Harvest Monday 6.18.12

Linking into Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday. Make sure to join the fun over at her place. Stop by to see all the different things being harvested all over the world!
Harvests are much slower now.

This is the main harvest this week:

The onions I harvested? Just over ten pounds worth and when all was said and done I was only able to save my sanity and 25 ounces. Talk about a let down.  19 ounces in garlic. 1 pound of leeks.

This weeks harvest totals - 1lb 2oz concord grapes, 8oz tomatoes, 2oz broccoli, 6oz okra and a few measly greenbeans I'm not counting because I fed them to the hens (next door) I also got 2oz basil and a large fistful of parsley that I started to dry until I realized there was something wrong with it. (looked like pin holes through the leaves...*sigh*) so I'm yanking out the old parsley and starting a new batch. This one was 3 years old so I had to expect it to have something wrong sooner or later.

The garden is (mostly) bare and awaiting turning under. I got all those spots yanked out that needed it and now summer planting can start as soon as I can get the turning, compost topping and sowing done.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Day 5.29.12

It's not Monday. So, I'm late - again. Hey,  it was Memorial Day so I had plans. Plans that got blown away by Sir Beryl. Good thing we decided not to go anywhere. Turns out that there were a much greater number of downed trees and my parents had no power up in (North of) Jacksonville for 24 hours at last count.  No fridge or freezers and that also means that their 7 (yes, SEVEN) dogs that have the invisible fence to keep them on their five acres would have been roaming free out in the storm without someone there to start up the generators. Not to mention that the picnic and all the other outdoors activities like camping we had planned wouldn't have been so fun in 45 mile an hour winds. We were only planning on going to Ocala after all. Not all the way to Jacksonville. Silver Springs State Park is what we had our eye on.
Oh, Well. Next weekend we'll have a condensed version of the same thing.

Instead I welcomed a gardening friend over to see my mess and our kids enjoyed some watermelon while we enjoyed some conversation. It was a good distraction from thwarted plans and picnics gone awry. I sure hope their plans held out and Illuminations was still wonderful for them! Thanks, Tina for stopping by. Next time hopefully the lawn mower will be up and running and my grass won't be trying to attack your ankles! Troy found a treat for Nick and is waiting to see him again, too. :-D  The pool is back and ready for action. ;-)

I spent yesterday evening cruising the garden not really expecting to find much to bring in but to my surprise I did. And, I found quite a lot!

I had a roma and a bush tomato damaged from the storms, so those came out. There are a few of the tomatoes in this picture, but most of them didn't make the cut. I don't think they'll ripen so they aren't here to be represented. If they do I'll show them later. But these four all were starting to blush so they are here. A few more carrots - that large one weighed 6 ounces! The first eggplant of the season (THANKS RICK- that is from your baby long purple plant from the swap) 2 cukes some broccoli, strawberries, purple podded beans and dragons tongue.

This is the haul from earlier in the week. A key lime, a few carrots, cucumber, zucchini, green garlic, broccoli, and below 4 pounds of onions out of the main bed of alliums, I pulled them because they were starting to multiply by division more and more. It's getting hotter out and that means less likely to bulb at this point and I don't need this many green onions for my cooking. I do after all still have this many onions in the garden still. Bummer year for the onions. But, again Florida is a huge give and take State.

There is no guarantee when you garden here. The sun is extremely low, extremely hot and it makes for quick crops, and that is good and bad. The downpours and humid conditions are hard on the plants and certainly perfect for making mold and mildew. It's an evolving process and an ongoing experiment. I'm always faced with the next question. These onions are one of the prime examples of how gardening here changes every year. Some years I get great big onions and some years it fizzles. But this year I got great lettuce and some years I get none. Go figure. Same with the carrots. I'm still getting them and it's already 90 degrees out regularly. Normally the carrots are done and gone by late March. Here it is going to be June and I'm still pulling and picking them. :-D 

I roll with the punches as every gardener does. My garden looks bear right now to me. I'm waiting for some cowpeas to come up and the old spring tomatoes will be going out - while the new fall tomatoes will be growing and waiting their turn to get into the garden. I still haven't found a good determinate/semi-determinate variety for me/this area. I feel like this is a struggle I will always deal with in some form or another. Maybe I'll just go by a crate of the suckers! Maybe, like the carrots I'm just missing something that i haven't found yet.

