 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 1.87 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.06 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 1.51 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 4.03 lbs</li>
<li>Yearly total, 493.05 lbs, $1041.46</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=21Sep2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-22091208494394715782015-09-14T07:30:00.000-04:002015-09-14T07:30:00.688-04:00Harvest Monday, 13 September 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gFafHTMARn0GrwNJmd4kqjTHpopUar79mJWd5_NQDGA1Y3jqUW_K8V-NnSF8IxMPpEYR-nc7gqesGAsgbUnPG-An0-y77lJ88HRHp9r3Uld29iFzf9zn4ahsQv29NUGPhMEeFoPMGNk/s1600/20150908Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gFafHTMARn0GrwNJmd4kqjTHpopUar79mJWd5_NQDGA1Y3jqUW_K8V-NnSF8IxMPpEYR-nc7gqesGAsgbUnPG-An0-y77lJ88HRHp9r3Uld29iFzf9zn4ahsQv29NUGPhMEeFoPMGNk/s1600/20150908Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDu8wjK6ryWWs1EgaHxwFc4TKtU8g3VgcPPgAC2QCqMi_kHuxASowyAIAHTpEutuGGo-fJfwfjuO_DMSRC6MAGOKodXaxK2MNjFvw47VvNyyA8uKM3Tnq1o2EDw6f2pMocHPK_kgKCsQ/s1600/20150912Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDu8wjK6ryWWs1EgaHxwFc4TKtU8g3VgcPPgAC2QCqMi_kHuxASowyAIAHTpEutuGGo-fJfwfjuO_DMSRC6MAGOKodXaxK2MNjFvw47VvNyyA8uKM3Tnq1o2EDw6f2pMocHPK_kgKCsQ/s1600/20150912Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I harvested broccoli not once, but twice this week. The first was all the side shoots from the spring planted broccoli. The second was the first of the summer planted broccoli to produce.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxrpxnorMQCUlBrGL0M1HXsN7zcLvVl3gf4f2vzwXPmcBEdrjlRbefa9Vgf6TNJdpJERmguED1Y62QXJUBadvfvH2NKWTMYRWLXthBo3GINN8TjmIWvO2nfyouWn3XN2Zy-zZBv-ktnE/s1600/20150909Amaranth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxrpxnorMQCUlBrGL0M1HXsN7zcLvVl3gf4f2vzwXPmcBEdrjlRbefa9Vgf6TNJdpJERmguED1Y62QXJUBadvfvH2NKWTMYRWLXthBo3GINN8TjmIWvO2nfyouWn3XN2Zy-zZBv-ktnE/s1600/20150909Amaranth.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The amaranth was big enough again to harvest. It is trying to put out flowers at this point, but I keep cutting the plants back when I see the first buds. You might also notice in this and the rest of the above photos have cucumbers and tiny zucchini in the baskets. I'm surprised to be getting cucumbers still. They are still tasting good too. The plants are almost all dead. I think one plant has survived the wilt so far.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaAOSGP2K_OKOk0eciMjjnCSnypKGYkTWhIIRFpGB7txBl1YSbowLJHwDlWRbJ5cMUvFYKMXbSe3S4-vmmbNV4ng0FzJwGWTbNMJLwHRdPpXFDn_P7OjhdsFRFwXq0iFavpJ9aQxvLAE/s1600/20150913Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSaAOSGP2K_OKOk0eciMjjnCSnypKGYkTWhIIRFpGB7txBl1YSbowLJHwDlWRbJ5cMUvFYKMXbSe3S4-vmmbNV4ng0FzJwGWTbNMJLwHRdPpXFDn_P7OjhdsFRFwXq0iFavpJ9aQxvLAE/s1600/20150913Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I had another tub of the prolific chard.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrQgAnJH3thmYma8QBapy9mm82Q-MI45KJrhIeB6JvEx2_KM5an4gG5GCj69zLrHJWP8xSQuJB5I-ed_PJNDfHS4cU_nDFOOJZMgRXpEDDBoqKC5C0O3bkKyjBkqEd_anQswHMqEgypo/s1600/20150913Squash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrQgAnJH3thmYma8QBapy9mm82Q-MI45KJrhIeB6JvEx2_KM5an4gG5GCj69zLrHJWP8xSQuJB5I-ed_PJNDfHS4cU_nDFOOJZMgRXpEDDBoqKC5C0O3bkKyjBkqEd_anQswHMqEgypo/s1600/20150913Squash.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>But the big news is the first of the squash to be picked. Last year I lost some squash because I let it sit out on the wet ground for too long. This year I've been more proactive in testing if the squash is ready.
<p>This year I've been trialing two new squashes for me. The Thai Rai Kaw Tok is the green one in the photo and the very aggressive vines overtook one of my butternuts. Also they have set three more squash, but it remains to be seen if they will ripen in time. The Upper Ground Sweet Potato squash has set its first squash, but I don't think it has time to ripen. We will see. One of my butternuts really went crazy and set a lot early on (seven) and won't produce anymore. But the other two squashes have some immature ones on the vine still. Right now I'm at 40 pounds. Last year broke 100 pounds for the first year ever. I don't think I'll get near that number, but if I'm lucky I'll get close to 75. But only if they hurry up and size up and ripen. Trailing new squash never gets me the best return, unless of course I find a really productive one. And so far in my garden, nothing beats Waltham butternut. And luckily for me it is one of my favorite for taste too.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47ov6vVGatXe13HeugTioBDDmzySe1gDwHsIeR4xQkCmude2AsH-ZPUBRElSNfTvglX5l4mRhn0pP6gebIvtLnHsPnYq96wqd5FwfDAKw57ZyNwDJgiQrfEflEFonFivyjd1K1ghk1Fo/s1600/20150913Thai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47ov6vVGatXe13HeugTioBDDmzySe1gDwHsIeR4xQkCmude2AsH-ZPUBRElSNfTvglX5l4mRhn0pP6gebIvtLnHsPnYq96wqd5FwfDAKw57ZyNwDJgiQrfEflEFonFivyjd1K1ghk1Fo/s1600/20150913Thai.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The Thai Rai Kaw Tok is interesting. It doesn't look so much bigger than the butternuts, but it is twice the weight of the largest of them. It weighed in at just over 7 pounds. It is also not orange yet though it has an orange patch on the bottom and orange spots. It also has an interesting bloom on the surface. Dave has grown these in the past and says they get orange after a couple of months in storage. I'm glad I read his description as I wouldn't have even checked if they were ripe enough to pick. I don't usually pick my winter squash green.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Broccoli, 2.94 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 2.00 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 2.39 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 1.18 lbs</li>
<li>Winter Squash, 40.44 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 48.93 lbs</li>
<li>Yearly total, 489.01 lbs, $1030.81</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=13Sep2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-26685486061697469782015-09-11T10:06:00.000-04:002015-09-11T10:06:53.324-04:00The Good and the Bad<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTnx5uJgQ5JwoJJ2TSbIOa5s4OMcz0MoJjoUvskw-vdVQtl0CJmOfE2UhbK7fEizvfF2lx9hy9jv4ZHbIONLSg4F_ciWyQ1qLgk0b5jPyrLWeGALrpGnsqtDAHHaMNYasVd0HRI_aRNw/s1600/20150911Rain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTnx5uJgQ5JwoJJ2TSbIOa5s4OMcz0MoJjoUvskw-vdVQtl0CJmOfE2UhbK7fEizvfF2lx9hy9jv4ZHbIONLSg4F_ciWyQ1qLgk0b5jPyrLWeGALrpGnsqtDAHHaMNYasVd0HRI_aRNw/s1600/20150911Rain.jpg" /></a>Sweet potatoes in the rain</div>
<p>We did get rain which is good, but they were predicting 1-2" and maybe more. I was so hopeful. But like other high predictions we have ended up with just over half an inch of rain. We needed so much more. I looked this morning and in the last month we have had 1.4" of rain. Our lowest month typically has 3.5". September is one of our wettest months at 4.5" on average. I can only hope that this rain was a shift from the pattern of summer thundershowers to the fall longer rains. We often get tropical storms coming up the coast and hitting us in the fall. We could use that. Right now the trees are starting to lose leaves from lack of rain. New England is known for its beautiful vibrant colors in the fall, but when the leaves curl up and turn brown, fall is not so pretty. The farmers have suffered too this summer. Though the apple and peach harvest was large, the lack of rain seriously hurt the corn crop.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxsIWPZ09XfdnfZYabeFvE1uGVve_01ipFTYm-N8S6fz_xkOMhubxXtbxvQFFxnozf6vBhzlDj6oCJbYX0-BCot1aCxBvfzu4uD5qVpsw-Rfxh0Kn8yZGFaEy7Z6kTZtUKm04_m1MK8M/s1600/20150911Holes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxsIWPZ09XfdnfZYabeFvE1uGVve_01ipFTYm-N8S6fz_xkOMhubxXtbxvQFFxnozf6vBhzlDj6oCJbYX0-BCot1aCxBvfzu4uD5qVpsw-Rfxh0Kn8yZGFaEy7Z6kTZtUKm04_m1MK8M/s1600/20150911Holes.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>When I went out after the rain, I saw this - holes in the Agribon. These are made by the squirrels thinking that the cloth will hold them up. It won't. The fabric is too fragile. So I took some time and repaired the damage. Then I went under the cover and sadly found that the root maggot fly had gotten in. I killed the ones I could find. They tend to like walking on the ground and are easy to squish. But only if I can find them. I'm sure there were plenty that I couldn't.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyebaMJdzLsEbNwAtQDyVJSrkleXgJdfMfShHX-ERTvOm3d8hasNn51Rq1wRyV6L-ap2wbbR6MYt_Y8kyrrtSMGkUkmGp_mkDF7J9e-u9YjfZXGkZjxIQEl4J3RIgN9cILqBMYNFRz8g/s1600/20150911Seedlings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyebaMJdzLsEbNwAtQDyVJSrkleXgJdfMfShHX-ERTvOm3d8hasNn51Rq1wRyV6L-ap2wbbR6MYt_Y8kyrrtSMGkUkmGp_mkDF7J9e-u9YjfZXGkZjxIQEl4J3RIgN9cILqBMYNFRz8g/s1600/20150911Seedlings.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The good news is that the bok choy seedlings are up.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxu7prKX3DmOAB2ng7WFBzcy15hA9R0AZeEVBc-fuJEozvZPInHOtbRrUJJ96n97ZG9XoYbBeLft6SYFGBdzVwjUiSYZPcYpKp7LcCYc0IYnG7qYOeN6Ive3YLVK9JqmtRwlXrHOO3uao/s1600/20150911Germinated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxu7prKX3DmOAB2ng7WFBzcy15hA9R0AZeEVBc-fuJEozvZPInHOtbRrUJJ96n97ZG9XoYbBeLft6SYFGBdzVwjUiSYZPcYpKp7LcCYc0IYnG7qYOeN6Ive3YLVK9JqmtRwlXrHOO3uao/s1600/20150911Germinated.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>They came up well. I did a bit of thinning. Now I just have to cross my fingers that the root maggots won't be too bad. I did put out a couple of homemade traps for them. They are just some small white plastic containers with soapy water in them. Yellow would be better, but white does catch them.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AW70rXkv3rJU6TT7ZCovAf7V0BWcRY-CtnUC9rkjmFTwyV36ChFygzMOtaFp77Wo6SB97S6rHjJZLGeyEyDbRqy8N7AtMcRcEK66hDWY2QkEz52fOKd5yGlhvliuj2t_e97I1nxexyo/s1600/20150911Straining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AW70rXkv3rJU6TT7ZCovAf7V0BWcRY-CtnUC9rkjmFTwyV36ChFygzMOtaFp77Wo6SB97S6rHjJZLGeyEyDbRqy8N7AtMcRcEK66hDWY2QkEz52fOKd5yGlhvliuj2t_e97I1nxexyo/s1600/20150911Straining.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Other good news is that my Brussels sprouts are really growing well. After two sprayings of soap the aphids seem to be gone. I've got some nice spiders in there helping out too. The tallest in there is about 4.5' tall. It is just huge. I only made the cover to go to about 4', so it is straining to get out.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShhv5a5VzA3xoeyPV43jRwYLaZeo9TUcYkpGAUzvBRIJxZd6rxrhK75r6fSOcCBBSwnthsC7lmfVOrptBWr8Ze4ECQxq9G9HcyyNSCzcs-Uu8LaMaO4FLNzXhNwN6bLFV-0-fkcXnbRM/s1600/20150911Curved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShhv5a5VzA3xoeyPV43jRwYLaZeo9TUcYkpGAUzvBRIJxZd6rxrhK75r6fSOcCBBSwnthsC7lmfVOrptBWr8Ze4ECQxq9G9HcyyNSCzcs-Uu8LaMaO4FLNzXhNwN6bLFV-0-fkcXnbRM/s1600/20150911Curved.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>If you look carefully you can see the stem is starting to curve. It wants to keep growing up, but there is no room. At some point it is going to lift up that row cover. I really want to take it off, but the butterflies are still around. I don't have swarms of them anymore, but on a sunny day I regularly see them in the garden. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-76503622821293489012015-09-07T07:30:00.000-04:002015-09-07T07:30:01.850-04:00Harvest Monday, 6 September 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8pMI-LQK6QXc36ai5WWZfXr8Imp9O4JwxunnUORgZM9lYlX6exnIxhoJ-mCqvznXYB3HOcylg4_733ke_0hLfoPqtykUXtGBOYIz-i-Lq-y-QX4NUbDisdtr1bXIGC2Pk68CPvtao7s/s1600/20150902Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8pMI-LQK6QXc36ai5WWZfXr8Imp9O4JwxunnUORgZM9lYlX6exnIxhoJ-mCqvznXYB3HOcylg4_733ke_0hLfoPqtykUXtGBOYIz-i-Lq-y-QX4NUbDisdtr1bXIGC2Pk68CPvtao7s/s1600/20150902Onions.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>There were some large harvests this week. Though technically the onions were harvested a while ago, I only weigh them in once they are cured and braided. I only braid the best of the onions, the rest go right to the kitchen for immediate use.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC6XSnwU-maET6HoWQfHDEqParEfIb1iCuj6Aw1gEpbsPMLgTdQGMSJU68bX2LfZ88go4W60QEAYk7jsoCkjT27Eol2Gu59K9rHtAW-yuPHCFvUqcagBzuPTWPxFjS6TGgBawdc1RS80/s1600/20150902Melons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEC6XSnwU-maET6HoWQfHDEqParEfIb1iCuj6Aw1gEpbsPMLgTdQGMSJU68bX2LfZ88go4W60QEAYk7jsoCkjT27Eol2Gu59K9rHtAW-yuPHCFvUqcagBzuPTWPxFjS6TGgBawdc1RS80/s1600/20150902Melons.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The last of the melons were harvested. The melons weren't as good as last year. This year they got wilt and slowly struggled. I don't think melons are as susceptible and seem to resist it fine unless the cukes are near them. Or at least the only two years I've had trouble with it where the two years the cukes and the melons grew close. I'll be better next year. That said the yield was good again. Not quite as high as last year, but within 10%.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-tT9N6JLJ7Wv5vYKZhA76IGqJOJMpUsHCi2gFLBvkS_rHAUSpW2AY-7BEXurTJhmz5azGKP5d4Lvm4vZo0NmIQz2sqvnNX6C-2T8tMK_5Pdvaiu0ka8nNicZbPgP-SNrTMtGRvm3uCQ/s1600/20150905Cucumbers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-tT9N6JLJ7Wv5vYKZhA76IGqJOJMpUsHCi2gFLBvkS_rHAUSpW2AY-7BEXurTJhmz5azGKP5d4Lvm4vZo0NmIQz2sqvnNX6C-2T8tMK_5Pdvaiu0ka8nNicZbPgP-SNrTMtGRvm3uCQ/s1600/20150905Cucumbers.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeV3hCiPcP_1DP0Vv8ANWpDoJhyphenhyphen_qZqZ-89RBhDIOUonr2Kkv2YRTlJBbVxQKrcIUi6IoClPBSwjOcNozhH8KUCZBRK51VAVYGSvT5Cih2JFqbMFHIr4P83zIwNFVuxEMVHxuce1Yey8/s1600/20150903Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeV3hCiPcP_1DP0Vv8ANWpDoJhyphenhyphen_qZqZ-89RBhDIOUonr2Kkv2YRTlJBbVxQKrcIUi6IoClPBSwjOcNozhH8KUCZBRK51VAVYGSvT5Cih2JFqbMFHIr4P83zIwNFVuxEMVHxuce1Yey8/s1600/20150903Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>There were plenty of cukes, some of which weren't shown. The zucchini have slowed way down. They get barely any sun now and powdery mildew has hit hard. But I'll take tiny zukes over no zukes. Nothing else had time to grow at this point. The garden has too much shade. So I'll just let them put out little bits now and then.
