Harvest Monday?

Yup. I know. I blew it. Again. I keep forgetting to post my Harvests on Monday. Not like i haven't been doing this long enough to know by now. So. I guess today it's Harvest Tuesday! Wahooo!!!

We've been extremely busy around the house lately. Not just with harvests but lots of other things too. I havne't posted much the last few weeks and soon enough you'll find out why.

Meanwhile - The harvests right now are centered around my fruit trees. Persimmon and Pomegranates are the majority of what I am bringing in, but citrus and figs are also hitting the table pretty regularly as well...

My fruits are generally no spray. These pomegranates are no exception. Because I don't spray the outside rind of them gets speckled, and a bit ugly. But on the inside the arils are nice, plump and perfectly wonderful. These 6 below made nearly a gallon of arils. They are heading to the juicer tomorrow. :-) I can't wait for breakfast.

The persimmons turned into persimmon cake... This was better the 3rd day. It started out a little dry, but ended up nice and moist, a real treat!

OH! I nearly forgot. Also being harvested once again - EGGS! I'm SO incredibly happy about this. I had to break down and BUY eggs the last 2 months. Whats up with that? LOL.

That's it for my wonderful harvests. I know I had a few more that I didn't get pictures of, but my poor memory can't manage to keep track any more. I'm off to do some weeding!

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 8.25.14

Welcome back to Harvest Monday! Once again, I'd like to thank Daphne for sharing her links. Be sure to stop by Daphne's Dandelions to check out what gardeners are harvesting all over the world!

It's the last harvest for August and it's so appropriately timed. 

This week I harvested...Sweet Potatoes! 2 very large specimens. Perfect for a dinner side dish for all 5 of us. It's hard to believe just how big these spuds can get. They were both wonderfully flavored, but then again we were not looking for super sweet. These were sliced and roasted instead of baked and not sweetened. They offered just the right amount of sweetness without any sugar.

Um... and as it turns out I only took a picture of one. LOL. 

Don't let that picture deceive you. This sucker was larger than my hand and over a pound! The stem end there was as fat as a marker. The big news here? NO bug damage. I don't know if it's because I didn't let it store like I did last year or if things are finally evening out in the garden, but either way I'm very glad for it. 

I also harvested a decent sized bell pepper and another gypsy pepper. Those were used in a stir fry and a salad. The guavas are still coming, but most of the fruit now is gathered and eaten then or given to the chickens. They are in full molt mode and in just 3 days times my barred rock went from fully feathered to less than half feathered. She's not happy and hasn't laid in a week now. I don't blame her. All those quills everywhere must be uncomfortable. I might come show you later this week, but don't tell her. I'm pretty sure she'd never lay again if she knew I had shown you her pitiful self right now. ;-)

Kids went back to school last week as well. I can't get over it. They have grown so much over the summer. The difference in them now is astounding. They are actually in different sized clothing which almost never happens. Up until now the only thing I had to buy different for them was socks. Poor Katie got my big feet!

Aw, but isn't it sweet? The first virus of the school year has also been brought home. So much for being excited about going to a bigger school. The pitfalls of more kids is, more germs. Ho-hum. So Kate's home sick today and milking it for all it's worth. LOL. Just hoping Annah or any of the rest of us don't get it. We're supposed to be bringing the ducks up to Alabama this weekend. If we miss this opportunity then they will probably be with us until spring. That means at least one of the males will have to 'disappear' soon. If not 2. I can't have them chasing the girls around and causing a ruckus. The neighbors haven't complained yet, but I've got the girls sectioned off with only 1 of the males. The other 3 boys are in 'The bachelor pad.' So far this has worked pretty well and everyone gets along this way, but I tried putting them all together and it didn't go so well. A few of the boys are overly aggressive with the girl ducks. Now, there would be some advantages to keeping the ducks around for the winter. Eggs for instance. It would be GREAT to have a good supply of eggs over the winter. Oh, how awesome that would be. Besides it wouldn't be so bad to have duck on the menu for Thanksgiving or Christmas, either. 

Making my lists for the great Fall garden cleanup...

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 5.20.13

I think I've hit the peak of harvests now. It will decline fast. So while I'm happy at the moment I know that it won't last long.

For instance? In the last 48 hours my zucchini plants when from having one green worm boring into it - to a complete infestation. the blossoms now have worms, the leaf stems have worms, the baby zucchini have worms. I do not have worms, but I do have a bad attitude. I knew it was coming, but I'm just NOT happy about it. If Mr. Giant corporation can come out with super germ warfare why can't it come out with a zucchini plant that fights back? LOL. Then again, as big as those plants get? Maybe having them fight back isn't such a good idea. What would happen if they decided they wanted to keep their bounty? That wouldn't be a pretty picture!