Oh, I did learn something kinda new this weekend while I was cleaning up around the place. Will share tomorrow. ;-)

Gotta get ya back here some how!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

HARVEST? MONDAY 5.21.12

I don't have much to share. But, linking into Daphne's Dandelion's to share it! Thanks Daphne for always being a great hostess. Don't forget to stop by her place and say hi!

 The last week has been about the summer change.  Here is the one basket I remembered to take a picture of.

These carrots have changed my mind about how I'm growing carrots from now on. I loved growing them in with the onions all willy nilly. It worked out well - and this giant type also worked out well. They took no longer really than the smaller types and I got so much more! Look at the normal sized on in there next to the larger ones. Wow! What a difference. Considering how MANY carrots this family eats....I'm thinking go BIG or go HOME! er... OK I am home- but you know what I mean.

The biggest honking carrots, and nice sized green garlic (I'm begining to think I'll only get green this year) a good cuke, some okra, berries, zucchini, broccoli, a few beans, a young red onion. A decent haul. I got a couple chilis and 2 small romas this week as well as a few more okra and broccoli- but that is about it. I really was concentrating on getting things changed over.

More sweet potato slips went in. 6 more - so 12 total. I won't be breaking a record with that number, but I have so many other things i want to grow that I don't have space for much else. They are all bush type of course. The peanuts are all up, the soybeans didn't germinate very well. I'm quite disappointed. I think I'll risk moving the plants and distributing them so that they can at least benefit from the area given to them rather than leaving them crowded to one side, as it seems the ones that did germinate all were together. (figures) There wont be any more slips going in now. I used the butt of the potato to generate the last of these. They had some great roots though! Awesome for not having transplant shock. LOL

The last stand of sweet corn for summer is up. I'll try again in fall. I don't know what my failure is with it all the time. Like carrots I just keep trying. I'll figure it out at some point! ;-) The last batch from a few weeks ago was delicious, just miniature. I'll plant popcorn in the heat of the summer. Funny- the corn always grows up in the plots in Alabama. Humph. Guess the clay holds the nutrients better and longer. Even with all the amendments and how wonderful things are doing (compared to how they USED to do) I still can't get corn to grow. Oh, well!

I also cleaned out the rest of the non vining green beans, so any green beans you see now until fall will be non green, flat Italian, or for the first time ever, POLE! Speaking of - it seems to me that I may have stumbled upon something. My dragons tongue beans are not very, uh - 'poley' they are much more bushy. They are also not holding up well in our humidity. :-( They have loads of beans that isn't the problem at all. Its that the poor little plants have already gotten mildew. *sigh* Can't win for losing 'round here I suppose. You should see those beans here next week.

Hopefully the growth of the seedlings will be good this week and I can do some update shots soon. Right now it would just look like a blank garden and then a lot of the same old stuff you always see. (the allium patch, the blueberries, etc)

Summer is here officially - we have our first Tropical storm off the coast of Florida and it's 'officially' hitting 90 each day this week. Yikes!

Stay cool my friends!



'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest...12/13/10

Well. It's Tuesday again. This time my challenge was my card reader. Unfortunately it is officially dead. I'll need a new one soon. After all Christmas is near and pictures must be taken! :-)
We had back to back freezes this week and this morning was -3*C. Yes. Celsius. It looks better that way. It was 27* outside. Another hard freeze. It took the last of what had survived under covers. All but the Cole crops and a few peas and carrots still hanging in there.