<p>And did you notice my first Chinese cabbage? I had to pick it as it was dying. I think I let them dry out too much and that one was hit the hardest. I've got to water better. Usually this time of the year is wet and cools down, but the unusual hot dry weather is continuing.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlWdOpS0E3U4X3PrM35FwfFmmc7DjgnA6zvNnS_Ki-LPPR6bGgOMFt-0hnFgXqlohkPLp-UlbDD8iddrHSnzP7lmkRYge9Qv7QiwbQTpU3YUs1XpWezMcosa580jUsBSLLivSGyh15TI/s1600/20150903Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlWdOpS0E3U4X3PrM35FwfFmmc7DjgnA6zvNnS_Ki-LPPR6bGgOMFt-0hnFgXqlohkPLp-UlbDD8iddrHSnzP7lmkRYge9Qv7QiwbQTpU3YUs1XpWezMcosa580jUsBSLLivSGyh15TI/s1600/20150903Corn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I picked the corn last week. It was s dismal corn year. Last year I got about 46 pounds. This year it was only 26. I was blaming it on the aggressive squash, but I had one block that had just the typical butternuts under them and they didn't size up well either. I don't know why they did so badly this year. But at least what we got was delicious.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeupLVLO62eRQt-sbkoWgPb3G5keHRuOX0wjS2fKLxqBuGeCuUn8SfC8tgihkOVQ10ZmqnAX2ZaKpBOrnI-r9qa1I389Zg_3eFXoVn2FNqL2mcm2LVDialBCOyPSB3uRQ6O9_tLNQLi2E/s1600/20150902Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeupLVLO62eRQt-sbkoWgPb3G5keHRuOX0wjS2fKLxqBuGeCuUn8SfC8tgihkOVQ10ZmqnAX2ZaKpBOrnI-r9qa1I389Zg_3eFXoVn2FNqL2mcm2LVDialBCOyPSB3uRQ6O9_tLNQLi2E/s1600/20150902Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>My old reliable came in again this week.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuON4UARfqkPadP3SKhOXJcGBSnTm3gW1nz_i-_IqPUP5lohwNddkEyy603saR7eH5ZDHgeOxz2sxqGg1ory1eqP5cOOP4s46oZBYQhCad0sDmOMb-pADKVC4i_gtC776B2LJGRyielRw/s1600/20150901Harvset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuON4UARfqkPadP3SKhOXJcGBSnTm3gW1nz_i-_IqPUP5lohwNddkEyy603saR7eH5ZDHgeOxz2sxqGg1ory1eqP5cOOP4s46oZBYQhCad0sDmOMb-pADKVC4i_gtC776B2LJGRyielRw/s1600/20150901Harvset.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And a nice pile of broccoli rounds out the vegetables.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKkYFlk_YJcvYshinhKfK9HPgxy3ihvpW__5bMVRhHiSoXYfIx5OuNCFeKWIKlufABrkD-brkFSKfC6yDQSvO0orNaq1tYfZoV9X8mTV0RhKXCvumMfnwXQKl3L3ivs3uIa7PK5ZecaE/s1600/20150901Raspberries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKkYFlk_YJcvYshinhKfK9HPgxy3ihvpW__5bMVRhHiSoXYfIx5OuNCFeKWIKlufABrkD-brkFSKfC6yDQSvO0orNaq1tYfZoV9X8mTV0RhKXCvumMfnwXQKl3L3ivs3uIa7PK5ZecaE/s1600/20150901Raspberries.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The only perennial fruit on the tally is the raspberries. When I remember to pick them I'll go out in the afternoon and store them for breakfast. Right now it is my favorite way to eat them.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 13.94 lbs</li>
<li>Broccoli, 2.83 lbs</li>
<li>Corn, 2.33 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 6.02 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 1.51 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, Asian, 0.74 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.13 lbs</li>
<li>Melons, 16.30 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 0.42 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 44.21 lbs</li>
<li>Yearly total, 440.06 lbs, $929.38</li>
</ul>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Raspberries, 0.27 lbs</li>
<li>Fruit Yearly total, 100.55 lbs</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=07Sep2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-61060077530025013272015-09-05T07:35:00.000-04:002015-09-05T07:35:31.883-04:00This and That<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_gtV3tnNYKtf3wifmqLffZFti6SUsHllRYF-XP6aIbuhxmm6GgH-jpVxJ5_okqh_zwMi_ObUoYwOlaYef8v9u317s2xMtxFxYQ1SfYRlkqKBE7D-2S1qDFGEG_DoZw9aCBCk6cOm22Y/s1600/20150828Before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_gtV3tnNYKtf3wifmqLffZFti6SUsHllRYF-XP6aIbuhxmm6GgH-jpVxJ5_okqh_zwMi_ObUoYwOlaYef8v9u317s2xMtxFxYQ1SfYRlkqKBE7D-2S1qDFGEG_DoZw9aCBCk6cOm22Y/s1600/20150828Before.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I haven't been posting a lot recently. Not much was going on in the garden. This last week I did get a few things done though. My zucchinis have gotten a bad case of powdery mildew and quit producing. All of their female blossoms started to get very very small. So I cut them back severely. I'm not expecting to get much from now on more due to low light levels than the mildew. Probably just tiny zucchini. But something is better than nothing.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJbNldtoUhMbrkET9X3VDAtS0o-JvsQRf6wAdkqkc1iuG1fbqMdwhkgFcGvQYzUtGqHCEu3CaQAamun6CoiFrUScV4Rfl-vEdtRHGPN4_Y3NvupyRFRF1ljbl55v_9mVkkgvRJmhuJpA/s1600/20150904Planting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJbNldtoUhMbrkET9X3VDAtS0o-JvsQRf6wAdkqkc1iuG1fbqMdwhkgFcGvQYzUtGqHCEu3CaQAamun6CoiFrUScV4Rfl-vEdtRHGPN4_Y3NvupyRFRF1ljbl55v_9mVkkgvRJmhuJpA/s1600/20150904Planting.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I harvested the last of the melons. There were a few small melons left on, but they rarely taste that good when harvested in late September, so I pulled the vines and planted with bok choy. It is too late to plant in the main part of the garden, but in the circle garden it gets less shade in the fall. The light levels though have gotten much less and they may or may not size up well. It is worth the chance. Usually I'd plant overwintered spinach. But I decided this year to forego that and try something new.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWVH-bb_W-VrpcBPFgNV-2E7U4v_lhAb1uXRDo8Acc2FE56dYkLIvKLbCc_bnUYNjwPBpdRflEaxxEVkER_yjL-Sx5BDVH855qRrDhvSf2kWMLePKQfFmCd0xRKrXKIiVumEMky0PDXo/s1600/20150904Done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWVH-bb_W-VrpcBPFgNV-2E7U4v_lhAb1uXRDo8Acc2FE56dYkLIvKLbCc_bnUYNjwPBpdRflEaxxEVkER_yjL-Sx5BDVH855qRrDhvSf2kWMLePKQfFmCd0xRKrXKIiVumEMky0PDXo/s1600/20150904Done.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I didn't take a before photo, but the landscape of the garden has changed now. I picked the last of the corn and then took down all of the stalks. So now it is much shorter. And I have seas of squash growing all alone.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLj8I8y1TAL0OmpNB38qmd7OO_Cp7VZ-g5SQDsIFLFn6x-_rwlZOl7VV0NmPM-bC16wXZkGNjAaR1HP8cBboWlhZCPMNXtEgiGOLJDAvkCUA-jdb7fPCxjhUTqpGbrTIlqoO9sfNTxnBw/s1600/20150904Rack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLj8I8y1TAL0OmpNB38qmd7OO_Cp7VZ-g5SQDsIFLFn6x-_rwlZOl7VV0NmPM-bC16wXZkGNjAaR1HP8cBboWlhZCPMNXtEgiGOLJDAvkCUA-jdb7fPCxjhUTqpGbrTIlqoO9sfNTxnBw/s1600/20150904Rack.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I braided the last of the onions, which you will see on Monday. And tore down the drying rack. I also cleaned up around the compost piles as they were getting kind of ratty. I need to get a new broom. My old one barely has any bristles on it. It makes my brick path really hard to clean.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRogx65C4FosrFisaVdojKYo1UOqpZLnFn-VKDlhZ_vleJ5KwszuR_SSQ2xZ7hErZaniEQCdr71QwXP7wran6No-lleqNen3cyOqef25I5Pj0sIl9xwAo5gCF6mXD4U9r_uLg0cCm4VJM/s1600/20150904Morningglory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRogx65C4FosrFisaVdojKYo1UOqpZLnFn-VKDlhZ_vleJ5KwszuR_SSQ2xZ7hErZaniEQCdr71QwXP7wran6No-lleqNen3cyOqef25I5Pj0sIl9xwAo5gCF6mXD4U9r_uLg0cCm4VJM/s1600/20150904Morningglory.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>This year I tried to keep the morning glories from climbing up the compost pile. Obviously I wasn't totally successful. They sure are pretty, but they are hard to clean off and get in the way of the drying rack. And they make it hard to access the piles themselves. So I ripped them down again. It is sad to see them go, but now I can get to the leaf pile again.Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-11955579097111813852015-08-31T08:00:00.000-04:002015-08-31T08:00:04.056-04:00Harvest Monday, 31 August 2015<p>I would say that summer is almost over now, but this coming week is supposed to be in the 90s again. I was really hoping for a return to more normal weather. Often the pattern start to shift in September. At least the corn and melons have liked the heat.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1z0yD2BbGUn-kYGW6gIemfMKlUYC0RzNCmQdbky4RW5_vKMMb-akitEnBVqVYIzkgTIlisfa0UBEoXtlVVFPoMnbasmnnYJxCSXtOwiP9gNQTjelmRBYeFM4S_wCdGsEydCMGOyIqdn0/s1600/20150829Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1z0yD2BbGUn-kYGW6gIemfMKlUYC0RzNCmQdbky4RW5_vKMMb-akitEnBVqVYIzkgTIlisfa0UBEoXtlVVFPoMnbasmnnYJxCSXtOwiP9gNQTjelmRBYeFM4S_wCdGsEydCMGOyIqdn0/s1600/20150829Corn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJZcr3cHIfcicv5yuwx7iNADYPs_M0KbtVTgkgm3nP7Vav6Fr8mvxAUP-lP6Ku9DF-NqZ_M1CmMyho0mL2jkUHVbBsVG13BNsns0lHu1UaZwPDbjOShXgRvVcHOtj5zTspEJjnZc3BGM/s1600/20150826Harvset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJZcr3cHIfcicv5yuwx7iNADYPs_M0KbtVTgkgm3nP7Vav6Fr8mvxAUP-lP6Ku9DF-NqZ_M1CmMyho0mL2jkUHVbBsVG13BNsns0lHu1UaZwPDbjOShXgRvVcHOtj5zTspEJjnZc3BGM/s1600/20150826Harvset.jpg" /></a></div>
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSbGb45TPHqzJ7zPA21sh2lBTSwzS6Ppy5g4gewPnX5n3ZP2XAT-vNXCkUSNJvhJK7vKi6Qfyck7WDxoyErewAeSaigOq1gyCUcxf8eF6zzvJwFboXpONHdj-NHkUVy6UNN9k0skTgCM/s1600/20150828Melons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSbGb45TPHqzJ7zPA21sh2lBTSwzS6Ppy5g4gewPnX5n3ZP2XAT-vNXCkUSNJvhJK7vKi6Qfyck7WDxoyErewAeSaigOq1gyCUcxf8eF6zzvJwFboXpONHdj-NHkUVy6UNN9k0skTgCM/s1600/20150828Melons.jpg" /></a></div>
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefl2-k58PBB5R_7UrG3sLlqfpo3Y0uxR4R4QiEByfRDV-8MPngRPM7uOnocj8JW9zAaW55yNre1Zt_lkOgGEmJRIDaV1vYcbqlnI_aZPv1QkjmotoKqF5KnKO1xePNu1TZTN-mBn9h0s/s1600/20150828Inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefl2-k58PBB5R_7UrG3sLlqfpo3Y0uxR4R4QiEByfRDV-8MPngRPM7uOnocj8JW9zAaW55yNre1Zt_lkOgGEmJRIDaV1vYcbqlnI_aZPv1QkjmotoKqF5KnKO1xePNu1TZTN-mBn9h0s/s1600/20150828Inside.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>There has been a lot of corn and melons. Not all of the photos made the cut. Most of the melons got frozen for smoothies as I just can't eat 20 pounds of melons in a week. I did have some help though as I had my mother and MIL visiting at the beginning of the week and my aunt and uncle over the weekend. Sadly two of the melons rotted out before they ripened. Though they were on bricks their undersides rotted. I should have turned them over more to dry out, but I didn't know how prone to rotting Diplomats were. I never have to do that with my Halona melons. They do taste good though and produce well if you can keep them from rotting.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJsw52J2NISrBaDT1HCMkk02kRktz_Te7nZFZul7cNqZQOXS2P2wYEr7uWY8wriO9gn6BAJwQ3pvJDX2PPO4mXj0r3ShvL0e3hUwpodwj13eniwEtZVnnIWtaKidzvMWI-Fd8qhAObgg/s1600/20150826Apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJsw52J2NISrBaDT1HCMkk02kRktz_Te7nZFZul7cNqZQOXS2P2wYEr7uWY8wriO9gn6BAJwQ3pvJDX2PPO4mXj0r3ShvL0e3hUwpodwj13eniwEtZVnnIWtaKidzvMWI-Fd8qhAObgg/s1600/20150826Apples.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>In addition to melons we had two apple harvests. I decided after the first one that the apples were at the perfect stage and the rest needed to be picked before they over ripened. I put nylon footies on my apples when they first start to form to keep the insects out as I don't spray my trees. Ginger Golds are such a wonderful early apple.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6ddrzuseAqw5CKNywHT4rzhZuUSdi34elDKZNC2KGo77OGFEEKW-wyIiOtD9uSsxKDsjo8z9d41HCAqIAGIkrzeJpsXHQvkMl8l1dARgwyx4Ih0aNvlNlO_lX9NUiH8xe-R87eSTUQk/s1600/20150826Gingergold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6ddrzuseAqw5CKNywHT4rzhZuUSdi34elDKZNC2KGo77OGFEEKW-wyIiOtD9uSsxKDsjo8z9d41HCAqIAGIkrzeJpsXHQvkMl8l1dARgwyx4Ih0aNvlNlO_lX9NUiH8xe-R87eSTUQk/s1600/20150826Gingergold.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I split the bounty in half and I got one basket and my townhouse mates got the rest. As you can see a squirrel sampled one even through the bird netting. And a few apples had some minor insect damage. Mostly they were good enough to serve to guests.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CnL8jBH7jTkb3hNxOVn_1_cGS_vDRERQY1Wi7okyMQo8O6u-jTtbqj7lj8pXKwtrOKWAwc8-GfpYfa277Ll7Ro2Ir00Y0g92Fll5yDstg_QMq4q4xnhyphenhyphenCJ8YEZml_DFzTsX-WgY1ZU8/s1600/20150828Harvset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CnL8jBH7jTkb3hNxOVn_1_cGS_vDRERQY1Wi7okyMQo8O6u-jTtbqj7lj8pXKwtrOKWAwc8-GfpYfa277Ll7Ro2Ir00Y0g92Fll5yDstg_QMq4q4xnhyphenhyphenCJ8YEZml_DFzTsX-WgY1ZU8/s1600/20150828Harvset.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I didn't take a lot of photos, but I'm still getting zucchini and cukes. There are only a few cucumber plants that are still producing. But it has been enough to keep me in cucumbers everyday. I've even gotten enough zucchini over the last couple of weeks to freeze some.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Lv92FajRBBmZuSycnpRDfzGVhLwZdyojz2Qx8AX13mgM7opCTKMR492-w-ZHphDRbU6D0pA31jNSUwm4d-0-6sZA5RkOkJZ3XWTA9TyzQ6BSf4lSThg1ty5ma3HNP0wwxoprOBzjQL4/s1600/20150829Herbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Lv92FajRBBmZuSycnpRDfzGVhLwZdyojz2Qx8AX13mgM7opCTKMR492-w-ZHphDRbU6D0pA31jNSUwm4d-0-6sZA5RkOkJZ3XWTA9TyzQ6BSf4lSThg1ty5ma3HNP0wwxoprOBzjQL4/s1600/20150829Herbs.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Though they don't always get weighed - or rarely get weighed - sometimes I do remember and the herbs get on the tally.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqMSsnqrETbZrW2E4bBMZ5iyTCMuYDMOClKeF-4l2nUK5Ye0Ov2t-haQyKKDwa0_Sqz1cbGytelimriyzQQa-sC99u5DfAveu-t5LCA6_UpwRQfgpIwmhG6wonPsD1jUUXSgcDwG-cw0/s1600/20150824Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqMSsnqrETbZrW2E4bBMZ5iyTCMuYDMOClKeF-4l2nUK5Ye0Ov2t-haQyKKDwa0_Sqz1cbGytelimriyzQQa-sC99u5DfAveu-t5LCA6_UpwRQfgpIwmhG6wonPsD1jUUXSgcDwG-cw0/s1600/20150824Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknjyJ9hCR8Hx8o_Ql5-M3dlyHe_3UbZnHnXzIu3nGcHpGYbd8BcA0M8rjyXQiQRy-VMdfZ91-dJcxZ-ycSDGO_7ilVpx3LNZ5_mjSNz4hQW7E5fAN2S5Yrh3RBD11g9UqA3X9mz-emd4/s1600/20150830Amaranth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknjyJ9hCR8Hx8o_Ql5-M3dlyHe_3UbZnHnXzIu3nGcHpGYbd8BcA0M8rjyXQiQRy-VMdfZ91-dJcxZ-ycSDGO_7ilVpx3LNZ5_mjSNz4hQW7E5fAN2S5Yrh3RBD11g9UqA3X9mz-emd4/s1600/20150830Amaranth.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Chard and amaranth were both picked. I didn't pick any of my own broccoli, but since I had guests I did buy some at the store. I had enough of the other veggies to keep my guests supplied.
