Harvest Monday 4.6.2015

Oh for all that I am - mostly I am forgetful...I can't believe I haven't posted lately. We have been SO busy with so many different things.
But lets start this with what I am here for... HARVEST MONDAY! don't forget to get over to Daphne's Dandelions for the lo-down on what is being harvested all over.

This week I still didn't take very many pictures, but I do have one good one to share at least and it will give you an idea of what's been eaten, harvested, and stored lately.

It may look rather small but it's several pounds of carrots, several pounds of greens and the days picking of strawberries and blueberries.

Most of the carrots and berries just don't make it inside but this day I pulled more than normal as I needed space for the smaller carrots to start putting on some girth. It's getting hot every day and I would like to eat them before they all turn bitter.

Not shown is the head of cabbage and a few potatoes that I pulled as well. The vast majority of the cool weather crops are torn out and other than the rest of the baby carrots, some snap peas/snowpeas and potatoes we are switched to summer crops. 

The tomatoes are beginning to set fruit already! The green beans are giving me a few each day as well. Unfortunately those are destined to be ripped out this week as well. They are the fall sowing and this second crop (While great to have) is much smaller. I think new plants would be far more productive. The single eggplant is showing signs that it will flower soon and the cucumber and watermelon(WOW should have started those sooner) are on their first set of leaves. Okra is 6" tall and growing FAST now as well. 

The berries are doing fantastic. Once it hits 90* they will stop altogether and just like that berry season will be over. SO far we've gotten about 3 pounds of blueberries and it looks like there is just as much left to pick. :-)

Ah, the sunshine and warm weather has been fantastic for my soul, but my muscles are not as happy. It's funny how you don't realize in the summer how much you use those muscles, but when you haven't been digging in your garden for months over the winter, your body will remind you that you should have had some other form of exercise!

It hurts so good.

See you soon! (With lots of updates)

Barbie~

2/17/14 Harvest Monday

Hey there! It's Harvest Monday again! This weeks harvest includes most of the things you've been seeing here this winter. But this time I threw in something different, just for fun. LOL.

Cabbage made it on the list! Finally something different. I adore broccoli, but it's nice to have something else coming out of the garden, too. 

I got 2 of these bowls of broccoli from side shoots, and my head of cabbage as well. The hens are still giving me a decent supply of eggs. I've only gone 5 or 6 days the whole winter without one or the other of them giving me a little present. Good hens! I'm considering chicks right now, but it's such a catch 22. If I get chicks I have a better chance of being discovered. SO it's get new chicks, get rid of aggressive hen - BONUS... get chicks, get found out - BOOO!!! What's a gal to do? Additionally something has been getting into their pen lately. Food consumption has tripled. I'm thinking it's probably rats, and there isn't much I can do about that. I can't afford a $150 treadle feeder...so I'm not sure what else to do. :-( 

My first set of green beans is due this week. I can't wait to eat them!

Thanks Daphne for hosting, as always! Don't forget to check out her blog for loads of other harvests from around the world.

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 4.30.12

April is on it's way out. This is the last Harvest for April, and it seems like it just got here. This Spring is nearly done here. The bugs are out in full force by 10 am yelling up a storm announcing that it's too hot to be out. Yet if it's the weekend I'm braving the heat sweating my booty off in the sun. The nights are still strangely cool thanks to the cold front that came through last week, but the highs in the daytime are hitting 90 religiously now and there is no more turning back I'm afraid.

The garden is starting to show the heat stress already and the humidity is in full force now. Fun times the next few weeks!

This weeks harvest:

Mulberries continue to come in at 2 cups (1lb 6oz)every day or two,  or whatever I feel like picking at the time. 3lb 5.6oz green beans, 3lb 2oz onions, 1lb 5oz carrots, 4lb cabbage, 5oz parsley,  6oz broccoli, 4oz strawberry, 5oz blueberry.

a bucket of parsley for drying and chimichuri sauce...

A few zucchini blossoms, I only get these on the weekend when I'm there to go out in the morning.

Oh and the best of all- a pool that is FINALLY ready to swim in... Did I show you this already? I apologize if I did - but it is VERY exciting news around here!