Lemons and limes. I don't have any weights on this harvest. It was a scramble as the freeze had already set and we were no where near prepared for it. There was 2 colanders of these. Plus 3 oranges. But, I did get a half of a paper grocery bag full of tangerines. They are much prettier than the nearly ripe lemons here. Bright orange. Wish I was able to show you. They are much smaller than normal tangerines, and there is one seed in every other section, extremely juicy. It's just unfortunate that they don't keep for long term.

Lettuces I did weigh at 9oz. so 1/2 pound, not bad for they are fairly young still.

Some green tomatoes that were already blushing. They will turn in no time. These are the last for not only this year but this season. I won't see any of these things until late in spring. Also some Royal Burgundy beans, (my favorite this year) Serrano peppers, okra, Cubanelle, and 2 lemon peppers.

Here is part of my garden all iced over.

I was too chicken to go outside and take pictures.

I did manage to get the frost bitten plants out this weekend. I know that I have plenty to do to keep me busy until it's time to plant again. The beds are no longer raised as they were. The new sod has grown nearly as tall as the beds, and the extra height will not only be aesthetically pleasing but will be better nutrient wise for the plants. When I built these beds last year I was in a rush for completion and didn't dig them as thoroughly as I wanted to. The amendments will do wonders.

I believe this is my last harvest for 2010. I'll be back soon though. There is other harvesting to be done while it's this cold. There is another trip to Alabama to gather pecans. So far this year we have 5 pounds. I'd really like to have more. We use roughly 1/2 pound a week for normal use. I'm capable of using the entire 5 pounds just in holiday baking. Good thing I had some left from last year. I understand it's not just our trees that didn't cooperate. The entire county had an off year. It does glean a little hope for next year because after an off year it's said that the following is a bumper crop. Maybe we'll have some to sell. That would be a first. Normally friends, family and our freezer manage to eliminate what we are blessed with.

Till next time!

Barbie~

From Butt prints to....

To ICED HOUSES!!!! That is a BROWN roof people! This is NOT supposed to happen in December in these parts. Grrr.....

And a completely iced over yard....

Please - OH PLEASE bring me back the wonderful beach days of just this weekend....



Look, I even went so far as to take a picture of myself enjoying the beach just so I could remember on these cold days. :-( And, those that know me KNOW I'm the picture taker, not the subject!

Needless to say that I have harvested the last of the tomatoes, peppers, okra, pumpkin, beans... I'm just beside myself. This was a shock to my system. I expect this in mid January and even February here and there but not quite so soon. I had so many little baby tomatoes that are now destined for the compost.

My beans were flowering profusely again. Now they are something akin to melted plastic. 

I suppose there is always a bright side to everything. A lot of the plants (not the tomatoes mind you) were spent. Those poor okra plants have produced and produced. It was time for them and some of the others. There is of course plenty to do.  I need to raise the beds another 4 inches this year. And possibly another 4 again next year. There are seed catalogs who's beckoning call is growing louder, like a siren's song to a sailor. It's truly an addiction.

Besides, with Birthday's, Christmas and New Years and people to see, places to visit - it's an amazingly busy time of year. I'll miss my plant friends but I know they will be back again. Rest now my little garden. Keep your cabbages and peas growing slow for now you deserve the rest. I'll be back soon!



Harvest - Monday? 11.29.10

Ah, yes this harvest Monday is late, too. Sorry - was trying to catch up on work and all.
There is something new about this harvest Monday. Can you guess what it is?

I'm older. Yup. That is the change. But the real change is that getting a little older managed to get me a new gizmo for my kitchen. Let me introduce you to my newest kitchen pet. I'll have to come up with a name for it, but that could take a little time. Here it is at work:

:-) It makes me happy. I'm trying to get into the habit of weighing my harvests now. I figure I'll write the weights but not tally until January. I'll start fresh with the new year.
Yes, that's right I am STILL harvesting a ton of these little Tabasco peppers. This batch is destined to make some vinegar with. A present for a relative or two that uses it on greens. *cringe* I do find it odd that I like spinach and such but can't stand greens.I brought in 2oz of snow peas (just enough for a stir fry) I harvested 12.9oz of tomatoes:

 

1oz of jalapeno - small but tasty!