<p>Below you might find it weird that I put melons on the vegetable list and not on the fruit list. But the fruit list is really for perennials. And melons are grown more like the vegetables. For the perennial fruits it really is a milestone. This is the first year I've picked over 100 pounds. Last year was at 71 pounds, so it has been a very nice fruit year.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Corn, 6.80 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 2.63 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 2.72 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.19 lbs</li>
<li>Melons, 20.61 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 2.56 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 35.50 lbs</li>
<li>Yearly total, 395.86 lbs, $1234.77</li>
</ul>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Apples, 28.66 lbs</li>
<li>Raspberries, 0.41 lbs</li>
<li>Fruit Yearly total, 100.28 lbs</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=31Aug2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-75970273135803472742015-08-30T15:47:00.001-04:002015-08-30T15:47:08.308-04:00Garden Share Collective - August Redux<p>The GSC has changed this month. It is now on the last Monday of the month instead of the first, so I've got my title as August again. Also it now has themes every month. This month is Size. For me I'll talk about the size of my garden. For me size of the garden is limited by the size of the yard.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYt2Mk7OchNff00IkQonkKQtTsqom1oiSxeJRpRoDdrcInPLmGwSyQXvws3jZaaVFogOsl_zz8XRVn4Kc9hjey3iFCNkwoEWESc7Y3lRKqY0YODf0_Jp6SqgpjNbU1Mxsh-q2enakjwEs/s1600/20150829Backyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYt2Mk7OchNff00IkQonkKQtTsqom1oiSxeJRpRoDdrcInPLmGwSyQXvws3jZaaVFogOsl_zz8XRVn4Kc9hjey3iFCNkwoEWESc7Y3lRKqY0YODf0_Jp6SqgpjNbU1Mxsh-q2enakjwEs/s1600/20150829Backyard.jpg" /></a>Our shared backyard looking over the fence of the vegetable garden</div>
<p>I live in a fairly urban area in a townhouse that shares a yard. Officially our shared yard is 9000sqft (835sqm). It is landscaped with a mix of ornamentals and fruit. One apple tree is tiny as it just doesn't want to grow, but the other (on the far right) gave us about 30 pounds of apples this year. On the left are the raspberries which are grazed upon whenever anyone is out eating at the patio table.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7UoiuGIbwqjdF8yvmQoAK80T-XDSqtMLXKaYhMRXSA5Wi9gn-PF0HDhB1BMFHtE17hoTfqnjg5ldIORJ3KqprCWCdhM5KGySzpVVIULfghB4ZKx4wyr1XHqa0KQ_bW2b9HZ5srfhf8c/s1600/20150829Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7UoiuGIbwqjdF8yvmQoAK80T-XDSqtMLXKaYhMRXSA5Wi9gn-PF0HDhB1BMFHtE17hoTfqnjg5ldIORJ3KqprCWCdhM5KGySzpVVIULfghB4ZKx4wyr1XHqa0KQ_bW2b9HZ5srfhf8c/s1600/20150829Front.jpg" /></a>Front yard in front of my door</div>
<p>The front yard has my two peach trees and just out of the photo are my three gooseberries, a juneberry, and a border of alpine strawberries. All except the juneberry and the one new peach tree has produced well over the years.
<p>Since all of these are on our shared property, we share the harvests and upkeep too. Though in reality I tend to do more work than anyone else. No one else in the two townhouses is a gardener. Though they mow, edge, and weed, the reality is they don't always know what a weed or plant is. Occasionally things get left in that are weeds and things get pulled that aren't. Sometimes it just doesn't get done unless I do the work anyway. The perennial garden I wouldn't let them touch as it was just put in the spring and I didn't want them weeding out things I grew from seed.
<p>What looks like a driveway across from the perennial garden is really a private road which dead ends here. Technically we don't own it, but those that live on private roads are responsible for the upkeep. Which means I get to upkeep the wall on the other side of the road. And when I say, "I get to", it means I have an agreement that the wall garden is all mine. I do all the work. I pay for anything I put in. But I reap all the benefits. In a way I like that a lot better, as I don't have to ask to change anything. I grow fruit trees there, with a front border of strawberries. I'm not sure how many feet it is, maybe 60 linear feet (18m) of useable space for my trees. It is about 2.5' wide. Though I've gotten plenty of strawberries over the years, all the trees are too young to bear yet. Maybe next year.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4D6_SiPE0qOEEsvv3k9U-A6Po9x0ysdz-2Yole4lWiyIDbhCCzSpzu44C9QoxKE-bFHr07vYWJdZrVwBkp_fS9Qu4pq_nPlZbe0u-sW28NrqQ_KmjQheN5dy7iIQ9YeXcf1hzCKf6PQ/s1600/20150829Beds1to3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4D6_SiPE0qOEEsvv3k9U-A6Po9x0ysdz-2Yole4lWiyIDbhCCzSpzu44C9QoxKE-bFHr07vYWJdZrVwBkp_fS9Qu4pq_nPlZbe0u-sW28NrqQ_KmjQheN5dy7iIQ9YeXcf1hzCKf6PQ/s1600/20150829Beds1to3.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Though we technically share the yard, by agreement, the veggie garden is mine. Most of the vegetable garden is in the side yard. Much of it used to be paved, but we had the pavement removed to make more room. I have about 565 sqft (52 sqm) of raised bed. In the side yard there are eight raised beds, each 4' wide and 16' long.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zL6B4R8-16P4UDYXrKZexvGWxekzy6XMoLN9U4g9Uye8Dm0HOv0Sl4XGlaQoGyVv1ZF30efrgVo5yBm98YGpu_i3z_ILobBzfVOVestQPLWCufNVisGv7CWoxSazQcAGzThNICu5MOs/s1600/20150829Beds3to8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zL6B4R8-16P4UDYXrKZexvGWxekzy6XMoLN9U4g9Uye8Dm0HOv0Sl4XGlaQoGyVv1ZF30efrgVo5yBm98YGpu_i3z_ILobBzfVOVestQPLWCufNVisGv7CWoxSazQcAGzThNICu5MOs/s1600/20150829Beds3to8.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Since the yard isn't that big, I made the paths between the beds very small. Just 19" (.5m). Sometimes the paths get so overgrown it is hard to walk down them. Especially when the squash grows big. There are a few small patches that aren't in the raised bed area. A small spot by the driveway fence has two of my currants and some cilantro and zinnia. On the left of the brick path are some mint pots (hiding the gas meters) and a plum tree. Also scattered in the corners are herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, and tarragon.
<p>August is all about cucumbers, zucchini, onions, melons, and corn in the garden. I have harvested other things like broccoli, chard, amaranth, and herbs. I know in most gardens solanums and beans are huge in late summer, but I can't eat those, so my harvests are more limited in scope.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcGrDwagbwBsowvDo7NFzagaVGMxuOWwoQVCdu-D99Y5KRxNzU5L6fOiJUB1aSMgBcRsGXFANoFKt4aX83VCnM1JU4Z3UoCYQxThe5a8qY54bxVPYYANmSYVESr2DnY2N00OB9XUc0Lk/s1600/20150829Circlebed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcGrDwagbwBsowvDo7NFzagaVGMxuOWwoQVCdu-D99Y5KRxNzU5L6fOiJUB1aSMgBcRsGXFANoFKt4aX83VCnM1JU4Z3UoCYQxThe5a8qY54bxVPYYANmSYVESr2DnY2N00OB9XUc0Lk/s1600/20150829Circlebed.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Around the corner in the back yard by my back door is the circle garden. So named for the herb circle in the middle. I grow my heat lovers here. The sweet potatoes and the melons. The sweet potatoes won't get harvested until late September, but the melons are in full production right now. This space is counted in the 565 sqft of raised bed. On the left and out of the photo is my compost area. I have a four bin pallet composter. And two smaller black plastic composters that we use for composting kitchen scraps (the covers keep the pests out) and holding finished compost. A whole four foot deep section all along the back fence (maybe 30' long) is reserved for that and general storage and the very small garden shed. The compost gets the largest area as that is the most important. Compost keeps the garden growing.
<p>August has seen a renewal on the preserving front. I've frozen about 11 cups of zucchini. I've cured, braided and hung the yellow onions and shallots. The red onions will follow soon. And I've frozen some cut up fruit for my morning smoothies - 2 gallons of peaches and 2 1/2 gallons of melon. Right now my favorite smoothie is a blueberry melon smoothie. I'll be sad when all the melons are gone. My biggest problem on the preserving front is about size. I really should have bought a larger freezer. I'm quickly filling up the available space. For some things size really does matter.
<br />
<hr />
<p>This post is part of the <a href="http://www.strayedtable.com/">Garden Share Collective hosted by Lizzie</a> at Strayed From the Table.</p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strayedtable.com/grow/garden-share/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: center; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_AOYUtStPH3EOUDSWWETBcW6EdAl6wrwT4zqBs0gW4lNLzSwJVeuLSp5DuL-B8-77_zTfTT5akuh2iTI9eV1wgEiig-4qMlUkqjagyKZHqVniuhasJaYhyphenhyphengstVLiQ3pFF1VPoO0O2xE/s1600/unnamed.jpg" /></a></div>
Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-34509815622323596842015-08-24T07:03:00.000-04:002015-08-24T07:03:40.192-04:00Harvest Monday, 24 August 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyWUwZJkF5JBeuOe5CRdV7im2lkE32dHqm-FH4d42gskSscq74ji_YhxBsIbKRcNhS0QIJcjmts7siP9udQR53bxU2p2NyChUiWNphTL9tL10dv7Pl3V7GE6Stw8DhqqnFuNvXI8egvA/s1600/20150823Melons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyWUwZJkF5JBeuOe5CRdV7im2lkE32dHqm-FH4d42gskSscq74ji_YhxBsIbKRcNhS0QIJcjmts7siP9udQR53bxU2p2NyChUiWNphTL9tL10dv7Pl3V7GE6Stw8DhqqnFuNvXI8egvA/s1600/20150823Melons.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Though my peaches have all been picked, fruit still takes the starring role this week. My first melons were picked. Usually I get an intense two weeks of melons and then they are gone. I tried to time it so they would be ripe when my mom and MIL were here, and they are showing up today, so I succeeded.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintJULVB0z3MW8HG4wOIHJbnPt4ce3uhZtLU8jCmYlmzsY9SmbXv6ZkXEVRTC4qOJYEN01_uirnbnoCJjXYNJkf54T9kMvuAyVcua_Dc4MHLkzaj6MFAeqlSIyzxTNk1wgrjMCyfx8qE8/s1600/20150822Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintJULVB0z3MW8HG4wOIHJbnPt4ce3uhZtLU8jCmYlmzsY9SmbXv6ZkXEVRTC4qOJYEN01_uirnbnoCJjXYNJkf54T9kMvuAyVcua_Dc4MHLkzaj6MFAeqlSIyzxTNk1wgrjMCyfx8qE8/s1600/20150822Corn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I also picked corn several times. I wanted my corn to be late enough for the parents too. And I could have planted them even a week earlier. Corn is easier to time though as I have a month long window of picking.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGRpYe2N0oT0R-g2Pvp4J-sOl1NfT5Gk6Rzf7-ad-4ixlCU_s9LgtaYYCNAmE9wLHEEGJjK5fDpR6puzxuwiSRcndLBRL_yES_mAZ9KIYZAgvtNebJDZuuaFOuCvgqw8ib_e_P9oGsB8/s1600/20150817Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGRpYe2N0oT0R-g2Pvp4J-sOl1NfT5Gk6Rzf7-ad-4ixlCU_s9LgtaYYCNAmE9wLHEEGJjK5fDpR6puzxuwiSRcndLBRL_yES_mAZ9KIYZAgvtNebJDZuuaFOuCvgqw8ib_e_P9oGsB8/s1600/20150817Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I picked and froze a lot of basil.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsYPLG0Tbj_ltsKD4XyguSXMFfKdFNLO5lLghHzS5VoPNHl3rn7KzA2F7ASeXYYX7pW0ahQFwDay1swM16OZrYBm8oYR4TakWzIk70Y3_5akm4aL0956Blic2leT35tn3LkrEwEvvQYQ/s1600/20150822Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsYPLG0Tbj_ltsKD4XyguSXMFfKdFNLO5lLghHzS5VoPNHl3rn7KzA2F7ASeXYYX7pW0ahQFwDay1swM16OZrYBm8oYR4TakWzIk70Y3_5akm4aL0956Blic2leT35tn3LkrEwEvvQYQ/s1600/20150822Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGFNMMYt2d1llvQUKaqsJaiV4fb576t7vZgO2AZH1Pw9Q9YP49Z-mQKrw-6vxqqjbv605sn7hKTo4ocep20YJztuK4bapSJZjLuBxnne-JVbC9_XNkXuXzzzebGkQhjtXOltEwoYB19c/s1600/20150821Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGFNMMYt2d1llvQUKaqsJaiV4fb576t7vZgO2AZH1Pw9Q9YP49Z-mQKrw-6vxqqjbv605sn7hKTo4ocep20YJztuK4bapSJZjLuBxnne-JVbC9_XNkXuXzzzebGkQhjtXOltEwoYB19c/s1600/20150821Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And I'm still picking zucchini and cucumbers. I got one baseball bat of a zucchini this week as I missed picking a day. They grow so fast if you let them. I usually let them grow one day after they have pollinated and closed up. Two days is too long. I took the seeds out and grated it for bread in the winter. In addition I got another picking of the amaranth. It is struggling next to the zucchini. I try to keep the zucchini leaves off of it, but it is a hopeless cause.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvL0mZG_yzkFPRSsd-eohvxA8ChdcCHfiJb4324o6a1qZ2IDuCVUlY_Y3f3dGB75C-z29EdxKzuCk41m_KWhd01FoabIWrpD8c-A2yk9ZDmjJfOqTIm2LJe2hOVTJ45m2Dg_8Sc9qgLc/s1600/20150819Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvL0mZG_yzkFPRSsd-eohvxA8ChdcCHfiJb4324o6a1qZ2IDuCVUlY_Y3f3dGB75C-z29EdxKzuCk41m_KWhd01FoabIWrpD8c-A2yk9ZDmjJfOqTIm2LJe2hOVTJ45m2Dg_8Sc9qgLc/s1600/20150819Onions.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I finished up all of my sweet onions, so now I've started bringing in the red onions when I need them. They are almost done curing outside.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 1.09 lbs</li>
<li>Corn, 3.53 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 4.09 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 0.75 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 1.29 lbs</li>
<li>Melons, 9.80 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 5.39 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 25.94</li>
<li>Yearly total, 360.36 lbs, $768.70</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=24Aug2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-40978454333312517272015-08-17T07:30:00.000-04:002015-08-17T07:30:02.798-04:00Harvest Monday, 16 August 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_GH4jH9eNVTk14EWs1CPda7ri2iTa8-nfGd_OMet77qUDuvAfLl6e8-OyIhabVlrmNlBis_Bb1dbpy_0A9o63A4iUDoXebGqan8wVl9gBwwaTlxveAoe6sVNtT6G_Ek6E59PZPqs74o/s1600/20150811Peaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_GH4jH9eNVTk14EWs1CPda7ri2iTa8-nfGd_OMet77qUDuvAfLl6e8-OyIhabVlrmNlBis_Bb1dbpy_0A9o63A4iUDoXebGqan8wVl9gBwwaTlxveAoe6sVNtT6G_Ek6E59PZPqs74o/s1600/20150811Peaches.jpg" /></a>First picking</div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOPqdwPVJcUCLATPWxm73adXxlth46XF7T2y6POvbbbuPMqUEplHy-H2jv3izY6co4qYrz9xuRA8jQBsOP_-pQcrWKOaPt1yF_z5iIbSliiD7kBQGCcNohchPvFyoMHB0A2E1kQ040b0/s1600/20150815Peaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOPqdwPVJcUCLATPWxm73adXxlth46XF7T2y6POvbbbuPMqUEplHy-H2jv3izY6co4qYrz9xuRA8jQBsOP_-pQcrWKOaPt1yF_z5iIbSliiD7kBQGCcNohchPvFyoMHB0A2E1kQ040b0/s1600/20150815Peaches.jpg" /></a>Half of second picking</div>
<p>Fruit takes the staring roll this week. I had to pick the rest of the tree as some of the peaches were starting to fall. In addition I started to pick our Ginger Gold apple tree. Not many. I'll let most of them ripen up more. And the fall raspberries have started, though very slowly. If you notice on my side bar I tally my fruit differently than my vegetables. Vegetables for the most part are grown as annuals and each year is potentially just as good as the year before. But fruit is on mostly on bushes and trees and takes time to start producing. So there is a huge outlay of money at the start and it takes years before the trees pay off. I'm no where near that. But every year my fruit production has gone up. This week I topped last year's record. So far everything has been higher in production except the peach tree. The peaches were very small this year. I've still got most of the apple tree left to harvest too and I expect the harvest to be pretty good. I'm wondering if I'll be able to top 100 pounds this year. It is going to be very close.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RcDSn-JefCCWghWcPEWnSVsdc9GZFLzIcKRDJ7eOnewD15_9h8nggExYMIyNdZwXilc4tEsbqeDQ53NLz6fe-QAIFuYZj3yv-SO4T7zHC1QW2oryE8DaHlUus7U6BCQfxEHCkvlxwt4/s1600/20150814Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RcDSn-JefCCWghWcPEWnSVsdc9GZFLzIcKRDJ7eOnewD15_9h8nggExYMIyNdZwXilc4tEsbqeDQ53NLz6fe-QAIFuYZj3yv-SO4T7zHC1QW2oryE8DaHlUus7U6BCQfxEHCkvlxwt4/s1600/20150814Corn.jpg" /></a>One of many corn harvests</div>
<p>Corn continues to be the biggest producer. Though I think I'm way behind last year's production. I'm getting some really small ears and no second ears like last year. Some started to form - even some third ears, but the squash overtook the plants too much and the corn couldn't support them well enough. Also the squash leaves were so tall they blocked the pollination on some of the ears.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RTJ7UmT0qRZLqeya_RnWdIBIUFXBhpxrI5VmnBbDwUWA8nqBUXnvUgLnzLxND0NDXEdabJUGOO6yXc_Vs1Yz7PSkzMegq5KYU2cT4bq6-cu2Qfoj32Zi1C1wR_s11umNHINgkWCaU0A/s1600/20150810Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RTJ7UmT0qRZLqeya_RnWdIBIUFXBhpxrI5VmnBbDwUWA8nqBUXnvUgLnzLxND0NDXEdabJUGOO6yXc_Vs1Yz7PSkzMegq5KYU2cT4bq6-cu2Qfoj32Zi1C1wR_s11umNHINgkWCaU0A/s1600/20150810Harvest.jpg" /></a>One of many cuke and zuke harvests</div>
<p>The zucchini finally picked up some this week. It still isn't super productive, but at least it isn't too bad. I'm not sure why they aren't producing like crazy. This year they missed the squash vine borers. The cucumbers are fading fast. Wilt has taken half the plants down. I'm sure the rest won't be long. But I'm enjoying them immensely while they are still around.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglQr5lOErxC2e0N8nOfH1Gm94wzo2adOyPSFqnxHMZRPZrl-0Jnz0PaSu1AZLc9b-r9pe4AK0G-fX_F_NxmBngYygrcbFXTyJ1q0zN8uXfBvBoQxwyErd6r555y9dNXEUjxipNcWkFtQ/s1600/20150813Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglQr5lOErxC2e0N8nOfH1Gm94wzo2adOyPSFqnxHMZRPZrl-0Jnz0PaSu1AZLc9b-r9pe4AK0G-fX_F_NxmBngYygrcbFXTyJ1q0zN8uXfBvBoQxwyErd6r555y9dNXEUjxipNcWkFtQ/s1600/20150813Onions.jpg" /></a>One of two onion baskets</div>
<p>I brought in the last of the sweet onions. I've almost finished eating them too. Yum. I don't think the Walla Wallas are as sweet as the Ailsa Craigs that I grew in previous years. But I like the taste better. I might switch over to them permanently. None of them ever got particularly huge, but they sized up well considering the tiny seedlings.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64w95uDumh0rx0MjILr5pFarHQovjFX-TrzNbLbpHL2F0RuaHrUe-93ONbpykVIkpWg_yx2G4CZqM2m11__udtbEcCW13UwBOifwds9B8lApe-g1OZtCMnUwspywrA3AGiWr-_Sn8TF4/s1600/20150813Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64w95uDumh0rx0MjILr5pFarHQovjFX-TrzNbLbpHL2F0RuaHrUe-93ONbpykVIkpWg_yx2G4CZqM2m11__udtbEcCW13UwBOifwds9B8lApe-g1OZtCMnUwspywrA3AGiWr-_Sn8TF4/s1600/20150813Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I should sing odes to my chard. It is so reliable. When I need greens it is always there for me.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgsZATBKsUI7PxFIHbIkZUrNlSW_MYmgi89ZlW9NcWKmTqNCCzPbq7KL-48cFzwA7lLcvas92E2MsOer_WyOZmkuyJD6xTtYh9TTTeJTE0JjuwdqCQzNx86-TxZ25l1VySr343EGL5jw/s1600/20150815Broccoli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgsZATBKsUI7PxFIHbIkZUrNlSW_MYmgi89ZlW9NcWKmTqNCCzPbq7KL-48cFzwA7lLcvas92E2MsOer_WyOZmkuyJD6xTtYh9TTTeJTE0JjuwdqCQzNx86-TxZ25l1VySr343EGL5jw/s1600/20150815Broccoli.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And last but not least is one truckload of broccoli side shoots. I eat the leaves and peel the stems and eat those too, so it all comes inside. Broccoli is one of my favorite greens.