OK - On to serious matters. This weeks harvest!

 5lbs 6oz of new potatoes, a few bell peppers, jalapenos, 6lbs of tomatoes, the last of the snap peas (the vines are still there but no more weight will be recorded. The vines will come out this week)
Zucchini, Beans bush and pole, carrots, cucumbers, eggs (of course!) strawberries - but most get eaten in the garden because we only get a couple a day and a leek.

Oh, and that is 6.2 ounces of mint y'all! I made a few drinks this week that needed mint. Some hot tea, and some cold drinks. I'm weird. I really like cold mint. But I prefer it in my chocolate. LOL.

 

 

This weekend saw phase 1 of the big major project done. I"ll share here in a day or two. I also have a couple lovely recipes to share this week with some recent harvests. But, for now I'm late posting this so...

 

See you soon!

 

Barbie~



Harvest Monday 11.7.11

Ahhhh... November, my Love. How I have missed you. How I have longed to be held in your cool embrace. :-)
Now - don't let that go to your head my lover. One of my favorite things about you is the warm days that come along with your cool nights. Decembers chilly winds are too cool for my Floridian body to enjoy so don't go off getting too cold on me just yet!

Linking in for Harvest Monday with Daphne's Dandelions. Thanks Daphne for allowing us to crash your pad and hang out each week!

My garden gave to me this fine November week -

Tomatillos and  a bell pepper. There are many more of both of these waiting for me in the garden!

Hot peppers, green (and yellow & purple) beans. This variety of purple bean doesn't do as well as some of the others I have trialed and once my seed stock of these are gone they won't be replaced. They are good but the plants are not nearly as sturdy as this springs planting of purple beans.

Another pound of lima beans for side dishes and mostly these are mine because I adore them!

Some greens and more green beans and a pepper that needed saved.

In honor of the berry patches (2) being completed I celebrated by baking up a bag of my spring berries:

Muffins, mini loaves and pancakes will make breakfasts easy for the beginning of the week.

I'm looking forward to sharing the final expansion of the garden during the week - but now that daylight savings has "fallen behind" I don't know that I will be home during daylight hours to take any good photos. The project is complete and 24' x2' of space has been added (and already planted out!) to my garden. I love knowing the space is there and this spring I won't have to juggle which veggies I want. I should have enough room for just a little of everything. :-D WOOHOO!!!!

If all else fails I'll share the cell phone pics that were taken at the end of the project so I can at least show off my hard work. My back is still yelling at me for trying to do so much so fast but my brain is happy and in the end that makes it all better.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

HARVEST MONDAY 10.24.11 !!!

It's Harvest Monday and I am FINALLY BACK! Linking in to Daphne's our most gracious hostessat Daphne's Dandelions. Don't forget to check her site out and see what everyone is harvesting and maybe even what they are doing with their harvest!  

 Scarlet fever is a real bear at 30 something (OK more towards forty but still thirty something darn it!) It's something that doctors don't normally see any more and when they do they see it in kids - not adults. HA! Well leave it to me to throw a wrench in that. I've been gone a couple week so I do have quite a bit to share. LOADS of Limas, a few bells, tomatillos are back on the menu, too! Hot peppers of course, and also back on the menu are green beans. Unfortunately there aren't very many of them just a handful - but enough to appreciate. A couple little deformed but yummy cucumbers and some Okinawan spinach while I am waiting for the real deal to germinate.

 

Basil made a come back and PESTO has been eaten - a LOT of it I might add. :-)

The rice peas are done for the year. In an experiment I cut back the bushes (REALLY LONG VINES) to see if they would start again but hope is dwindling and I'll be pulling them next week if no growth has been spotted by then. The night time temps have been dipping into the 50's each night and they don't like that at all.

Since I've been laid up the last few weeks there has been lots of soup- and I declared one day GUMBO DAY! Okra, bells, hot peppers and onions from the garden safron rice and meat from the grocers - and yummo!

Lots of seeds have been sown. Carrots and radish, spinach, cabbage and onions are all beginning to sprout. S~L~O~W~L~Y.... but hopefully surely. Oh, and I have tomatoes on the vine again. YIPPEE!  It's almost time to finish clearing out the beans and put in the rest of the winter veggies. I'll have to update with pics soon.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 9.19.11

It's Harvest Monday again. Autumn edition! Linking in once again to Daphne's Dandelions to join in the fun and see what people are harvesting all over the world.