6.2oz of assorted green beans

3oz of Limas

11.4oz of okra. All this totaled just over 2.5 pounds of produce. Not bad considering it was completely neglected for a full week.

Let's see - what else? Ah, yes I used my Galeuse d'eysine

It was oh so tasty. I put 4 cups of puree in the freezer, ate 2 cups while I was preparing the puree and used another 4 cups for assorted things. A side dish and a pumpkin log mainly. It was a little stringy and a bit more watery than I prefer but the taste was really good. Next up is that beautiful Jarrahdale that has been waiting for me for so long. I think this weekend it will meet it's final match. Besides with no other storage for then the squash have all been decorating my house. Now that Christmas is near it's time for them to disappear to make way for reindeer!

So that left me with my final seed saving for the Bumpkin. I've got about 50 seeds I'm willing to trade. I'll have some more from the Jarrahdale as well next week.

So I was nervous about leaving my garden. It would seem that I was nervous for naught, but it isn't true. I came back and my squash plants were GONE> Not diseased, not wilted or withering. Nope. Just gone. Disintegrated. It's the strangest thing. Unfortunately it left my last pumpkins that were waiting to mature bare to the sun. I'm not at all happy about this. I didn't save the last pie pumpkin as I had at minimum one good one that should have matured nicely. Boy was I wrong. Now it's heading for the compost pile and I'm going to have to use my jarrahdale for my Christmas pies and muffins. Not what I planned but it's good that I still can use a fresh pumpkin I suppose. Most of my other plants made it through just fine without me. My blueberries are brown and withered as well as the pomegranate. Should have told the sitter to water them because the times sprinkler wont reach them. I think they should recover well enough. I sure hope so!

Linking in to Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions. Come on over and see what's on the menu being harvested or how people are using their harvests!

Harvest Monday - 11/15/10

Linking in with Daphne for Harvest Monday!!! Head on over and check it out people are still harvesting and lots of people are using there summer harvests!
Apparently I fell down on the job a little this weekend. I'm missing 2 harvests. Nothing major though. Here is what I did take pictures of, including my first pea of the year. Last year my peas petered out long before I could harvest. So far I am standing at a whopping 21 peas. WHOOT - go me. HAHAH!

Poblanos, lemon hot peppers, snow peas, and snap beans in the first - the first miracle pea of the season in the second picture. 

I also harvested the last of the black beans. (Not shown) I pulled those plants as I harvested. Some of the older grean beans (trofeo and contender) were pulled. They are only giving these teeny tiny beans -nothing was growing any more than 2 inches or so. They were put out of their misery accordingly. I figure after 2 weeks if the pods dont grow the plant is too far gone to produce further. The blank area you see in the bed is where the plants stood. I did replant only 1 small patch of cut and come again lettuce you can see there. This bed is destined to be raised another 4 inches by the end of the year.

I'm still getting okra in just fine, but they did get cut back quite drastically this weekend as well. The harvest will be much smaller now. I've actually stopped blanching and freezing it out of sheer laziness so hopefully this will allow me to eat it fresh as it comes in.

I raised one of the beds this weekend. The main garden consists of 6 beds, and it was the smallest of the ones to be raised. Chances are I wont be able to complete the second bed this week - but I'm hopeful. It's always so much easier to break these large tasks into smaller sections to be completed. It keeps the whole operation running smoothly and it doesn't seem so much like the back breaking work that it can be.

I wont see you next Monday - I'll be on a short hiatus. But, I'll be back-  I guarantee!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday! 10/4/10

It's that time again! Harvest Monday. Thanks Daphne for hosting Harvest Monday's. Link up so everyone can see what is ready for harvest where you live!
This weeks harvest is just that. Quite week. I didn't take many pictures. I'm missing a colander and a handful of okra that look just like the one posted. A handful of green beans and an extra large cucumber that tasted delightful! I was quite shocked. Hubby got ahold of it and had eaten half before I could even snap a picture. He's the cucumber guy. He loves all things cukey. :-) Found a beetle on my beans yesterday so that is not good. It could be in he that hurt my beans as a juvie...to bad there is no JDC for those things. LOL. Anway... here you go!