<p>
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 6.23 lbs</li>
<li>Broccoli, 6.27 lbs</li>
<li>Corn, 6.63 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 3.34 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 2.00 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.13 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 3.20 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 27.78</li>
<li>Yearly total, 334.41 lbs, $703.88</li>
</ul>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Apples, 2.98 lbs</li>
<li>Peaches, 21.86 lbs</li>
<li>Raspberries, 0.03 lbs</li>
<li>Fruit Yearly total, 71.22 lbs</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=17Aug2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-55508939128595771982015-08-16T11:46:00.001-04:002015-08-16T11:46:34.457-04:00Training My Fruit Trees<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWsloTW0vr5KBTHu4rZkzcVfZJuNvsI_2CqR_jW8Y4LCC0IF5padoybuQ3p4T6cHlndFVDFZ0XWICpl4eMLcjcyBGnocRyCKj0uIkdFX-CBNxXzdRocbIAStNcpng0uLnlJJHsPkOb5g/s1600/20150816Plum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWsloTW0vr5KBTHu4rZkzcVfZJuNvsI_2CqR_jW8Y4LCC0IF5padoybuQ3p4T6cHlndFVDFZ0XWICpl4eMLcjcyBGnocRyCKj0uIkdFX-CBNxXzdRocbIAStNcpng0uLnlJJHsPkOb5g/s1600/20150816Plum.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>This year I planted three fruit trees in my Rock Wall garden. The plum above is a 2-in-1 tree with one side being Shiro and one being Redheart. The tree will get about 12'-15' tall. Which is about 6' taller than what I really want. So I'm trying to train it smaller. Since the tree is in the rock wall garden next to the fence and driveway, I have to keep the tree fairly linear so it doesn't interfere with the cars. I kept the best two branches and let them grow. They really wanted to grow straight up. So a week ago I started to train them to come down a bit. I want a bigger V than I have right now, but I'll be working on it over the next month. I want to encourage the tree to grow sideways and not up as much as it wants. I'll see if I can make it do what I want.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiOYONpLkwNVZ5-ZQHuT-kAFhdHsJ-n-vfc0osIqR_5LXk8_ahaxymj3d4NJsJw6woIT1p9dEemZTOLUUVbEZl_sFwgNpNcLrS-RTad8G5fiOf0mkAScG23L2I4uSO1C0AwN-FB5WIho/s1600/20150816Persimmon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiOYONpLkwNVZ5-ZQHuT-kAFhdHsJ-n-vfc0osIqR_5LXk8_ahaxymj3d4NJsJw6woIT1p9dEemZTOLUUVbEZl_sFwgNpNcLrS-RTad8G5fiOf0mkAScG23L2I4uSO1C0AwN-FB5WIho/s1600/20150816Persimmon.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The other tree I'm training the same way is my Ichi persimmon. It only gets about 8'-10' tall. so I think it will be easier to train to being shorter. It arrived much smaller than the plum tree and has grown pretty slowly. I cut the top off a while ago to get two opposing branches. Today I figured they were big enough to start training.
<p>I don't tie the string directly around the branches as it would scrape off the bark. I use whatever is available. For the plum tree I used my favorite, which is some old hose that has been cut up. I put the string through the hose and it keeps the bark spotless. I didn't have any more of that old hose, so for the persimmon I used some old Agribon row cover that I cut up. I think it will be gentle enough on the branches.
<p>I had an issue with the plum tree after I started training it. We had a wind storm and the string snapped. I just use jute. But the jute I have is old. I bought a HUGE spool of it about 4 years ago. It is almost gone, and I left it out in the rain this summer. I tried to dry it out but it is just not the same. Jute rots with the moisture and it is hard to dry the string out in the middle of the spool. I can use it for things like my cucumbers that just need a little help, but I needed a new spool for things that had stress on them.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HsbkuJZHxo_Mx4THgix3U7sQuCHZ0c7bEU8Q9XYMDNVLaVSWD1nb0e0ek4l6UAwOuC4jlNCbA87E8ztaYRmVuc4bUJVtBRMwjXo3sivLOo_n-Xt_-AMj3lC-Szwl1_p81W3qrenQRHg/s1600/20150816String.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HsbkuJZHxo_Mx4THgix3U7sQuCHZ0c7bEU8Q9XYMDNVLaVSWD1nb0e0ek4l6UAwOuC4jlNCbA87E8ztaYRmVuc4bUJVtBRMwjXo3sivLOo_n-Xt_-AMj3lC-Szwl1_p81W3qrenQRHg/s1600/20150816String.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>So I bought my second HUGE spool of string. Since I don't make as many trellises as I used to since I barely grow pole beans anymore I'm guessing this should last me about ten years. But I'd better not bring it outside to forget about it and get it wet. I'll make smaller balls out of it and bring those out. "Oooh shiney" is a big problem for me in the garden. I get distracted way too easily. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-39901931147570903632015-08-12T17:13:00.001-04:002015-08-12T17:13:48.169-04:00Kale, Turnips, and Cilantro
<p>I finally got around to pulling up the onions before the storm yesterday. I was hoping for a couple of inches of rain as we sorely need it, but we ended up with just 2/3rds. I think other places have gotten a lot more over the last couple of weeks, but the rain seems to just miss us. The rain left us with a whopping 1.5 inches of rain over the last month which isn't nearly enough. Even though I water, the soil knows it isn't rain.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhCIvFYqt8KRvH2Z8eSSonUpzd93YzsFDr-9UlZ7ShNRlQtAL30qlZVt9f6KKRVRsqz7VglCLNmQt5Hy4KYPiCyKo0JuNagVep7-r-LQ14h7uRX60M41igAWFSjhWJsbgdIOxM54gO1A/s1600/20150812Kalebed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhCIvFYqt8KRvH2Z8eSSonUpzd93YzsFDr-9UlZ7ShNRlQtAL30qlZVt9f6KKRVRsqz7VglCLNmQt5Hy4KYPiCyKo0JuNagVep7-r-LQ14h7uRX60M41igAWFSjhWJsbgdIOxM54gO1A/s1600/20150812Kalebed.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The onions were in the fall kale bed and I wish they could have been pulled earlier. But I filled in the kale gaps. Hopefully the kale will have time to mature. I now have no little seedlings upstairs under lights.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYffIz0-MfeYrJJRGX848u3k4yOEJNXtoPHiAhbcqvpCXiEYmwFDOuvQnm6vf4gMT2BLJAIoZMKGMPE_uCUMpjvmEJZ3ptEC2cEwWpchixdR8j7MUzF7ApR5GkAAtMKHJ_yzvkvf4FJ8/s1600/20150812Thinning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYffIz0-MfeYrJJRGX848u3k4yOEJNXtoPHiAhbcqvpCXiEYmwFDOuvQnm6vf4gMT2BLJAIoZMKGMPE_uCUMpjvmEJZ3ptEC2cEwWpchixdR8j7MUzF7ApR5GkAAtMKHJ_yzvkvf4FJ8/s1600/20150812Thinning.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I noticed the turnips under the fleece row cover were up and up way too thickly. I'm really bad at sowing tiny black seeds evenly. Carrots are easier as you can see them on the ground. Not with turnip seeds. I thinned anywhere between 3"-6" apart (the rows are 6" apart). These aren't the small salad turnips and are best picked at 3". I also thinned to really vigorous seedlings. I'm pushing our season here to plant them so late. Timing is everything in the garden. I try to keep things on schedule, but they can slip for all sorts of reasons. The good news is that they seem to be growing well. No signs of flea beetles at all.
