Harvest Monday 5.4.2015

Goodness, I almost forgot it was Monday again! It's amazing how quickly the time flies round here!

This weeks main harvest was blueberries. 3.5 pounds of them. It pretty well ends the season with only a few dozen berries left on the bushes. I've trimmed most of them back already and now it's babying them until fall again. Well worth it if you ask me.

Most of the blueberries were washed, dried and frozen on baggies for easy access. I saved a pound that is destined for blueberry pie and blueberry muffins. I'll also make blueberry jam, but that I can make from frozen berries if I need to. We tend to eat about a pint in a day between the 5 of us.

Yum. Some of these berries were exceptionally large, and I'm hoping that means that the fruit size is going to increase next year to match what only a few of these were. This was the 3rd year in production for these plants. Maybe the 4th year is ideal for size, or maybe i"m just finally supplying the bushes with what they need.

I currently have 16 plants that I rooted from cuttings last year. They will be ready to begin production next year or the following depending on their summer growth.

In other news, also joining this weeks harvest are peaches!

These lovely little jewels are scrumptious and I'm finally getting enough to keep the kids fed each day. Featured here is a typical bowl that gets picked and eaten daily. But, production is ramped up with a lot ripening at once now. It means the chickens are getting their fair share of them. That's good because once they get soft at all the fruit flies are insane. Any tips for getting rid of fruit flies? Blech.

They are so bad that even when I pick fruit that still needs to ripen to bring inside the next morning we a couple in the house again. 

I'm not getting enough to can, and it's just a little too much to keep up with for fresh eating. The quality of the fruit isn't as good in years past, but the quantity makes up for that. They still taste incredible cooked with a little cinnamon on top. 

This solidifies my thoughts on taking out the second peach tree. It's just not producing much at all and it's not healthy. I'd rather take it out and replace it with a pollinator for my unknown variety of plum. Then again I could end up with 2 trees that don't produce plums. HA! That would stink. The plums bloom after the peaches have set fruit, so timing wise we'd move from strawberries in February to March and April blueberries, then April/May peaches & figs and May/June plums and guava. After that it's blackberries, persimmons and pomegranates. My garden would finally be set for March-September with perennial fruits. Whoot!

Now, waht will give me fruits in November, December and January here? The citrus is just too hard with the greening around here. I still have 3 trees but only 1 is capable of producing good fruit, and even so it' son my porch so it doesn't get pollinated well unless it blooms on the weekend. LOL

Well, make sure you stop by Daphne's Dandelions to see what is being harvested all over the world, and what people are doing with those harvests. Have a great week!

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 7.8.13

Guess What? It's STILL July! <3 and I'm still in love! :-D I just can't help myself.

 

This week brought peaches. Not Florida peaches, not Georgia peaches but the first of the peaches from the bare root trees I planted in Alabama. I'm proud to have them, but I could have had more if I had been greedy. When we first got there it was raining, but not hard. I picked 2 peaches, we divided them and then I went out immediately and got 2 more and did the same. It was just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth for dessert that night.

 

 

The next morning it was pouring and on the way from one cabin to the other we each grabbed a peach and munched our way across the lawn. Unfortunately the wind had picked up over night and knocked off a lot of the peaches as they were all just about ripe. But the winds continued and the rains were not about the quit that day. We were sequestered inside and I thought I would go out and gather the fallen fruit to make a cobbler once things calmed down. I should have gone out into the storm - or just gathered them all off the tree when we first arrived. By the time I managed to get out there hail had moved through and damaged the fruit so badly and then the continued rain just washed the rest of the fruit off of the pits. There was nothing but pits and mush left. What a sad state of affairs. There was a good 20 peaches that were wasted. Granted these peaches were small as the tree is small and it held a lot of fruit, but they were bursting with flavor!