This is probably the best news so far. It gets the kids approval for sure! ;-)

Off to check my seeds and see what type of cowpeas I'll be trying this year....

'Till next time!

Barbie~

*ETA* Linking in to Daphne's Dandelions - I'm so embarassed that I forgot!!!! Don't you forget!!!

Harvest Monday 4.16.12

WOW~!  What a week. I've been sooo busy it's not even funny. That is of course a double edged sword.
The garden was wonderfully generous this week, and I have another 'first' harvest for me this week. (I'm a tease though, so I'm saving it until the end!)

Linking in a bit late to Daphne's Dandelions to join in the fun! Be sure to stop by all the wonderful party hoppers and see what people are harvesting all over the world!

This weeks harvest is chock full of pictures, and I didn't even catch ALL the harvests, LOL>

The week started with a turnip, some smallish carrots that I needed out of the bed, and some broccoli side shoots so I could pull the plant and put it out of it's heated misery. I still have a few plants, but these were the hottest plants, in the most direct sun. The mulberries are still coming at about a cup a day, sometimes more. I REALLY need to find something to do with them. We are all sick of eating them now and they just don't freeze well, at all. Mushy and gross, nick!

Midweek I had a nice glutton of some of everything.

and more mulberries

and more.....and I pulled some of the cabbages to turn part of the bed.

AND here is my 'first' harvest. :-D My first ever home harvested 'tater. *beam* I got too anxious to eat it though, and ended up snarffling down and half cooked (grilled) spud and burning my mouth in the process. It was still good. I had 4/15/12 on the calendar as the first date for harvest on the potatoes, so I dug through one of the buckets and found this little jewel at the bottom. After digging in the garden bed I was worried I wasn't going to find any. I guess I just hadn't dug deep enough, because the bucket spuds are not as far along and yet here is my first one. Four ounces of wondrous goodness. 

I'll wait another week until I dig the rest up. The main bed that the others are in the plants are withering and turning yellow so I know the timing is certainly right, but if this spud is an indicator I'd like just a little more size. Besides, there just isn't much time between now and then to 'dig' into such a project. *Snort*

Tally for the week: Blue berries: 3lb 12oz, Mulberries4lb 2oz, Snap peas 14oz, English peas(final) 1lb 3.6oz,  yellow wax beans 1lb 4.3oz, Green Beans 7.5oz,  Broccoli 2.1oz, Turnip14oz, Cuke 4oz, Cabbage 7lb 3oz,  Tomato 5oz,  Potato 4oz, Carrots 4oz, Greens 13oz, Lettuce 12oz

Thanks for stopping by for Harvest Monday!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 4.2.12

Welcome back to Harvest Monday! :-D

It seems to be always Monday here. I guess that is a good thing because it means I'm usually sharing my gardens bounty. I love that! Linking into Daphne's place for the party. Don't forget to stop on by and check out what people are harvesting all over the world!

This is April and true to nature it started just as it should have. I got rained out of my garden, and gladly so. It was a real toad floater. If I'd have had my camera (and I'm so glad I didn't because it would be ruined now) because I really had a toad float up in the pea patch that I had just turned. I'm glad he wasn't hurt! We were in pretty desperate need of rain so I was glad for it, but my cucumber trellis fell and took out my cukes so I'm not happy about that.

Well, with no further ado - Here are the pictures that I remembered to take this week.

 Haricots Verts  & Cherokee Yellow Wax Little bitty strawberries now and great big blueberries, and they are finally starting to come in handfuls instead of drabs, just as the strawberries are fading into the background. Good timing! A beet, cabbage, onions, rosemary

 More wax beans, cukes, mulberries, snap peas, broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, My! What a week!

A Alittle shirtvesting went a long way, but is unfortunately the very last of the snow peas. This was what I took off of the vines as I turned them under. In their place was sown derby bush beans.

Last but not least MINT > OH YUMMO. This handful of mint graced a nice pot of cocoa. MMMMmmmm... and some for drying.  'Cuz that much in cocoa would make my lips numb.

I'll be back soon. I've got a little project to share.

'Till next time!