<p>I also got out and sowed some cilantro. I sowed a couple of weeks ago and the plants are yellowed and stressed from the heat and lack of rain. I'd like to do a couple more sowings over the next few weeks. The heat could come back and sort of has to a degree, but if I keep sowing, maybe I'll get a really nice patch of cilantro going. The spring cilantro is setting seed now and I've been picking it off as it dries. Ditto with the dill. The fennel is in bloom, but no ripe seeds yet. I think I need to grow less fennel. I didn't use nearly any of the seed I saved and I'm OK with eating fennel bulbs, but I'm not in love with them.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lWpIlQ9RlJXR14-9CASc-1fmtXrW9ADz32N9EeOQtVAvc_ivzqoajEESOOakVGS1umqNqPdWVUWHWrpQo9YRvxiu7IT8yDOXcqjA6ltwIysKDOsz2khk44dgPSuG8Soc7iJ5C_NNX78/s1600/20150812Raspberries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lWpIlQ9RlJXR14-9CASc-1fmtXrW9ADz32N9EeOQtVAvc_ivzqoajEESOOakVGS1umqNqPdWVUWHWrpQo9YRvxiu7IT8yDOXcqjA6ltwIysKDOsz2khk44dgPSuG8Soc7iJ5C_NNX78/s1600/20150812Raspberries.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And in great news - the fall raspberries have just started. These three made it into my morning bowl of oatmeal. Oh raspberries, how I've missed you. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-332058116093680022015-08-11T16:53:00.000-04:002015-08-11T16:53:11.485-04:00Giving the Squash Some Light<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_LUNELCWKrPwiglQk0Bh1IODFpQZlKUSqp0fry0D6KSDxSs4K85VC3qaBKV0_64v_mCbYr2uDMoXbwVPFt9D73M3e6b5bZDGjo4jjaKBLJTOP1Z-aiIwOdxlgUb9vpzeuLOprmsUtl4/s1600/20150810Cutdown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_LUNELCWKrPwiglQk0Bh1IODFpQZlKUSqp0fry0D6KSDxSs4K85VC3qaBKV0_64v_mCbYr2uDMoXbwVPFt9D73M3e6b5bZDGjo4jjaKBLJTOP1Z-aiIwOdxlgUb9vpzeuLOprmsUtl4/s1600/20150810Cutdown.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Yesterday I finally got in to clean up some of the corn stalks on one side of the bed. Once we take off the ear, we hardly need the corn stalk to stay up. So I take it down and give the squash more light. I've been complaining about the Upper Ground Sweet Potato Squash, but I was wrong.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fZLEcAVsXdB2XEjUUfPNFUl8jw7L85yXiWheg89f1gsYxCs1gfXF2e3i6LnT5TXXZxKw89jaYpOARKplzqBNrZ8wIceaONGQvhXeJmpdFKj536Gk1b5ZSHR8FCF6es3LvxpHpamRR7E/s1600/20150810ThaiSquash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fZLEcAVsXdB2XEjUUfPNFUl8jw7L85yXiWheg89f1gsYxCs1gfXF2e3i6LnT5TXXZxKw89jaYpOARKplzqBNrZ8wIceaONGQvhXeJmpdFKj536Gk1b5ZSHR8FCF6es3LvxpHpamRR7E/s1600/20150810ThaiSquash.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The nasty invasive aggressive squash is the Thai Rai Kaw Tok. I messed it up before even though it is written down in my journal which plant went where. But since a squash finally set it made me look it up again as I knew I was wrong. I may never grow it again. As you can see it is heading out of its bed and going behind the upside down garbage can and beyond. That isn't all that unusual, but I have about four vines going there and I've been trying to keep them back. I've had to go into my neighbor's yard and cut it back. At least it has set a squash though so I can taste it. I do tend to like the oriental squashes. And a squash that I don't have to peel is always a bonus. Maybe it will set lots and make me contemplate growing it again.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZNuTzm40dJmMOjyMShPTe2HdHbqk1VVmjplaaxSFf1xix_jIATw-oF3_rN-2vext0Rxdu0NX0dm8hgAt0dJZVrR4BjewfX8eGXdDWIyeRTN5f9_HuyEd6uzRQo1_yytihhwAIsvSJ4U/s1600/20150810Stalks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZNuTzm40dJmMOjyMShPTe2HdHbqk1VVmjplaaxSFf1xix_jIATw-oF3_rN-2vext0Rxdu0NX0dm8hgAt0dJZVrR4BjewfX8eGXdDWIyeRTN5f9_HuyEd6uzRQo1_yytihhwAIsvSJ4U/s1600/20150810Stalks.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The stalks were taken over to the compost pile.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqxyXv6FDnDcyq1s6HnC16ZrZ3t_dugHHUbrias0UivkxXbwSj_ekUR4gL6Pgnp4YULs2m0saHUsOz136UFJVds2uCXBAgJzuErTbFLe3XPRNkcglTu4TD4wNwQiu-ZTG1rbOTP-7HZo/s1600/20150810Chopped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqxyXv6FDnDcyq1s6HnC16ZrZ3t_dugHHUbrias0UivkxXbwSj_ekUR4gL6Pgnp4YULs2m0saHUsOz136UFJVds2uCXBAgJzuErTbFLe3XPRNkcglTu4TD4wNwQiu-ZTG1rbOTP-7HZo/s1600/20150810Chopped.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And they got a bit chopped up to compost better. I know a lot of people would shred them before putting them in, but I don't have any power tools for the garden. Well except the electric lawn mower. Even our trimmer is a hand trimmer.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSQwp-LGxvSFL5EBOrOaY2fuPWkoDApzNse2G4xiQizIN5XFmxx7Onp8995gd7oejcPfcRFMf6F_qhL_ZP2F10h7bvexP1rdgxLelIAC8ytWXj_dvj7dEXHBe8Z0we0sPOLbSgWJWECc/s1600/20150811Cutpeaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSQwp-LGxvSFL5EBOrOaY2fuPWkoDApzNse2G4xiQizIN5XFmxx7Onp8995gd7oejcPfcRFMf6F_qhL_ZP2F10h7bvexP1rdgxLelIAC8ytWXj_dvj7dEXHBe8Z0we0sPOLbSgWJWECc/s1600/20150811Cutpeaches.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And having absolutely nothing to do with my corn, I give you a gratuitous peach photo. Yum. They are starting to take over my kitchen. Not that I'm complaining. Lots of peaches is a great thing. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-71984261228139349592015-08-10T07:53:00.000-04:002015-08-10T07:53:15.021-04:00Harvest Monday, 10 August 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1FaOE0zg3LIeWA4QGYyvlQhqAHVxJ9Nb-PX-wkZMmUlxGBPFC6AIcRLxoyfcwpVndAE7Gj0yzFPQuOlc__bYaOhDKbqOShgGnC-DX2NPVCtHRBSw8gnREfvr5-yPQ_M90alq-RxrjrU/s1600/20150805Peaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1FaOE0zg3LIeWA4QGYyvlQhqAHVxJ9Nb-PX-wkZMmUlxGBPFC6AIcRLxoyfcwpVndAE7Gj0yzFPQuOlc__bYaOhDKbqOShgGnC-DX2NPVCtHRBSw8gnREfvr5-yPQ_M90alq-RxrjrU/s1600/20150805Peaches.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHxKJ44hJlVkuTZwZu7nsTEeDAwXLJEF0wm2qr7wgLm4Z1lIkXyDoLeMs7UQZGLBhahpjfEeJTtapS2iRisoegH9M5iF7dEbWNWBsXmcXnGlnG-Ff6LK4h6emO9kLStYyzTKpgjtiU_0/s1600/20150808Peaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHxKJ44hJlVkuTZwZu7nsTEeDAwXLJEF0wm2qr7wgLm4Z1lIkXyDoLeMs7UQZGLBhahpjfEeJTtapS2iRisoegH9M5iF7dEbWNWBsXmcXnGlnG-Ff6LK4h6emO9kLStYyzTKpgjtiU_0/s1600/20150808Peaches.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Ah summer. It really has some of the most wonderful harvests. The largest harvest this week was the peaches. They are really small this year, but still delicious. I probably should have thinned them better to get bigger peaches. The peaches are a condo harvest which means the trees are owned by both townhouses - for those that don't know I have a shared city yard. The veggie garden proper is mine and the wall garden, but all the landscape trees and bushes are shared which means half that fruit goes over to them.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_j7DJ5bqBSilDRGIeFbPdxAY-QKTMSBIUXqO5oGQk3bW-wzbvhr5hQqFa6pdB2LhBNjV-3mAVmN2NHAwScQtZEPmzrWSQacwExDeFc-IQtpN2HB5BF5zMQr7ejUfUXxLckKF4lw8EQgU/s1600/20150806Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_j7DJ5bqBSilDRGIeFbPdxAY-QKTMSBIUXqO5oGQk3bW-wzbvhr5hQqFa6pdB2LhBNjV-3mAVmN2NHAwScQtZEPmzrWSQacwExDeFc-IQtpN2HB5BF5zMQr7ejUfUXxLckKF4lw8EQgU/s1600/20150806Corn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkEP2myTsBD5svUeEjSdEV2SgPyKoAc4nge8Vcf-YAh1KvtviZArc0ez4ch270CuUI20p2JfkU58-M4Gf1V0qAGs_1Rc4xF5saf8aDvoWQ4bkNrWASioLlaTYQZMV_zxCbE09d2GBLlQ/s1600/20150809Corn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkEP2myTsBD5svUeEjSdEV2SgPyKoAc4nge8Vcf-YAh1KvtviZArc0ez4ch270CuUI20p2JfkU58-M4Gf1V0qAGs_1Rc4xF5saf8aDvoWQ4bkNrWASioLlaTYQZMV_zxCbE09d2GBLlQ/s1600/20150809Corn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The second biggest harvest is the corn. I have more than in the photos, but those were the biggest. As you can see not all of them are fully pollinated. Sometimes the edge ones don't do as well. But they are all tasty.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIT1ycnoaFt6ORbFaGCiJE3I81BErwM74xDVkpYwFXOLnRSw5oEOKKUNLpyEm5hdPps9_zGPO_7a4ARUX9EMVDtTyCseFnozKIU4atYUkFL9acsS3kF-dI1YndhsHJeXRyBU-l3Im2kU/s1600/20150804Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIT1ycnoaFt6ORbFaGCiJE3I81BErwM74xDVkpYwFXOLnRSw5oEOKKUNLpyEm5hdPps9_zGPO_7a4ARUX9EMVDtTyCseFnozKIU4atYUkFL9acsS3kF-dI1YndhsHJeXRyBU-l3Im2kU/s1600/20150804Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDDrEfGMDDHfU8EMOudMTFBqoOB6EScBBvk4PqyCpDtOJSVsQdLCDU1ZNSnSedhYhEhA5HCWDpOEY1wv9z_Odmb4RvEgdtz_HP2xMYs9htdvDFPanbtoTbFgHI2oHYigfemP1TCW1t_A/s1600/20150806Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDDrEfGMDDHfU8EMOudMTFBqoOB6EScBBvk4PqyCpDtOJSVsQdLCDU1ZNSnSedhYhEhA5HCWDpOEY1wv9z_Odmb4RvEgdtz_HP2xMYs9htdvDFPanbtoTbFgHI2oHYigfemP1TCW1t_A/s1600/20150806Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZjpudwVGSvHQ39gmUd6oceQhYI6R2B8vqY9DRp-YNYZAsjTvwmH-85ydizZbRzc5Ci3kcnNCERrnX66Y-YudALKRvvklg0eAuyXvSgZXweduhumyG4bPtHF6Cv2zruyHnrUK04TWfA4/s1600/20150808Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZjpudwVGSvHQ39gmUd6oceQhYI6R2B8vqY9DRp-YNYZAsjTvwmH-85ydizZbRzc5Ci3kcnNCERrnX66Y-YudALKRvvklg0eAuyXvSgZXweduhumyG4bPtHF6Cv2zruyHnrUK04TWfA4/s1600/20150808Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And of course lots of cukes and not nearly enough zukes. I have enough zukes to eat fresh, but not enough to freeze yet. They seem pretty steady at 1.5 pounds or half a pound per plant per week, which is pretty dang bad. I need to try another variety next year, though I love Costata Romanesca for its taste.
<p>And I got a few greens too. I harvested some amaranth and broccoli side shoots. I don't take off the leaves of the broccoli as I eat them too.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJtiebtYW1QxbEHlO9BOpPYCFNm1bp9IlzQ1FJU4kqAgajBsvO3E6X37nSNcqZeL_dUkxAZxXiOMUOdK9si9yok8o6h6egOntz4yZUAC2qW44DFTI8w-I9XXo8L4yeP9fIBMfXjkC4ms/s1600/20150805Turnips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJtiebtYW1QxbEHlO9BOpPYCFNm1bp9IlzQ1FJU4kqAgajBsvO3E6X37nSNcqZeL_dUkxAZxXiOMUOdK9si9yok8o6h6egOntz4yZUAC2qW44DFTI8w-I9XXo8L4yeP9fIBMfXjkC4ms/s1600/20150805Turnips.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The turnips didn't go into the tally. Last time I had turnips I had to cut a lot of bad parts out. I'm guessing these are just as bad. Together they make one picking, but not by themselves.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWH-cXSQXdf5NgKC2Iw7t0z133Sqnf0pdg_dLyk7aXgNzyU7WBZH9Z95HQ1glCIRK-Qh4M4tT6DZshRBAak9a2eYl1_CrJZgJIR56CanLMN9AasSl8p6GaRBleVshujvvdAidh6NSjvw/s1600/20150809Onions-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWH-cXSQXdf5NgKC2Iw7t0z133Sqnf0pdg_dLyk7aXgNzyU7WBZH9Z95HQ1glCIRK-Qh4M4tT6DZshRBAak9a2eYl1_CrJZgJIR56CanLMN9AasSl8p6GaRBleVshujvvdAidh6NSjvw/s1600/20150809Onions-2.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjSKn4YOTFsim1pojPd-ewPp55EzbjEreAnAScWlDJMIvmAQHhYVtV7t7HYNYiDCKoV23L3qgdk-I8ceJTsSK0dYg0I3UlJ7eMxe1LNXq6ZdSkxV-VEjBgDOXa0QmrcjjLuPmebN_ttQ/s1600/20150805Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjSKn4YOTFsim1pojPd-ewPp55EzbjEreAnAScWlDJMIvmAQHhYVtV7t7HYNYiDCKoV23L3qgdk-I8ceJTsSK0dYg0I3UlJ7eMxe1LNXq6ZdSkxV-VEjBgDOXa0QmrcjjLuPmebN_ttQ/s1600/20150805Onions.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGbkuw_51XshAfaHzSOymG8CDQs7JOCnOmnBKYqnm5ny_zXkAQkQEO8EAiMjzaXVd6ebLFsC2y5EMyk20sN0XOoUca2WOifAXO3vGamaVOs5IfKVuQ_z1VdGXr43t7W9HBquGRXfM8nw/s1600/20150806Braids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGbkuw_51XshAfaHzSOymG8CDQs7JOCnOmnBKYqnm5ny_zXkAQkQEO8EAiMjzaXVd6ebLFsC2y5EMyk20sN0XOoUca2WOifAXO3vGamaVOs5IfKVuQ_z1VdGXr43t7W9HBquGRXfM8nw/s1600/20150806Braids.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And last but not least the alliums. Green onions (not leeks even though that is what they look like), sweet onions, and storage onions all braided up and ready for the basement.
<p>Needless to say it was a really good harvest week.
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 20.71 lbs</li>
<li>Beans, 0.19 lbs</li>
<li>Broccoli, 1.31 lbs</li>
<li>Corn, 6.28 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 3.87 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 1.17 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.17 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 1.66 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 35.35</li>
<li>Yearly total, 306.63 lbs, $680.82</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Peaches, 8.85 lbs</li>
<li>Fruit Yearly total, 46.36 lbs</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=10Aug2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-14616914630984090892015-08-09T13:16:00.000-04:002015-08-09T13:16:39.523-04:00Kale, Lettuce, and Weird Corn<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNlgFN9Ckbl3Lwv5I8xcbM9EI7NoCauWuHDPpZPGTr_5IBDQFlNh-fTaKvzke-D8_ZI4jMmYhGwVJmiYECaf2ZeHO5GCZXlbnynhhHR-6loxO34l-SWRLkO0D-L8rmOsqm4m6Yryz1XU/s1600/20150807Kaleseedlings.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNlgFN9Ckbl3Lwv5I8xcbM9EI7NoCauWuHDPpZPGTr_5IBDQFlNh-fTaKvzke-D8_ZI4jMmYhGwVJmiYECaf2ZeHO5GCZXlbnynhhHR-6loxO34l-SWRLkO0D-L8rmOsqm4m6Yryz1XU/s1600/20150807Kaleseedlings.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Usually I plant Winterbor and Blue Curly Kale to overwinter. This year I was going to plant Red Russian to eat in the fall and curly kale to overwinter and eat in the spring. Well the new packet of curly kale seed wasn't any good. The few that came up were weak. So all I have is Red Russian.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3QZGCwRQaXGxpGfrVO7y-pxM8Yq5GqzLUoW4YPHdBhkLxsFl8seTOyCRAplmEV4jf7pSPfG16I_eCR0482QFiypiA8D85HA0f4iIZz4ZrbaWE4BaJSLxaSOlKK9g1wuJCoDSoRbeVhf0/s1600/20150807Planted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3QZGCwRQaXGxpGfrVO7y-pxM8Yq5GqzLUoW4YPHdBhkLxsFl8seTOyCRAplmEV4jf7pSPfG16I_eCR0482QFiypiA8D85HA0f4iIZz4ZrbaWE4BaJSLxaSOlKK9g1wuJCoDSoRbeVhf0/s1600/20150807Planted.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>In addition I'm growing a red onion I hadn't before and it was very slow to fall down. In the end I knocked them down when I saw a few had gone down. They should be out of the bed by now so I can plant the whole bed up in kale, but they aren't. It isn't a huge issue as the replacement kale seedlings are still a bit small. I wonder this year if I'll get enough kale to make this planting worth it. Hopefully it will and they will grow well and come October I'll be in kale.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJuoMCQnugIS7nzIXRd5457EJe7ybfbbvA4bt1sjouQJDbUdmns2wgWMd-VTPtdGManbH6nHiqpATW_Ixv84aB99gCX7el_Nw7oJ1DUToBUXcrz6sgOBItDjXYGbq9BrP_WuBW0oicjk/s1600/20150809BeanPlants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJuoMCQnugIS7nzIXRd5457EJe7ybfbbvA4bt1sjouQJDbUdmns2wgWMd-VTPtdGManbH6nHiqpATW_Ixv84aB99gCX7el_Nw7oJ1DUToBUXcrz6sgOBItDjXYGbq9BrP_WuBW0oicjk/s1600/20150809BeanPlants.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Another issue was my bean plants. Some disease is in them and large spots are appearing on the beans themselves. So I decided to pull them up to make way for lettuce.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFY1E4NFsTGqDhL8pTPk-XGxVaCwQD6L6TU8gkRz6hMpPbzz-EzZ5pJyfTVWG_FZ_P6hCEmoS58yCjFhZcWlNUi28QDBuOdWFcYzmC5R1OqWJ-v3wihg_mxZHwBuAtZ1L8U_40t1a8x4/s1600/20150809Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFY1E4NFsTGqDhL8pTPk-XGxVaCwQD6L6TU8gkRz6hMpPbzz-EzZ5pJyfTVWG_FZ_P6hCEmoS58yCjFhZcWlNUi28QDBuOdWFcYzmC5R1OqWJ-v3wihg_mxZHwBuAtZ1L8U_40t1a8x4/s1600/20150809Onions.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>In addition I pulled the rest of the onions out of the lettuce bed. They got way too big for the spot. Most of the lettuce bolted in the last hot spell we had, even some of the smaller ones. So any bolting lettuce got pulled too.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-PAzONpoOWGZcqldzZaq8GhvxnwlZgLZu3oUE0xI-ngTPaOq_q59zV6OdDnm8twFOmwgd8VCdoxcvCCJMw4INtuhhnfSrABqxpqERUBY6CnNlLe5iRaPH8ppOXpfIyZfxvPMIkX6uiw/s1600/20150809Seedlings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-PAzONpoOWGZcqldzZaq8GhvxnwlZgLZu3oUE0xI-ngTPaOq_q59zV6OdDnm8twFOmwgd8VCdoxcvCCJMw4INtuhhnfSrABqxpqERUBY6CnNlLe5iRaPH8ppOXpfIyZfxvPMIkX6uiw/s1600/20150809Seedlings.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>But I had sown a nursery row of lettuce not long ago. I transplanted them to the now more empty bed.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfmGofk8g9n7Pr2gMgYqQR8AaJL3NRkM_FyZ457T2XbkYbYMs_JlfP_1CrwwMH60o6OPmUHiqOzjKUU7tuDaoN8UdDgdwKMp7tyC2H137Z_aiv82N3pbhZji8NsFBkBvw8dAc29s_H60/s1600/20150809Transplanted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfmGofk8g9n7Pr2gMgYqQR8AaJL3NRkM_FyZ457T2XbkYbYMs_JlfP_1CrwwMH60o6OPmUHiqOzjKUU7tuDaoN8UdDgdwKMp7tyC2H137Z_aiv82N3pbhZji8NsFBkBvw8dAc29s_H60/s1600/20150809Transplanted.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I hope they grow fast enough to produce before winter. I'm guessing they won't because of the fall shade, but there is a chance.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mFAPNMxVe5UeNeTdZ-B57m4tQWIgsplGZ5uG7yRx9Eaq8rVAlWexU45bbpLgaBUr0vXZ5sgmRG6p3z5slkufIEez-kkxAvnlIAnz7tyHF6Cmv3nzwxhj3xzNz0gA8Bh9YDLhMYjmFlc/s1600/20150806Weirdcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mFAPNMxVe5UeNeTdZ-B57m4tQWIgsplGZ5uG7yRx9Eaq8rVAlWexU45bbpLgaBUr0vXZ5sgmRG6p3z5slkufIEez-kkxAvnlIAnz7tyHF6Cmv3nzwxhj3xzNz0gA8Bh9YDLhMYjmFlc/s1600/20150806Weirdcorn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I'm picking a lot of corn now. I did find one that was pretty strange. I tied the ouside stalks to a bamboo pole so the wind won't lodge them. One of the strings ended up being wrapped around the ear. I tied them before the ears formed and I had no clue where they would come out. Most of the time the ears grew away from the string so there was no issue. But this one grew under it. You can even see the indentation of the pole in the corn. Though it looks weird, it still tasted wonderful.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKXHNSzTjSOxWa4F8d7b36e92tF5VHC7F9BSXZeXWO5qRjeyAvle1ZhiUWNRgJLZp-57NVl5V0cRTrmRusEtLR3byhVg1eT7kdi3HOvDoyM1DpCdGSM9DreNEylJHOVjorYHAywR6tmQ/s1600/20150808Pickingpeaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKXHNSzTjSOxWa4F8d7b36e92tF5VHC7F9BSXZeXWO5qRjeyAvle1ZhiUWNRgJLZp-57NVl5V0cRTrmRusEtLR3byhVg1eT7kdi3HOvDoyM1DpCdGSM9DreNEylJHOVjorYHAywR6tmQ/s1600/20150808Pickingpeaches.jpg" /></a></div>
<P>And the last news for the week is good. I started picking peaches. They aren't big, but they sure are tasty. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-13197524478737054892015-08-07T14:54:00.000-04:002015-08-07T14:54:07.939-04:00Fermentation<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImYErs-8bTHuGSLHEafpMsKT31L5rUPHum-KMvG83Ad2yDUOGUESi5na9-DKB7WrSz1ai7WmQ5He9VLyfK-ncsTXVSMIXP9T0cUdih7re_hmmOsX3A5VVJC_w5LJcZ_KlZFammWue_dE/s1600/20150805Cloudy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImYErs-8bTHuGSLHEafpMsKT31L5rUPHum-KMvG83Ad2yDUOGUESi5na9-DKB7WrSz1ai7WmQ5He9VLyfK-ncsTXVSMIXP9T0cUdih7re_hmmOsX3A5VVJC_w5LJcZ_KlZFammWue_dE/s1600/20150805Cloudy.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I finally made a good batch of fermented pickles.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgNisUgZJDIMWvllU1DYUzBC8zTaYsna8ffFDDVTvgVu7FCwDahDszCk0LvByw00Ley-7ciWgzAGiyTVWcX8YdJ-yiHLE9tvJiCfWC8zeo5Gjnj78bw3ySYQrupCXpDlPlupVJtelZsM/s1600/20150729Mold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgNisUgZJDIMWvllU1DYUzBC8zTaYsna8ffFDDVTvgVu7FCwDahDszCk0LvByw00Ley-7ciWgzAGiyTVWcX8YdJ-yiHLE9tvJiCfWC8zeo5Gjnj78bw3ySYQrupCXpDlPlupVJtelZsM/s1600/20150729Mold.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Sadly the first batch I tried to make ended up getting moldy. Many people would just tell you to scrape it off and eat it anyway. I'm not about to do that with my health problems. I can't even eat a mushroom, I'm not about to try something that might have even small bits of mycotoxins in it.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUF8XuvH5_b0aFwa5UmNQ-PSUQxuqBSaqe1V4UyY7U5Z7OIa5unaJVKoefvWlW6aRayqNhyMBTTRC0ct_Ot4xLXOmDz16myqVtLc3BGzjpJBVHGDXdpwz60uFaUe_JKYcJodp7xuO5-I/s1600/20150805Nomold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUF8XuvH5_b0aFwa5UmNQ-PSUQxuqBSaqe1V4UyY7U5Z7OIa5unaJVKoefvWlW6aRayqNhyMBTTRC0ct_Ot4xLXOmDz16myqVtLc3BGzjpJBVHGDXdpwz60uFaUe_JKYcJodp7xuO5-I/s1600/20150805Nomold.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>But batch number two was totally clear. I haven't tasted them yet. I'm still working on my kohlrabi pickles (which are much easier to make).