 

The rest of the newly planted trees (year and half old now) did not produce any fruit. They weren't expected to. Added bonus if they did but it wasn't expected. Peach trees just seem to mature faster for some reason. But, I'm so glad that they are planted and really growing nicely. They all came out of dormancy and are growing wonderfully. The apple trees are healthy, the plum tree looks fantastic the peach trees obviously are doing well. It's especially good that the plum tree is doing good. The ancient one that we have been depending on that is up with the pecan trees? It didn't come out of dormancy this year. It appears the lichens that have been growing all over it have finally zapped the last of it's strength. Most of the wood is brittle now and there is not much chance that even with the removal of the lichen growth that the old tree could survive. It will be removed when we go back in the Fall. There is a quick trip planned for September, but it's much too fast for that project. The diseased wood will need to be burned to be properly disposed and we wouldn't have time. Better to leave the tree in place for the time being. Besides saying goodbye to an old grandmother tree which will be difficult I guess this means we'll also have to make a decision on what type of plum to replace it with. We had hoped that the plum we planted would cross pollinate with it, but now we'll have to purchase a second tree to pollinate the first. There are wild plum trees in the woods but pollination would be spotty at very best as the home site is much higher than the surrounding woods and the pines have grown so much that they would block most of the pollen from getting through.

 

Oh, and that leads me to a whole other huge post on decision for the property. Unfortunately the rain didn't let up the entire time we were there so even though a LOT got accomplished there isn't a lot of pictures to share. :-(

Um, and I have to decide if I should get rid of a bossy hen that is picking all the feathers from another hen and making her miserable. She's grabbed me more than once, too. The kids will be sad, but new chicks would be good, right? *sigh* Decision time here, too.

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 5.16.11

Wacky Week! It's Harvest Monday again, and I'm still joining in the fun over at Daphne's place. If I didn't I think she might come looking for me. Nah. Probably not - but I would miss seeing everyone else's posts!
This weeks harvest? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I took the tally - but left it sitting on the kitchen counter.
I'm thinking me and weighing my prizes isn't going over so well. LOL. Oh, I started with good intentions. I did. I just have some of the worst follow through. Maybe I'd be better off to just keep it on paper. So far that is what is actually get kept track of. Then again it doesn't get added together unless I bring it to my own attention and post the total here. Such a catch 22.

The first ear of corn came in. Oh - YUM. I wish it was easier to grow good corn here. What I believe is the last of the broccoli and carrots are here.

More zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, Cilantro, peaches, blueberries, green beans and kidney beans 

 



So a very diverse picking this week. It won't be so diverse next week. The carrots are gone, and I've left a stalk of broccoli to flower hoping to attract some bees or wasps, or anything that flies that can pollinate.
The weather has been wild this week and believe it or not cool. But the crazy winds have taken out all my sunflowers and most of my beans, and corn. Some of my tomatoes stalks are broken and citrus pups are falling. Usually our wild storms are late summer and after the larger less sturdy plants have produced their finest crops. So it was  quite a shock to find my peppers snapped in half and all the damage done in the last few days.
The rare tree sale was a good time, though I missed meeting up with a comrade and wished for a bigger budget while I was there. This week is the middle of the month so stay tuned for my mid month update!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 5.2.11

Happy Monday! Harvest Monday, of course. Joining in at Daphne's once again to see what the world is harvesting, and sometimes how they are using their harvests. Break out your Maypoles people the harvests have begun to diversify. It's time to string the ribbons and celebrate!
This week was the most productive by far this year. Lettuce, berries, beans, CARROTS (each day a few as I needed them!)

 

 

 

 

*Onions (small bulbs, but oh so good) 6lb total      *Green beans total of 5lb 6oz      *Zucchini I forgot to measure it all but 4lb 7oz       *Carrots for a whopping 3pounds, my largest EVER harvest of them       *Strawberries 9oz     *blueberries 15oz      *lettuce 8oz      *peas 4.5oz      *peaches 2lb 3ozs!   Blackberries  4oz  *broccoli 1lb 6oz

The broccoli is nearly final, and the lettuce is final - I am still undecided if I will allow the remaining plants to try to give me side shoots. The second succession of beans are starting, just as I'm almost ready to pull the first set out so perfect timing there. The most productive zucchini has PM so it's a matter of time now... and that's all right I'll have it again in a few months in the fall. I'm sure I'll get a few more weeks out of it, until the steady afternoon rains come. Now I will have to keep an eye on my winter squash I suppose. Ho hum.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

The newest update.

In pictures of course. Because I'm hot or cold with them. Either all or nothing, and today you get 'em all! Well, gardening ones anyway.