Barbie



Harvest Monday 4.4.11

Joiing in at Daphne's Dandelion's for Harvest Monday!!!It's Monday again, and I am sad to say that all the rain did do a few bad things. One bad thing was that it took away the opportunity to take pictures. It managed to ruin a few crops. I had strawberry mush puddles to clean up. Talk about a sorry sight!
 But, mostly I was dashing in and out of storms and cleaning up afterwards.
I only managed one skimpy picture with my cell phone.

A few small heads of cabbage the very end all be all. These are the small heads that were produced by the plants that were left simply as space savers - thanks to a suggestion to leave them that they might bear smaller heads. They did just that, and quite well, too! Had the main heads been taken earlier in the year, or our cool season been longer I think these heads would have been rather impressive. As it is I'm counting them impressive because they are my little bonuses! :-D 2.5pounds worth!

Also pictured a half pound of spinach, a few garden peas, a couple radish. Not pictured is 2 heads of black seeded simpson and a colander full of Green Ice lettuce. I was harvesting the salad greens in a hurry between downpours. They were being beaten to death so I was scrambling! I also harvested a handful of side shoots form the broccoli plants, some green onions, a couple key limes, and a few shoots from the beans for a stir fry. I couldn't help myself, and it was good. YUM>

With any luck the spinach and lettuces will come back, but it is getting into the mid 80's each day now and the humidity is creeping up. The poor plants are battered and bruised and ending their life cycles early may not be out of the question. I trimmed them all back to just the inside leaves, they look pathetic. I'll clean the fish tank this weekend and give them one last hopeful feeding. *sigh*

All else seems to have survived fairly well. The zucchini plants are slightly torn but overall super healthy still. Tomatoes dropped some of there many flowers, but the set back is more in the need for tying up earlier than normal. I'm unprepared as of yet, so a trip to the store tomorrow for me! The peppers did really well and are beginning to show their first buds. To tomatillo laid down and were buried, but are no upright again. They will need tied as well. Some corn is broken - but all and all we came through very well. I did realize something I wasn't quite prepared for though. The way the yard drains - is straight into the area of fence garden. I guess it's good it was delayed. If it had been planted everything in it may have washed away. Now I need to consider the need to have a wash for the water to run out. That or be prepared to lose the plants each late summer tropical storm....So I have to design a culvert of sorts. Only problem I see is there is a fence there, so how exactly is the water going to drain properly???? URGH.

Rambling again. Sorry.

Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 3.21.11

SPRING! (Officially!) Linking in this first SPRING day to DAPHNE'S DANDELIONS for Harvest Monday

I don't have much in the way of pictures to show for my harvest. But, each day a handful of strawberries, and a handful of spinach for my Bgirl. I also took 2 clippings form the lettuce. It made salads for dinner for all 5 of us and that is nice. Plus, we had lettuce for our burgers yesterday as well. Radishes for the salad of course. Oh, the last large head of cabbage - 4 pounds. I forgot to take a picture of it until I had already cleaned it, and had it ready for the pot.

Apologies for the cell phone shots. Life gets busy and I lose my one memory card sometimes. I figure one day I'll have to go buy 10 of the suckers. But, then I'll lose track of all of those, too! Ha.

Oh, I made strawberry syrup we ate on our blueberry pecan pancakes with blueberries and pecans from the freezer stash. I have only 1 cup of pecans left. No one in the house is happy about that! The good news is that the blueberries are turning blue again outside and I promised my girls to go picking this year so we'll have them in the freezer again soon! I sure wish Strawberries froze as well as blueberries do. Bummer, Man.  The Boy child finally ate one of these beauties. He was skeptical because they are all shapes and sizes. Boy was he surprised! He is now fighting with the girls over who gets to eat these little treats. Problem with that is dangit! I want more of them for me. *POUT*

I gotta tell you. That strawberry syrup> Yeah that stuff over there------> Yum. I have got to find a way to keep it from fermenting. I don't use enough sugar in the recipe to keep it from fermenting if I canned it. I suppose I could freeze it. Maybe I should start looking into better freezer storage. It irks me to no end to pull something out of the freezer that I worked hard on only to find out that it isn't usable.

Ack, I'm rambling.

HAPPY SPRING!

'Till next time!

Barbie~