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLHgs4MltRXCaMCLez7wlx9NWoA0rfKNLa0I3a90LryNE8s8TSnNIWcAxG3op-FYJ0PTKFKeKaeuGRt-pXG2szTu1w42Ru-y2E9rJFOAGZnRA6QeyNAH9mmlujixqRujpNJw5OAMXj8M/s1600/20150723Kefir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLHgs4MltRXCaMCLez7wlx9NWoA0rfKNLa0I3a90LryNE8s8TSnNIWcAxG3op-FYJ0PTKFKeKaeuGRt-pXG2szTu1w42Ru-y2E9rJFOAGZnRA6QeyNAH9mmlujixqRujpNJw5OAMXj8M/s1600/20150723Kefir.jpg" /></a>Water kefir in bottled water with molasses, water kefir in tap water with date syrup, and milk kefir</div>
<p>I've been drinking milk kefir for a while now, but I decided to see what water kefir tasted like. Well it turns out I'm not a big fan. To be honest I probably wouldn't be a big fan of milk kefir all by itself, but I drink it in a morning fruit smoothie, and it really tastes good like that. But the water kefir tasted too much like vinegar to me. And too sweet. You would think tart and sweet would be good together, but to me the flavors just didn't work. So I've abandoned that.
<p>I did learn something interesting from it though. I tried fermenting the middle jar with tap water. I knew filtered water wouldn't work as there aren't enough minerals in it to keep the bacteria alive. Some people say tap water doesn't work well because of the chlorine in the water. If it were just chlorine I could leave it on the counter to evaporate for 24 hours. But our water system uses chloramine which does not evaporate. The kefir made with bottled spring water worked just fine and smelled decent. The one made with the tap water smelled vile, like it was rotting. Ewwwww! I tried to revive it for a week by using good spring water on it and it never recovered. The symbiotic culture was damaged.
<p>All I could think was if it was so obviously bad for the culture on my counter top, what in the world was it doing to my gut bacteria. I'd been drinking filtered water since my doctor told me to last fall, but I was still cooking with regular tap water. If I had chlorine in my tap water it would be fine as it would evaporate as I cooked and I'd be fine, but not with my tap water. So now I'm using filtered water for most of my cooking too.
<p>All this and so much more leads me to be amazed at the irony of our current state of how we keep ourselves healthy. We poison our water so we won't get sick. We kill our parasites to keep us healthy, even though they are being found to help regulate our immune system especially as infants and in utero. We throw antibiotics at diseases to keep us healthy, and they kill off our precious gut bacteria. So instead of the chance of dying quickly from an infection, instead we die slowly from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and auto immune diseases. Yesterday I was reading an <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150806112101.htm">article </a>that was saying they discovered a bacteria that prevents us from getting type 1 diabetes. And this article is hardly unique. We are finding that our bacterial health is our health. Our physical health and even our mental health. Jeff Leach of the <a href="http://americangut.org/">American Gut Project</a> thinks that eating fermented foods isn't the trick to improving our gut, but eating a more varied source of food for our microbiome. And lots of it. Thank goodness I have a garden to eat from. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-49286951240702666622015-08-06T15:37:00.000-04:002015-08-06T15:37:55.925-04:00Onions and Shallots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNkn4Z-p-11psd0D9n3a0916HyNgEDPF65gwT4cTZzimU-0XMlFl5P_fiCu7m-MgqZbyjUuOH8HN_ty5d2InE0tfVmHsKMnDYdDRWq4K7Dc53-nIVorcy_HixW2mPRLKjnEiwS-RUzCc/s1600/20150806Dry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNkn4Z-p-11psd0D9n3a0916HyNgEDPF65gwT4cTZzimU-0XMlFl5P_fiCu7m-MgqZbyjUuOH8HN_ty5d2InE0tfVmHsKMnDYdDRWq4K7Dc53-nIVorcy_HixW2mPRLKjnEiwS-RUzCc/s1600/20150806Dry.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Two weeks ago I put my onions on their storage rack to dry. A couple days ago we had a huge storm with driving rain, hail, and wind. It drove the water right in to the side. Some of the onions got wet which isn't good. Luckily now it is pretty dry. The humidity broke. The onions seem mostly dry. I sorted through them. It is really humid here and I don't have a good dry place to cure them. Some of the onions molded. So I tossed those. I also found that the red shallots had some that had split and some that didn't. The ones that split had trouble drying between the bulbs. So I broke them open to let them dry better. I'll use them up first.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHSxRZbF1tHOv1q_GAAoPHxXLUf3Fup9wzJUBX01qj4vguvwkMEZ8FOxlKSeJaNpY5t1xYoccmUztrtOltlU3DpbtnJtMoKkyGxUXwMhTycQtZk24OcRHfyJtDiBIRxReKZL5E_P2Ux0/s1600/20150806Braid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHSxRZbF1tHOv1q_GAAoPHxXLUf3Fup9wzJUBX01qj4vguvwkMEZ8FOxlKSeJaNpY5t1xYoccmUztrtOltlU3DpbtnJtMoKkyGxUXwMhTycQtZk24OcRHfyJtDiBIRxReKZL5E_P2Ux0/s1600/20150806Braid.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Every year I braid them to hang them in my basement to store. I like the braids as they are pretty. I'm not sure if they are the best way to store them though. We have a lot of mold and diseases here and one onion touching another is probably a bad thing. Usually even long storing onions won't store past January here.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEina2OedM_9PM7pN8uSRv2dpuqNWRbpXN5fyh7bZejnQGnwhMRfz5HMUnG9EYS5Rlevc4t1FlhhsiyOQVqGQW7PDrJw0PJk_wOzfkgrKOoNYoyY8r8dUG9oaM0bo28pIjEn46uHPIdRg7I/s1600/20150806Braids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEina2OedM_9PM7pN8uSRv2dpuqNWRbpXN5fyh7bZejnQGnwhMRfz5HMUnG9EYS5Rlevc4t1FlhhsiyOQVqGQW7PDrJw0PJk_wOzfkgrKOoNYoyY8r8dUG9oaM0bo28pIjEn46uHPIdRg7I/s1600/20150806Braids.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>This is the harvest from the first onions that were ready to be cured. The next set have just started falling in that last storm. My subjective thought on the harvest was that it wasn't all that good. But it is hard to say until all the onions are harvested and weighed. Last year I used a 6" spacing and this year mostly a 5" spacing. I also had a small spot where I had 4", 5", and 6" spacings of the same onion to test to see how big they would get. The 5" and 6" were about the same, but the 4" spacing had really tiny onions. So 5" looks like a good choice for me from now on. But am I wrong? Are the onions smaller because of the spacing? Will I get a better total weight even though I have small onions? Once the last set are pulled I'll know.
<p>Then again it could be the starts I used. I tried Dixondale for the first time. I found that their starts were in general smaller than mine (some much smaller)and they took a while to break dormancy, while mine were growing right away. The smaller bulbs could be because of that. Or the weather. I really should control my experiments better. But regardless I think next year I'll grow my own starts and I'll use a 5" spacing. For me that seems to work best. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-33429836355026150462015-08-05T13:49:00.000-04:002015-08-05T13:49:42.932-04:00Turnips<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bfG5wuuIPTPpl3OhirNLo68fKz02aPl3T5eVZM2D2Vha3PATRTW-0UmCYgROhDaYr0aVoUrGY4Y1zRwYoe-0P2u5bbAKGWFkvW6a412TzzzUwAAJVc0Hp1Zsknsr3B92m9iTxljuXvE/s1600/20150805Empty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bfG5wuuIPTPpl3OhirNLo68fKz02aPl3T5eVZM2D2Vha3PATRTW-0UmCYgROhDaYr0aVoUrGY4Y1zRwYoe-0P2u5bbAKGWFkvW6a412TzzzUwAAJVc0Hp1Zsknsr3B92m9iTxljuXvE/s1600/20150805Empty.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>This bed has been empty for far too long. I should have planted out the turnips about a week ago. Things don't grow very quickly in the fall as there is too much shade. So I have to start them earlier to get them to size up well first. Then they can grow slowly.
<p>Last year this rotation got mustard seed. I still have plenty of mustard seed left, so I figured I'd grow something else in the same family. My summer attempt to grow turnips failed miserably because of the flea beetle explosion. I've picked some, but not all that many.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYNnPdp-goGwQUF6HVWPNLDckcXsVawuCziANW7D5O8mdDsjXvXQzN9WIHvZECnuvcPXcnP6bSoXiGNrWvZPHnL8_9nTKlW3fllSHi-kLQ0kQiymZxcmGPu8RyyhYDME-YFJ9Vd4iuDY/s1600/20150805Agribon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYNnPdp-goGwQUF6HVWPNLDckcXsVawuCziANW7D5O8mdDsjXvXQzN9WIHvZECnuvcPXcnP6bSoXiGNrWvZPHnL8_9nTKlW3fllSHi-kLQ0kQiymZxcmGPu8RyyhYDME-YFJ9Vd4iuDY/s1600/20150805Agribon.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>So this planting I've covered with Agribon as a row cover. The fleece cloth does a much better job of keeping small insects out than my netting. I hope it works. Agribon is my least favorite row cover. Water tends to bead up and not go through the cloth. It looks ugly. And this is a light version, so it is very fragile. Really there is nothing to recommend it except that it can keep flea beetles out better than any of the others I have.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcc9r1KtQDsxGQDlKOGJXP_U1P9XKLnADjYrkJArxIjx2pRwk61AMnacqEQHhNPUml8r0YOnxYkXthVNcHDsAaZUEf089G0tZuz_X3NNPpQqSvLHFjMFz8AcnwSktESNJ5ki3m_lvNUc/s1600/20150805Rowcovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcc9r1KtQDsxGQDlKOGJXP_U1P9XKLnADjYrkJArxIjx2pRwk61AMnacqEQHhNPUml8r0YOnxYkXthVNcHDsAaZUEf089G0tZuz_X3NNPpQqSvLHFjMFz8AcnwSktESNJ5ki3m_lvNUc/s1600/20150805Rowcovers.jpg" /></a>Three row covers: netting, Agribon, GrowCover</div>
<p>My favorite row cover is plain netting that you buy in a fabric store. It does have a flaw. It is very fragile. So you have to treat it with care and occasionally repair it. I buy it in brown. After a couple of weeks in the sun it fades to green. I laugh at that as when I put it on it goes over the brown soil. In a couple of weeks the green plants are up and like a chameleon it turns green too. I like it as it is the prettiest in the garden and the most see through. The garden feeds my soul as much as my body, but it can't do that if I can't see my plants. A bunch of white tents really doesn't put a smile on my face like the sight of green leaves. But flea beetles have no trouble getting in to a netting row cover. The holes really are fairly large.