Don't mind the puny radish. It was a test. It was H~O~T, too! Rich enjoyed it, and Troy complained that it was too small. LOL. It's a French Breakfast so I'm quite sure he'll have his fill sooner or later.

The okra is still hanging in there. Not doing well at all plant wise but still producing! The main plants have quit entirely and shed all their leaves. I'm going to cut the centers out so they can continue a few more weeks. The weather is much cooler and dryer and oddly enough they are the only thing in the garden not appreciative of that!

The tabascos are ready for a few weeks of big harvests again. I can't say enough about this 'little' plant. It's made it through the spring, ans summer and still producing more than we can eat. At 4' tall it's about maxed out in height, and everyone comments on it's beauty. It's been such an easy plant that I think next spring I will have to start 3 and put them in the front garden bed. All of my other peppers that pettered out over summer are just begining to fruit again. I got one baby bell that i accidently knocked off the plant this week, and there is one more on still. The jalepenos, serranos, hungarians, all of them are flowering beautifully, but the fruit is very slow to set.

I may or may not have my first pumpkin on. I know I've said that before a dozen times but so far it looks good. Time will tell. In 3 days I'll have something growing larger each day or something stunted. I'm trying to reroot near the pumpkin so I can cut back the main vine. It may be a disaster waiting to happen, and I may lose the one pumpkin that I manage to get set but i have to try. The plant is very diseased now. It's outrunning it, but if I cut back the leaf skelatons that are left it will leave the vine too vunerable to the sun, and pests. So this is my experiment I suppose. I'm going to tie some ribbons on the vine and trace it back trying to cut out only the other vines but I've done that before and cut the wrong one at the last minute. My spring crop suffered horribly for this. I nearly cried myself to sleep as I had 3 beautiful Jarrahdales that has sized up nicely on. I'll keep you all posted as to how this turns out. Not only to share the info, but for future reference for myself as well. I like being able to look back and see what worked and didn't.

'Til next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 9/13/2010

Figured I had better start dating these. :-)

I'm joining in the fun over at Daphne's for Harvest Monday! Stop on by and see what others are harvesting, too.

I have the hardest time with the picture uploader the last 2 weeks - so here goes nothing. Since it is still summer heat here my harvests are still trying to change. I'm still gathering loads of okra every other day, plus the odd cucumber here or there. My girls each grabbed a cuke this week and were noshing with some ranch before I could snap a picture but the rest is here. 3 more trays worth (2 gallons) of okra in the freezer. I don't really need more than that to see me through spring. With the 3 trays already in I'm set until I can harvest next year. More never hurt though so I am collecting and freezing. I did find 2 persons who wanted some so 3 more gallons went that way as well.

The tabasco peppers are stillin full force as well. Now the Jalepenos, and serannos are getting ready to join the crowd it looks like their flowers will finally set fruit again this week. The bells are flowering again, but the blossoms drop by days end still so another 2-3 week for them.

This week my harvest wasn' t all in the garden. Some of the most important things were 'harvested' work done inside. We defrosted the freezer and got it ready to go for the green bean harvest which should ensue very soon, and we stacked our washer and dryer so that I can hang clothes easier as they are done - also allowing us more storage space on either side of the set now. YIPPPEEE - I'm ALL for space AND easier. :-)

This little munchkinite gets her very own cameo - she was mad that her sister stole the spotlight last week by squishing her cheeks. So here is my B girl looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed after getting caught with a stolen cuke!

Grr- yes the picture thing is giving me grief again. You know - I just got settled in on this blog I REALLY don't want to look for somewhere else with better photo stuff.... ugh.

Til next time~
Barbie