Monday, August 5, 2013

Harvest Monday 8.5.13

O...M...G....
 
It's AUGUST Y'all! I can't believe it. Schools about to start again. That means it's time for the garden to start over again, too. The chickens have been having an absolute hayday out in the garden the last week. It's been open almost entirely to them as I'm ready to rototill it. Well. Not quite, but nearly.
 
This weeks harvests? Well - More sweet potatoes...
I only harvest what I need each week and leave the roots and tops to continue to produce throughout the year. I don't take out the plants until deep into winter when I need the warmth of the raised planter they are in for the fast growth of my winter crops. This prevents me from having to buy slips or wait for harvest except in early spring. Usually I only have to wait until April for my first sweets, and harvest until late November or December.
 And as promised the picture of the one that was as big as my head...

 
Stop laughing now. I wasn't kidding. I told you that sucker was huge. Wait until you see the pomegranate that is still hanging on the tree. It's almost as big!
 
What? Oh? You aren't laughing at how big that sweet tater is? You are laughing at me? Well- laugh on my friends. Laugh on. I can take it.
 
Though my harvests are strangely lacking this summer I have something else to share - FINALLY. After babying these plants the last few years. I have baby guavas to share!
 
 
 
 
Can you see them there? They look somewhat like little limes. There are a few on a couple of my bushes. Of course they don't seem to be doing much and my luck the dang squirrels will get them before I do as there aren't many of them. But, I'm just THRILLED that my bushes finally produced the fruit itself. From what I understand this is half the battle. Once the bushes have produced they will produce more and more. Good news for me because at some point I'd like to get some guava jelly in my fridge! There are guava pastries, and guava crepes, guava syrup, guava'd fish and guava well... I don't know what else because I've only ever had it as a jelly or syrup. But I'm excited to try it and while it looks like next year before I'll get enough for any jelly and such at least there is the chance to eat one fresh now! WooHoo!!!! :-D
 
In other good gardening news, the peanut leaves have opened up. Turns out they just were too wet for too long and needed to dry up a little. I'm going to treat them for fungus to try to head off any nastiness that may ensue from the lengthy wet feet they've had.
I have carrot seed tapes ready to go into 2 squares as soon as I pull those sections so the Fall gardening will be underway shortly!
 
Linking in to Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday. Be sure to stop by her place to check out what other gardeners are harvesting all over the world!
 
See you soon!
 
Barbie~

16 comments:

  1. That is one huge sweet potato! That would feed an entire family. Of six. With leftovers. :-D

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    1. And that is good, because that is just about what we are...but trust me there won't be left overs. ;-) We <3 our sweet taters 'round here. Besides the chickens would eat anything we didn't. Teehee.

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  2. That is some sweet potato you have there! I wasn't laughing, I was wishing I could eat it! I'd love to be able to grow sweet potatoes. Right now I just don't have the room.

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    1. These are a bush type and I grow them in a very high raised bed. I've seen them in containers of all sorts though. Last year I grew some in 5 gallon buckets. I got 5 pounds form 1 bucket. It's worth a shot if you really love them.

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  3. Very interesting harvest, I usually don't see sweet potatoes picked until October at least in our area. And i've never seen guave grown so it's facinating to see!

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    1. I love growing the guava even though I haven't harvested yet. It's a really lovely bush. I use them for ornamentals and in the chicken pen for shade and well- chicken indistructability. THAT is saying something!

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  4. Wow, sweet potatoes and guavas. Now you just need a sweet potatoes AND guava recipe. Too exotic for me up north here. However, I do have a couple of Meyer lemons on my potted lemon tree sunning on the back deck.

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    1. OOOooo... I bet the two flavors would marry well. I'd have to use the guava as a sauce on top, but now that you've put it to my mind it's a very interesting thought. Hmmm.... I'm thinking Thanksgiving might have a new and interesting dish now!

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  5. Perhaps you could net each guava to deter the critters.
    Quite a sweet potato you got there, what variety is that?

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    1. This particular one is a Porto Rico Bush. Yup. Bush... Amazing. I aslo grow an Okinowain Purple that is lovely but much harder to control. It gets whacked by the mower more often. LOL.

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  6. So that is how sweet potatoes are grown in hot areas...You don't quite have perennials, but close. When you clear the planting box, do you take vine cuttings to use as new slips?

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    1. I could leave them in the ground year round, but I have so little room to garden I pull them because I use the space for the much beloved cole crops. THat particular box is warmer because it is almost 4' tall. I do take a few vines to nurse through the winter in the house. That is why I only have to wait until April for the first sweets. The purples take a bit longer to put on the larger tubers than the bush type so far, but this is my first year with them.

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  7. That's a BIGGGGGG sweet potato there, so what did you do with it? So jealous of your guava, can't grow it here!

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    1. Ate it, silly. Actually, mashed with brown sugar and butter which isn't something I normally would do. But, because there was so much of it and I wanted to appeal to as many of us as possible and get as much of it eaten without wasting I figured I should go for the sweeter side. I prefer sweet potato fries with raspberry sauce. YUMMO! or sweet potato chips... or just baked up for that matter. This monster could have made it's own pie!

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  8. Wow, it must have been fun digging out that huge sweet potato!

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    1. Well, until I bent my nail back it was. *ouch* THen it was determination and wondering if I had a jokester on my hands that buried a brick there or something! LOL.

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