<p>I pretty much can't see anything through Agribon, but hopefully my turnips will grow. I'll have to keep peeking under to check. And I'll give the bed extra water for when it doesn't soak in well. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-31111224945313830322015-08-03T08:00:00.000-04:002015-08-10T07:46:35.140-04:00Harvest Monday, 3 August 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhL8WhkvtoWakxbrfESjs9DbbJmezzkJf0l-BNZde_HQTTJgSA5LKT7ojyAujVaZlRUk0rqV-_rbuqfjKSpFOp1sQOcYv0EQcDSNkoaEWO6ofuhMkKYx7VJccQY-askh41KaATdzRe9Q/s1600/20150801Firstcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhL8WhkvtoWakxbrfESjs9DbbJmezzkJf0l-BNZde_HQTTJgSA5LKT7ojyAujVaZlRUk0rqV-_rbuqfjKSpFOp1sQOcYv0EQcDSNkoaEWO6ofuhMkKYx7VJccQY-askh41KaATdzRe9Q/s1600/20150801Firstcorn.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Whoohoo! The first corn. In August we will be inundated with it. At least I hope.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaucGzD1x_ZfMMJ3yO1YvruMCxLUlYIDJCdr0t5UYz2XiRyq9PKDqB9-1oQtxeSodYyeSKcfSiT79a95KoKxRIxoO2alte8javWtP_KMsItRIKlp0m_nMJIxI2jiSsN4Tyvco6T6qPEI/s1600/20150731Garlic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaucGzD1x_ZfMMJ3yO1YvruMCxLUlYIDJCdr0t5UYz2XiRyq9PKDqB9-1oQtxeSodYyeSKcfSiT79a95KoKxRIxoO2alte8javWtP_KMsItRIKlp0m_nMJIxI2jiSsN4Tyvco6T6qPEI/s1600/20150731Garlic.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The big harvest this week was the garlic. It was picked earlier, but I don't put it on the harvest records until it is cured and dry.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqYwVB7fvKJ-XYHzxOVFgHiAA4zmbcpc71LbWlPcwtFe2EQivV9uBlUurmlXaID2NdMfHMbyh1aafOoYFQcwtD_T0Pd36BR6CdN1TJ6Bbl4Dj_h8VavDv2agR_g0wxlQNdWVqqXtOjjk/s1600/20150730Onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqYwVB7fvKJ-XYHzxOVFgHiAA4zmbcpc71LbWlPcwtFe2EQivV9uBlUurmlXaID2NdMfHMbyh1aafOoYFQcwtD_T0Pd36BR6CdN1TJ6Bbl4Dj_h8VavDv2agR_g0wxlQNdWVqqXtOjjk/s1600/20150730Onions.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I've been eating the sweet onions at the rate of about a pound per week. I need to start eating them faster. They won't store well, so it is use it or lose it.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisiTa7e_1OTMT0ZMyKd5Syob-ze-nOlXi8o_p639OgdMi0BIUY7B4Jn7gI_p5Zx2f83mGUNwZgnKae-4__11SaSdUNxYeFJKsWSJM1MPJXAwO3_ROO3s5P4QoJ33g0LEQSE1LuPxpw8JU/s1600/20150801Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisiTa7e_1OTMT0ZMyKd5Syob-ze-nOlXi8o_p639OgdMi0BIUY7B4Jn7gI_p5Zx2f83mGUNwZgnKae-4__11SaSdUNxYeFJKsWSJM1MPJXAwO3_ROO3s5P4QoJ33g0LEQSE1LuPxpw8JU/s1600/20150801Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jk_dzTOkhyZMk_02Yj6RPRP_J7ZXEa1DsWPkQqgC4CzZbT8daODxWowg1AoKIk9WQM_ghdtRdYtS7S34YwVGivS1L74ghn86JsllR7JHmbhBl0ZtX3Na1T7PgF-bcr_zG_r4zVLOrzE/s1600/20150727Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jk_dzTOkhyZMk_02Yj6RPRP_J7ZXEa1DsWPkQqgC4CzZbT8daODxWowg1AoKIk9WQM_ghdtRdYtS7S34YwVGivS1L74ghn86JsllR7JHmbhBl0ZtX3Na1T7PgF-bcr_zG_r4zVLOrzE/s1600/20150727Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tt3dRoSyDoTdCcUkGYUyfFx8-VMDx2-w9HgsuPxKMnvPo_soSiZu6d5pWzvEck7RNA4BbUw76cdqMgNt8GpOu-FhmxTGtjsBdx9wsHlQ4Y9NnGcdhQ8mIBctPxEdpx8wShrN1pktPqY/s1600/20150729Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tt3dRoSyDoTdCcUkGYUyfFx8-VMDx2-w9HgsuPxKMnvPo_soSiZu6d5pWzvEck7RNA4BbUw76cdqMgNt8GpOu-FhmxTGtjsBdx9wsHlQ4Y9NnGcdhQ8mIBctPxEdpx8wShrN1pktPqY/s1600/20150729Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTr1yp3z_3dhEfJT2x6I60QEO59Wn8e6m3hvO-r7WeawbhMjd-sY3Lz-wnxKbN2cibm_HE9HG63tDMeqQWjsxa-rXtYDLxOdo3y1Xalwr_t1vhDoSZbVzGGqvodt9wIteK3oUyAhxgec/s1600/20150731Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTr1yp3z_3dhEfJT2x6I60QEO59Wn8e6m3hvO-r7WeawbhMjd-sY3Lz-wnxKbN2cibm_HE9HG63tDMeqQWjsxa-rXtYDLxOdo3y1Xalwr_t1vhDoSZbVzGGqvodt9wIteK3oUyAhxgec/s1600/20150731Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_juaHt2jZIjDo4RMBJpgBwFtjpOENnQHSqtNJJll-zkFKxMtW7EQ2SjEmZJAdyUQ7l_MG7zCO9hSW3hQGs6V_L9ifalZrAgj-c-OJd0xb_iizpFaBwJYRkUhvz4Io1SZojHvq9ZfRYaM/s1600/20150802Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_juaHt2jZIjDo4RMBJpgBwFtjpOENnQHSqtNJJll-zkFKxMtW7EQ2SjEmZJAdyUQ7l_MG7zCO9hSW3hQGs6V_L9ifalZrAgj-c-OJd0xb_iizpFaBwJYRkUhvz4Io1SZojHvq9ZfRYaM/s1600/20150802Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<P>A lot of my harvest baskets look alike nowadays. Cukes, zukes, and beans. My zucchini is giving me constant zucchinis, but they are small, so the poundage isn't much. The cucumbers on the other hand gave me six and a half pounds. Last year I grew 8 sqft of space in cuke and I got 60 pounds of them. I certainly didn't need that many, so cut the space in half. So far so good. I don't feel overwhelmed by them this year. I do however wish for a year that I'm overwhelmed by zucchini. I never have been. So far I'm not this year either.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAsBjkRkTILdLLZP0M_09O9EblAc2OUQbUS2qDVIwFHfuzeZOEZ2D8MAMbdELI-Kb8z2gatYSm5aj7HIYoEZXSUfcECsglSvqioBUjR0BJUF9lLevhjdvlRpGYc31CYUMLNpK1gIxzIg/s1600/20150727Broccoli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAsBjkRkTILdLLZP0M_09O9EblAc2OUQbUS2qDVIwFHfuzeZOEZ2D8MAMbdELI-Kb8z2gatYSm5aj7HIYoEZXSUfcECsglSvqioBUjR0BJUF9lLevhjdvlRpGYc31CYUMLNpK1gIxzIg/s1600/20150727Broccoli.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I got some nice broccoli side shoots. I have some more that I'll pick today. If I can just keep the aphids down enough so they don't get into the heads life will be great. I love broccoli.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nzRst7iOcl1-SuQGtmLFbS_QR74UoIWx3HFsN_2xKYiDzQIntvwUlibRXGx8SvACswZsoUcFiCXlKlEqVh90JyBZeAX6AQKb5imsl8ql_GigeeXRoMAYGyRsCqpu5Mta0wRkWMLqNRw/s1600/20150802Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nzRst7iOcl1-SuQGtmLFbS_QR74UoIWx3HFsN_2xKYiDzQIntvwUlibRXGx8SvACswZsoUcFiCXlKlEqVh90JyBZeAX6AQKb5imsl8ql_GigeeXRoMAYGyRsCqpu5Mta0wRkWMLqNRw/s1600/20150802Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I picked the chard once this week. I'm glad I like it since it is such a workhorse. Though I do see one of them starting to bolt. It is my own fault too. The earwigs are a real pest of the chard here. They will ruin it if I let too many survive. So I chase them down. I have a knife that I'm harvesting with and try to slice it through the soil. Slicing off a plant's roots will get it to bolt every time. I have to stop my instinct to do that or they will all end up bolting.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimo7eMltvvRbCeG-VAISDt-JNqHwk0cDBs86EiO3rgNhWzxlK9567XuBUouc9bCCPtXvZsQm0c1NK9vDxmuHSnMhYJflpF8sdWWGw4Ho6l-CmtZKzJ51zfb74J6xhilf893SC3hwmuK8/s1600/20150730Coriander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimo7eMltvvRbCeG-VAISDt-JNqHwk0cDBs86EiO3rgNhWzxlK9567XuBUouc9bCCPtXvZsQm0c1NK9vDxmuHSnMhYJflpF8sdWWGw4Ho6l-CmtZKzJ51zfb74J6xhilf893SC3hwmuK8/s1600/20150730Coriander.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I picked some more green coriander to make some chicken. I loved it, but my husband thought it was just OK. I don't think he liked the texture. I didn't use it all up, so I got to dry more.
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 8.64 lbs</li>
<li>Beans, 1.38 lbs</li>
<li>Broccoli, 2.11 lbs</li>
<li>Corn, 0.63 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 6.64 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 1.56 lbs</li>
<li>Herbs, 0.32 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 1.62 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 22.88</li>
<li>Yearly total, 271.28 lbs, $952.29</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=03Aug2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-8659625605503346082015-08-02T12:39:00.000-04:002015-08-02T12:39:22.483-04:00Garden Share Collective - August 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgseDprJtgpTC-HSAiG5u4wN010AaBORrrpKlb6wuQhBJyZEoGE1bSD9F0fjG4045KyywCy-mKm86w0jTUunCVF0jJQaJ2cidUx1q7YVK3jwnWAH9P1nvVElATTN3AX4ut2vrT1KwDeJJM/s1600/20150802Overview1to3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgseDprJtgpTC-HSAiG5u4wN010AaBORrrpKlb6wuQhBJyZEoGE1bSD9F0fjG4045KyywCy-mKm86w0jTUunCVF0jJQaJ2cidUx1q7YVK3jwnWAH9P1nvVElATTN3AX4ut2vrT1KwDeJJM/s1600/20150802Overview1to3.jpg" /></a>Beds 1 to 3</div>
<p>We are in the depths of summer. July has seen a transition from spring crops to the summer crops. The fall crops have just been seeded as you can see in Bed 1 where the carrots are about 2" tall. In Beds 2 and 3 I have my two sisters beds and the squash is really trying to take over the world. It is hard to walk down my narrow and now almost nonexistent paths. Every day I have to go down them and tuck the squash back in their beds under the corn. The corn has just started to produce, and the butternuts, but not the Upper Ground Sweet Potato squash or the Thai Rai Kaw Tok, have set their first fruits. I do see little female buds on the UGSPS so those ought to set soon. And they had better give me a lot of fruit as that plant is a real pain in my behind. The leaves are shading the corn way too much and they can climb up the stalks with ease. Keeping it under control is impossible. The other two are pretty vigorous vines, but as not bad.
<P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBZ0-_Czmp-GnKpVpbi7cK91WznMr7dvpX9pomlobbWnrh_l00du8sd_A-uj4PjUbxpZpZsVm9X-_-Z750Rl1NWFiUNUheTTLhnQt0YWzEV0LeffbOl3rTOUKO67V5lcyCon4rCvO7uk/s1600/20150802Overview3to8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBZ0-_Czmp-GnKpVpbi7cK91WznMr7dvpX9pomlobbWnrh_l00du8sd_A-uj4PjUbxpZpZsVm9X-_-Z750Rl1NWFiUNUheTTLhnQt0YWzEV0LeffbOl3rTOUKO67V5lcyCon4rCvO7uk/s1600/20150802Overview3to8.jpg" /></a>Beds 3 to 8</div>
<P>The rest of the garden is growing well, but it is the typical fight with the aphids on the brassicas. If I spray them with soap every week they stay under control, but you have to coat every single surface for that to work. And there are a lot of leaves on the broccoli and Brussels sprouts. The wilt has started in cucumbers, but hopefully it won't be too fast of a spread. There aren't a lot of cucumber beetles this year so I might get lucky. Powdery mildew has been spotted in the neighborhood, so it is only a matter of time before it hits the garden. And the flea beetles are keeping my turnips from growing well. I'm going to try again where the onions were. I'm thinking I might have to buy some yellow sticky traps, which I've never used before.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncikCGYJnyiw6uksr4ZSz27YyQnZbmOALXKOMItxDjL8tHzWU-zm168q7hB4QRjgau2FpnUIoXlLfwzpljRPAfr2Fu7JJLIAjGGlDMng7InRmH5Dl4tKduS4upvIY33C4KoYhIa7NSmM/s1600/20150802OverviewCircle1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncikCGYJnyiw6uksr4ZSz27YyQnZbmOALXKOMItxDjL8tHzWU-zm168q7hB4QRjgau2FpnUIoXlLfwzpljRPAfr2Fu7JJLIAjGGlDMng7InRmH5Dl4tKduS4upvIY33C4KoYhIa7NSmM/s1600/20150802OverviewCircle1.jpg" /></a>Circle Garden</div>
<P>The hot part of the garden is the circle garden. I plant my melons and sweet potatoes there. They seem to be doing well. I was worried about the melons as the slugs took a lot of them down early on and I had to resow in mid June. They have recovered from the late start. I see multiple little melons on the ones that didn't get eaten. Hopefully the others will start to set soon. I'm hoping for melons and corn when my mother and MIL visit on August 24th. So far it is looking good.
<p>Behind the circle garden is my compost area. I've got the earlier of my storage onions and shallots curing there under the tarp. They will be done soon and more room will be available for the later storage onions.
<p>
<h3>July Completed</h3>
<ul>
<li>Watered the garden three times</li>
<li>July 4th planted lettuce</li>
<li>July 7th pruned gooseberries</li>
<li>July 8th planted fresh eating carrots 8E, planted turnips 4W, pruned raspberries</li>
<li>July 10th planted storage carrots 1E</li>
<li>July 11th pruned currants</li>
<li>July 13th sprayed Brussels sprouts</li>
<li>July 14th planted fall brassicas and turnips 4E</li>
<li>July 26th reseeded bare spots in carrot bed, sowed lettuce outside in nursery bed</li>
<li>July 27th sprayed broccoli</li>
<li>July 29th sprayed Brussels sprouts</li>
<li>Almost everyday - keep the squash, melons, and sweet potatoes in their beds</li>
<li>Often enough - weed</li>
</ul>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDZBk0_-hDFL8E7iyMIsjw4Xlfdjh0jz13PPaeKVdsIC5ZYhOXWa1AAnGtNSI_itFydMxSADenK0QvgkpRo6gh7VgqajniIou_aCVJbRADaAu8EghCWf_IBhx67eQv6MDev2VoikcXjk/s1600/20150710Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDZBk0_-hDFL8E7iyMIsjw4Xlfdjh0jz13PPaeKVdsIC5ZYhOXWa1AAnGtNSI_itFydMxSADenK0QvgkpRo6gh7VgqajniIou_aCVJbRADaAu8EghCWf_IBhx67eQv6MDev2VoikcXjk/s1600/20150710Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
<h3>Harvests</h3>
<p>I harvested the following in July: sweet onions, bunching onions, garlic, beans, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, celery, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, turnips, zucchini. Of note were the carrots, of which I harvested about 20 pounds. They have taken over one vegetable drawer in my fridge and will keep me in carrots until the fall carrots start to produce. Also the yearly garlic harvest was picked at the beginning of July and cured and is now stored in the basement. It is a long storage variety (German Extra Hardy) and will stay good and last until next year's harvest is ready.
<p>Herbs that were picked in July: basil, chives, cilantro, coriander, dill, fennel, majoram, mint, parsley, rosemary, and sage. Some of these were larger harvests to dry for the winter.
<p>All in all the harvests went from greens in early July to the cucurbits at the end of July. The lettuce has petered out and is mostly bolting, though I keep planting more. I'm on my last cabbage and will really miss it when it is gone. I eat cucumbers and zucchini every day. The cucumbers are almost always made into a cucumber salad which I love. I've used some to try to ferment pickles, but so far no luck. As long as I get an excess of cucumbers I'll keep trying, but the daily eating comes first.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWBnKyqiBFoM0ykAwo1iOan8Pfz0zjVB_fg1v8dnX0rsFl3FS72xtk10W1viSNvmiI_g-ySYd3HiLgpDPBtVJifpHRsad_vZG0TyFatyunuRkV8WNNpRkRKes8BTM7O7sa-0gF-mUHGw/s1600/20150730Plumsauce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWBnKyqiBFoM0ykAwo1iOan8Pfz0zjVB_fg1v8dnX0rsFl3FS72xtk10W1viSNvmiI_g-ySYd3HiLgpDPBtVJifpHRsad_vZG0TyFatyunuRkV8WNNpRkRKes8BTM7O7sa-0gF-mUHGw/s1600/20150730Plumsauce.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3>Preserving</h3>
<p>
Some varied preserving was done in July. I froze more kale when the plants were ripped up. I also made some gooseberry jam and some plum sauce. The jam was made from my gooseberries, but though I have two plum trees in the yard, neither of them are old enough to produce anything. So I buy them from the farmers market to make it. I cured my garlic and it is now stored in the basement. And I dried some herbs.