This Monday we are featuring HOT PEPPERS galore.

Nearly a pound of these hot little beauties were harvested. They'll be chopped and frozen flat to be used in soups and stews and chilis and stir fries for the rest of the year. We should have enough pickled peppers to see us through until spring now and I certainly have enough dry cayenne.

I harvested another 2 cups of basil that I made pesto out of. This one was a pesto cheese sauce that was astronomically delish on pasta.

The beans finished off the majority of the harvest. The final Holstein beans were harvested. Any more that I might find would be seed only if they weren't molded. Most of what I harvested were mildewed or moldy. The rains finally stopped but it was too late. Most of my garden has succumbed to either mold, mildew or bugs now. 

 The itty bitty rice peas are still hanging on but they are looking a little rusty. The limas are too, but considering their age that is not one little bit surprising. The beans are still good and I got about another pound this week so they are not at risk of losing any territory yet. :-) A copper spray will hopefully help them hang on a while longer. It's one of the few sprays non organic that I seem to always turn to in times like this.

The garden is suffering. We've gone from massive monsoons straight into drought. Tides will change a few more times before the dry weather stays for the winter but right now the pepper plants are defoliating in answer so some of the hot peppers are getting sun scald and the leaves are getting spotty but I'm pretty sure the plants will be fine over all. The bells I'm not so sure of. It seems the fungal/spots have set into the stems and while the hot peppers are setting like crazy they are not even blooming. This is a major disappointment. I've saved 3 bell plants through our horrible summer and that is no easy task. I thought I made it but maybe not after all. It's a wait and see game for them now. 2 other bell plants I wasn't sure about have shown that they indeed have lost their battle. They are too diseased and stressed and need to come out before spreading their ickyness.

The corn is down to only 7 stalks. That is worrisome but there is nothing I can do at this point.

Oh I nearly forgot. I also harvest a pint of grapes. I FINALLY brought the grapes into the house. :-) Rather than eating them as they ripened I actually got enough at once to bring in. Of course that is the final grape count but I actually got a bowl of them!

The final tally to add is a half cup of mulberries. I have to constantly try to remember to get out there in the morning to get them. Otherwise they are gone before I get there. The trees all need pruned but the weather is so good I am afraid to prune what really needs to be done. If I do what is necessary I'm worried they will all start regrowth and then get burned in an early frost. It would hurt my heart to see such tender young growth get hurt so I'll try to hold off another month or two before I prune. It's so hard to wait when everything NEEDS pruning now! All the trees are in need, not just this one. *sigh*

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 8.22.11

Make sure to stop by as we join in at Daphne's Dandelion's each week for Harvest Monday. She is a most gracious host and showcases harvests from all over the world!
As we near the end of August the cool weather veggies are sprouting and the hot weather ones are coming to an end.
This weeks harvest?

Dried beans (rice peas and Holstein) Hot peppers, Bell peppers and Lima beans.

Here is a closer look at the Holstein. Have I posted this before? Hmmm... sorry if I have but they are really beautiful beans.

Also this week a sweet potato. Oh yes only one. Go me. HA! It met it's destiny as Cinnamon sweet oven baked fries - YUMMO! Too bad that is my entire harvest. (plus a store bought one!) Guess we'll have to see about what happened next year.

But in abundance around town and in homes near my work (an hour+ South) are loads of mangoes... I absolutely ADORE these fruits and if I had the gall to beg for more I would. But I did get busy with the ones I was given...

a pineapple and mango upside down cake... and pineapple mango chutney for my fish - no picture cause it disappeared too quickly. Not to mention we had mango slices a few meals and after a week of mango I love them all the more!

*insert sappy love song here*

Let's say the cake didn't last long. Oh my. I need more.... I MUST HAVE MORE!!!! LOL.

The expansion of the garden is finally under way. It took long enough. I won't be ready to plant anything but the blue berry bushes until spring though. Going from grass to garden is a rough transition and I think I'll solarize for the winter.  I know patience isn't my strong suit but it would be best. Unless others have better (quicker) ideas.... :-D teehee... The frame is nearly complete but the grass still must be finished off and the dirt dressed and pressed and readied for the ball. We'll need to borrow a truck and trailer to get a few loads of compost. The inside width ended up at 28" and the outside is 35. I hope the weeds and grass stays back from between the fence, but I know better...I'll just have to formulate a plan I suppose. Hopefully next week I'll have some pictures of the initial lay out.

'Till next time! (and I hope I'll be tilling soon!)

Barbie~