<h4>Tally of what is in storage from the garden:</h4>
<h4>Frozen</h4>
<ul>
<li>Brococli - 13.5 cups</li>
<li>Chard - 14 cups</li>
<li>Mizuna - 23 cups</li>
<li>Kale - 36 cups</li>
<li>Spinach - 60 cups</li>
<li>Chinese cabbage - 4 cups</li>
<li>Turnips - 5 cups</li>
</ul>
<h4>Canned</h4>
<ul>
<li>Gooseberry jam 6 cups</li>
<li>Plum Sauce 6 cups</li>
</ul>
<h4>Basement</h4>
<ul>
<li>Garlic - 7.5 pounds </li>
</ul>
<h3>August To Do</h3>
<ul>
<li>Control the squash </li>
<li>Plant fall turnips</li>
<li>Keep seeding lettuce </li>
<li>Spray brassicas every week for aphids </li>
<li>Weed</li>
<li>Harvest and cure remaining onions </li>
<li>Transplant kale</li>
</ul>
<br />
<hr />
<br /><p>This post is part of the <a href="http://www.strayedtable.com/">Garden Share Collective hosted by Lizzie</a> at Strayed From the Table.</p>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strayedtable.com/grow/garden-share/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: center; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_AOYUtStPH3EOUDSWWETBcW6EdAl6wrwT4zqBs0gW4lNLzSwJVeuLSp5DuL-B8-77_zTfTT5akuh2iTI9eV1wgEiig-4qMlUkqjagyKZHqVniuhasJaYhyphenhyphengstVLiQ3pFF1VPoO0O2xE/s1600/unnamed.jpg" /></a></div>
Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-46793759808732121632015-07-31T15:09:00.000-04:002015-07-31T15:09:06.343-04:00Garlic<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtepL2cAKe8ww0H5VaKDuurOdqp6aXVilTV3egvjQtLx685jGXaZ8-2nVpsAoddarpYooJtUahXlJJqgamwE-IMZlIcYm_H3MOXp5TnwwvoQ8f5UunpP7LHxCVAuNkCDCcMFbwrcz9Ls4/s1600/20150731Cleaning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtepL2cAKe8ww0H5VaKDuurOdqp6aXVilTV3egvjQtLx685jGXaZ8-2nVpsAoddarpYooJtUahXlJJqgamwE-IMZlIcYm_H3MOXp5TnwwvoQ8f5UunpP7LHxCVAuNkCDCcMFbwrcz9Ls4/s1600/20150731Cleaning.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>My garlic had been drying in our bike shed for three weeks. The occasional dirt shower had to be endured as we got our bikes out to use. All the appropriate vampire jokes were told. But it was time to cut the garlic down and finally clean it up and put it in storage. Going down to my basement when I run out of garlic is so much easier than running to the bike shed.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DWkbTW-_LsHk1BvLEwX3kcNk17WtDq41KK1TnkFELCipjTmJep-ScMwTeGeXXVu9DLW0gm1xGRgw5B_Mse4R3ohd482iSC9Nhgn0xaF6LZt_6z5wkeC_YGIOHjYwab9wGUBJlUO7iDY/s1600/20150731Bigandsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DWkbTW-_LsHk1BvLEwX3kcNk17WtDq41KK1TnkFELCipjTmJep-ScMwTeGeXXVu9DLW0gm1xGRgw5B_Mse4R3ohd482iSC9Nhgn0xaF6LZt_6z5wkeC_YGIOHjYwab9wGUBJlUO7iDY/s1600/20150731Bigandsmall.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The yield wasn't spectacular. Out of the five years I have had this garden, it ranks fourth in production. I did get some nice bulbs, but I also got a lot of small bulbs. Above is the range from big to small. The big was 2.6 oz and the small was 1 oz. While it isn't a huge yield, it is more than enough for me. And to share. I dumped about six bulbs on my townhouse mates' counter. I'm sure they will eat a lot more of it over time. I grow way more than I can eat. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-56879084127544844802015-07-29T15:42:00.000-04:002015-07-29T15:42:14.587-04:00Sprouts, Cucumbers, and Lettuce<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AyAcJj5VGAGqU92t3JRZduuhljgTuPsFgwnmdgLCJVZsTHq3ocuOdbJeiacIIcRVz6qCiy3-JLuxTnErBEWlfaVUCWU4Kxgy4qUqrir1T434Me87RpZzNLx_WVRkqQBC-T6Hkb5BrC0/s1600/20150729Sprouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AyAcJj5VGAGqU92t3JRZduuhljgTuPsFgwnmdgLCJVZsTHq3ocuOdbJeiacIIcRVz6qCiy3-JLuxTnErBEWlfaVUCWU4Kxgy4qUqrir1T434Me87RpZzNLx_WVRkqQBC-T6Hkb5BrC0/s1600/20150729Sprouts.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I finally got around to spraying the Brussels sprouts with soap again. The broccoli needed spraying too. The aphids are taking over slowly. I find soap works OK if you cover every tiny part of the plant and spray regularly. I probably ought to look up how long it takes for eggs to hatch and aphids to reproduce to make sure I'm not getting multiple generations not being sprayed, but I've never done that. I try to spray once a week, but in reality it tends to be more like every two which isn't enough to keep them down.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlSzg5iSZ5PYVUkuVnfSEPHEXi7NUa9-Qnk5j1T8wlEaSx-kr26u0qU8wK0rD1pD5wF_z3qqilnreA0NBK-Rm_K7ea5x3HNkKaU5zeChp_j5DImc0gyi6wEnjsyg8lqnynTAI6e-PmHw/s1600/20150729Littlesprouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlSzg5iSZ5PYVUkuVnfSEPHEXi7NUa9-Qnk5j1T8wlEaSx-kr26u0qU8wK0rD1pD5wF_z3qqilnreA0NBK-Rm_K7ea5x3HNkKaU5zeChp_j5DImc0gyi6wEnjsyg8lqnynTAI6e-PmHw/s1600/20150729Littlesprouts.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>But as long as my little Brussels sprouts stay aphid free I'll be happy. It sure does seem like a lot of work though. Especially this week. We are getting a heat wave that is lasting over a week. I'm a true heat wimp. I've been known to faint in the heat. Needless to say, I do all my work in the early morning during weeks like this.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLXYD9GyBIFmzWJ5bplZpNZ9kx4ab0c8C8N6_M8T-5Ca8TIpo_QUPY4EVy9TGC9mK0cVEyo70jMSkzE-9WLh0iFPWoqpUnO3TE68S5L_ErD7KCGq_X42XkpH0TTaJG3dA8Iejr4k_gf0/s1600/20150729Wilt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLXYD9GyBIFmzWJ5bplZpNZ9kx4ab0c8C8N6_M8T-5Ca8TIpo_QUPY4EVy9TGC9mK0cVEyo70jMSkzE-9WLh0iFPWoqpUnO3TE68S5L_ErD7KCGq_X42XkpH0TTaJG3dA8Iejr4k_gf0/s1600/20150729Wilt.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Other bad news is that I saw my first wilted leaf. I never got wilt in the cucumbers at my last house. We had cucumber beetles, but they didn't seem to spread it. Here we get it ever year like clockwork. I've learned to use a row cover early and only let them out after they have started to run. It delays the inevitable. It is too bad the wilt has started as I'm trying to learn how to make fermented dills and I could use more cukes for experimenting. But it will take it a while for the wilt to take them down. Probably weeks. The bacteria starts with one leaf and it travels very slowly up and down the stem and the leaves die one by one. Hopefully it will be a while still before it gets transferred to all the other cukes. I'm trying Lemon cucumbers for the first time and they haven't even set any cukes yet.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZEg0nG3qBKq-dESZ07T5t_Ty4dltpfM0n0b6G9SckpSP0lnpJ5-2izHYx2uZtutF_xmTNkcbbZebt3hJABkNhUAI7QMQLb2NAabYLL5524JY9OnR75XUeLl4lvYaOCnc2LYNq_RUl60/s1600/20150729Lettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZEg0nG3qBKq-dESZ07T5t_Ty4dltpfM0n0b6G9SckpSP0lnpJ5-2izHYx2uZtutF_xmTNkcbbZebt3hJABkNhUAI7QMQLb2NAabYLL5524JY9OnR75XUeLl4lvYaOCnc2LYNq_RUl60/s1600/20150729Lettuce.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>But there isn't all bad news in the garden. I sowed some lettuce last weekend. It is up even with the heat. I'm using this as a little nursery row. I'll transplant them to better spacing when they get bigger - and all the other lettuce has bolted. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-51150422421387517522015-07-27T07:17:00.001-04:002015-07-27T07:17:51.574-04:00Harvest Monday, 27 July 2015<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoganxx34u14RF715UN8qBkRhYe8tJybT3AfCmfdkLUmEYFACnePfRZY2LMAF0yn4SuGySB89Q8-C4_rbY3xmtm3ArfeNJU5gNXS5f1EJGKvvVa_e48L31NMuKhwg_RDE2gP3SSEgokk/s1600/20150720Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoganxx34u14RF715UN8qBkRhYe8tJybT3AfCmfdkLUmEYFACnePfRZY2LMAF0yn4SuGySB89Q8-C4_rbY3xmtm3ArfeNJU5gNXS5f1EJGKvvVa_e48L31NMuKhwg_RDE2gP3SSEgokk/s1600/20150720Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCHlBKFbwEZrBepqsDPVkuJ7Rbt7hP1kFWAHkn6Pk4WVtx0ysNzxEdIeJDpnMX-rNU32dTJBABbjdok5tORl0AAAOVQu20P3yCgaU1LwgumBNT-wPHn9o4TCS5xV5wJVShzd1M0KG4wc/s1600/20150721Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCHlBKFbwEZrBepqsDPVkuJ7Rbt7hP1kFWAHkn6Pk4WVtx0ysNzxEdIeJDpnMX-rNU32dTJBABbjdok5tORl0AAAOVQu20P3yCgaU1LwgumBNT-wPHn9o4TCS5xV5wJVShzd1M0KG4wc/s1600/20150721Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>This week I had a much lighter harvest than normal. This is pretty typical in the transition from spring to summer for me. If I could actually eat all foods, I'd be harvesting things like tomatoes and peppers and legumes. I can't even touch a tomato plant as I get sick from that. At least the legumes I can grow for my townhouse mates. I don't grow much mind you, but I have a soft spot in my heart for beans. I've always loved them. And since I've never seen a bean beetle in my life, they have been easy to grow. Well at least until the rust takes them down.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_J3fdNAQqj0xUITRg4dgmtdfk80JakCElZWxP3ypEprnZs9nc0j6Q0x76wE23j3Dm-w-l16akdxnlrlZPMM_W8n0qR1xAe3U0RvxK56qiWKUZsUVMQie-bYEJhLEAp8GrWEGPjOfI7w/s1600/20150721Grapeleaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_J3fdNAQqj0xUITRg4dgmtdfk80JakCElZWxP3ypEprnZs9nc0j6Q0x76wE23j3Dm-w-l16akdxnlrlZPMM_W8n0qR1xAe3U0RvxK56qiWKUZsUVMQie-bYEJhLEAp8GrWEGPjOfI7w/s1600/20150721Grapeleaves.jpg" /></a></div><p>Early summer harvests for me tend to be cucumbers and zucchini. I eat a lot of the cucumbers in cucumber salad, but I also pickle them. Before it was always refrigerator pickles, but this year I'm into fermenting, so I've started making pickles that way. One of the tricks to keep your pickles crisp, is to use something that contains tannins. Often these are grape leaves, which I don't grow here. But luckily for me, grapes grow wild all over. I picked a few from the bike path to make my pickles. These won't go into the tally since I only put things that I grow into that. But it was still a harvest and a very useful one.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd08f3eAu34RlvrMZuksIgST2BM_kICHdLL7frxOcLH7NTpKJ_A10H2_pjwqzI1oHo6sWfLr6PKmoOORJigpdkYosu22qlum29hHf0ojTuTWtgNoYSsj3Kq4pA1rRfchSJ0QK432yu5KA/s1600/20150725Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd08f3eAu34RlvrMZuksIgST2BM_kICHdLL7frxOcLH7NTpKJ_A10H2_pjwqzI1oHo6sWfLr6PKmoOORJigpdkYosu22qlum29hHf0ojTuTWtgNoYSsj3Kq4pA1rRfchSJ0QK432yu5KA/s1600/20150725Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I had a new harvest this week - amaranth. It wasn't big. I just picked the tops off of each plant. Hopefully they will bush out a bit.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvwryV1T8AQK9fWhIoMIclrNBkSJ66RPdw4_vTFHDshfS6SYg_qgfM5cOo2OCQ7hwf13D7AzzdUpuhMQrSDPgTLia4syNC95YkGSxj8j53DxTrrCzK7zQpn43iOdb3m6vTrWamCh6NeA/s1600/20150723Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvwryV1T8AQK9fWhIoMIclrNBkSJ66RPdw4_vTFHDshfS6SYg_qgfM5cOo2OCQ7hwf13D7AzzdUpuhMQrSDPgTLia4syNC95YkGSxj8j53DxTrrCzK7zQpn43iOdb3m6vTrWamCh6NeA/s1600/20150723Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The side shoots have started in the broccoli. Sadly I've noticed a huge infestation of aphids in some parts. I'll have to go out and deal with that today or the shoots will be inedible. I love the first shoots as they tend to be pretty large.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWUa3VMnEsJ-aLwwVrRav3cGZRyJk1q9KZrRy4u7aI6zRDKH69hW5Rwgn3NMynzN2wR3mpGlN4odvVrc3ESSHnR9Hx3cvZBpebplydPQLMoSneh_bS__ygG6XdaN5mc1xLcbF6WO58J4/s1600/20150722Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWUa3VMnEsJ-aLwwVrRav3cGZRyJk1q9KZrRy4u7aI6zRDKH69hW5Rwgn3NMynzN2wR3mpGlN4odvVrc3ESSHnR9Hx3cvZBpebplydPQLMoSneh_bS__ygG6XdaN5mc1xLcbF6WO58J4/s1600/20150722Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ExF1ocnh4xvbjl6nJAA8RjQtqKehXytWi6AghZyHVYYiIPgDo1HCJXgq_N4T6QzV8drmaHRhdMoPKsVumXekZyaezyccvELLlKEZOn8OOu5EEZ6s3scbNYHk2toNJogRyA4C-ohN7WY/s1600/20150725Chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ExF1ocnh4xvbjl6nJAA8RjQtqKehXytWi6AghZyHVYYiIPgDo1HCJXgq_N4T6QzV8drmaHRhdMoPKsVumXekZyaezyccvELLlKEZOn8OOu5EEZ6s3scbNYHk2toNJogRyA4C-ohN7WY/s1600/20150725Chard.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And of course I harvested chard.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgibeaAN7zz8G1V1sZ5DqVa-xXMNvQjO28H_QIhEfuFhRrLP4fXsmPouZdsalNXp8b1XZHs0EIuMf1H9ghMCbTdVF-sHJA-DErIfu4dqLrRjFo52pxjuq1cILU-cPLcVGzrqiYNQzjD35M/s1600/20150724Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgibeaAN7zz8G1V1sZ5DqVa-xXMNvQjO28H_QIhEfuFhRrLP4fXsmPouZdsalNXp8b1XZHs0EIuMf1H9ghMCbTdVF-sHJA-DErIfu4dqLrRjFo52pxjuq1cILU-cPLcVGzrqiYNQzjD35M/s1600/20150724Harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>And some onions.
<ul>
<li>Alliums, 1.56 lbs</li>
<li>Beans, 0.44 lbs</li>
<li>Broccoli, 0.49 lbs</li>
<li>Cucumbers, 2.45 lbs</li>
<li>Greens, 1.83 lbs</li>
<li>Summer Squash, 1.64 lbs</li>
<li>Weekly total, 8.39</li>
<li>Yearly total, 248.40 lbs, $502.37</li>
</ul>
<p><ul>
<li>Fruits</li>
<li>Currants, 1.11 lbs</li>
<li>Fruit Yearly total, 37.51 lbs</li>
</ul>
<p><p>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.
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all" href="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js"></script><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=daphnegould&postid=27Jul2015"></script> Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698134075709295915.post-64785388250595995412015-07-26T15:50:00.000-04:002015-07-26T15:50:21.002-04:00Melons and Dirty Boots<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFyAJf5fVxGZu2VD6nceZ5yhE_P7i-ukwAGv1xbHNpY4OaqOiIpQJccOhHtwKKIVPGL4a0UycmjUANMs_w7_Hmd5tP7baMzplLDY0f6eNkHFfCaPZh-WAfzlI4MhMkv3asSGSa4yDszk/s1600/20150725Melon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFyAJf5fVxGZu2VD6nceZ5yhE_P7i-ukwAGv1xbHNpY4OaqOiIpQJccOhHtwKKIVPGL4a0UycmjUANMs_w7_Hmd5tP7baMzplLDY0f6eNkHFfCaPZh-WAfzlI4MhMkv3asSGSa4yDszk/s1600/20150725Melon.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Yesterday I was dutifully turning the melon vines back into the bed and away from the path and I saw my first melon forming. Whoohoo! So I looked carefully and found a couple more that haves started. This year's melons were a bit late after slugs took down the first sowing. But it looks like I'll get melons after all which makes me happy. Now all I need is hot weather and not too much rain when they are ripening. Last year's melons were the best ever because of the weather. I can always hope for a repeat. But even if they turn out to be just decent melons I'll be pretty happy.
<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjl9NaExbTvCjWV66czIdqz2NoSOGBTy64h_bZ9N-Ng__g3fYlWL-Z__3wxawjw1tZFmUqROuvlPngIrbnqid19m6QJdxAxMda3RMXZpOmAPMOFaiA-GFB345tz_kgyXO8zV7gt9SghQ/s1600/20150726Boots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjl9NaExbTvCjWV66czIdqz2NoSOGBTy64h_bZ9N-Ng__g3fYlWL-Z__3wxawjw1tZFmUqROuvlPngIrbnqid19m6QJdxAxMda3RMXZpOmAPMOFaiA-GFB345tz_kgyXO8zV7gt9SghQ/s1600/20150726Boots.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>My boots have nothing to do with my melons. But I ended up tracking dirt all over my floor as I didn't notice how dirty they were. I was out <a href="http://www.bostonareagleaners.org/">gleaning </a>at Kimball's Farm. I've never gleaned there before but I'm really happy I got to as Kimball's is one of the farms that comes to our farmers market and I buy a lot of apples from them in the fall. They are an IPM farm which I like. For instance they never spray their strawberries after they start blooming, so the pesticides won't end up on the fruit.
<p>The farmer talked out the corn we were going to pick. His farm is just over the border in New Hampshire or at least the part we were on. The University of New Hampshire uses it as a test field for when pests and diseases come up from the south. So he knows exactly how many pests are around. They tell him when to spray and how much. Though he doesn't always follow the recommendations. Right now they are telling him to spray for corn earworms every five days. He knows that if he sprays only once a week instead, he will still have 95% of his crop free of worms. Which he thinks is good enough.
<p>We got to glean in this field because it had been picked twice already. What was left wasn't economically viable to pay someone to pick it. But we gleaners are volunteers, so we were out sweating for our corn. Many of the ears that were left were small but still otherwise perfect. Occasionally we would get a patch that was big lovely ears. The biggest problem with picking was the 6' high ragweed that grew between the rows. We could have used a machete. It was a true jungle in the weeds. Some of the ragweed was taller than the corn and it certainly was thicker. Daphne Gouldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305049560953735881noreply@blogger.com4