I came home the other day with this lovely basket. All for the sake of sharing a little knowledge, and a lot of wind (talk, not toots!)  with a friend of mine. I sent him home to his wife with a grab bag full of seeds all labeled with when to plant and what would tolerate the frosts and what wouldn't, etc. I certainly didn't expect this, and now turn abouts fair play - if anyone is looking for the best AFLAC agent in Florida just let me know and I'll be glad to send you his info. :-) His wife C. made this basket by hand. Talk about talent. OK she didn't hand weave the thing, but she put it all together and made such a wonderful presentation. I can't wait to find the perfect place to put a few of these things, and the Burt's Bees already managed to find a place, my purse! :-D

Now, for the garden side. It's the end of April now so the cooler season crops have all dwindled down. I expect that the very last peas will be brought in on Saturday. All what, three, five? of them that are left. In their place I'll need to decide quickly if I will plant the limas or the black beans, or the cow peas, or.... *sigh* such cramped spaces is bad this time of year. In the winter it's good because I don't do a lot of cole crops but in the spring and through fall it is pure torture.

Believe it or not my corn is tasseling! It's a mere 3.5 - 4 foot tall! I am certainly not complaining. Early corn is all good by me. I'm just concerned because something inevitably happens to my corn. I typically harvest only 1/5 of what is planted. Oh, and I have a few silks peeking out, too so at least the plants aren't insane, they are doing what they are supposed to do, just early it seems.

The tomatillos - well they are insane still - both bushes but as of yet none of the fallen flowers have filled in well enough to tell for sure that we have set fruit. It seems we have, but no guarantees yet. I'm wondering how the 'papers' will do in our humidity, but so far the plants are certainly thriving on absolutely no attention whatsoever. I've decided next year to plant them behind the pool pump and let them grow wild, like weeds. We had a lantern grow there last year for only 2 months and it was willing to dominate the entire pumpyard. I'm thinking these plants look identical and act identical and would do very well there, completely ignored.

There are monsters in my garden lurking! This behemoth weighed in at over 2 and a half pounds! And it DID NOT BULB! Hello!? Can you imagine if it had? Yikes!
It has siblings i left in the ground, but curiosity got the best of me and after playing tug of war for a few minutes, I finally got this one out to give it the once over. Hopefully the others will see the massacre and get scared into bulbing. Hey, cound happen. Never know! Meanwhile it is perfectly usable, just not for storage. Soup, here it comes!

 

Every tomato plant I have it setting fruit now. Not as much fruit as I have seen in years past, thanks to a very hot start to our spring, but a faster start then previous years so it is a trade off. Even the smallest plants at only 4" are setting fruits! The one in the screen enclosure is as well and it is small, too. It's a everglades currant if anyone in Florida wants to know. I'll be planting more of those. Tom says they will set through the summer. I'm yet to see a tomato that truly sets in Florida summers, but he lives not far from me, so we shall see. I'm certainly excited to try, and Tom is someone I definitely trust, so I'm very excited indeed! (even if it is a tee tiny tomato something is better than nothing!)

The beans are still producing well, spilling into the lawn.
The first to produce (harvester) are finished with their duty and ready to be pulled and replaced with a summer staple. Hard to do that when the plant itself is so darn healthy. But it would be another 4 weeks before it would bloom again and then it would be too hot to set. Of course the decision of which plant will replace it is yet to come.

 

Sunflower, Winter squash Lakota and Pomegranates ready for pollination.

 
Pesky cuke finally took after weeks of getting after it with a paint brush. Just look! It's already over grown the 4' lattice. sheesh! I'm so happy to see this little fella hanging on!

The blackberries are uh- brambling. The grapes are setting....

 The peaches are ripening and as of yesterday fully half of them were stolen and our back gate was open. Grrr...

I've decided I'm going to fertilize this guy, grown him big and get him a collar. Then I will sick him on anyone who walks back there unannounced! Bad news is we had just showed off our garden to a neighbor. We don't think she did it, but we think she may have talked it up with her neighbors and word spreads. I just hope it was someones kids who did it and not an adult. I will seriously hurt someone if I find them stealing my food. (adult) Ask, and I will gladly share, but do NOT steal! Grrr...

I think that is it. The rest of the pictures are for Harvest Monday so come on back y'all. I have them uploaded already so at least you'll have the first half of the week waiting for ya! This week the garden harvesting is going gangbusters -relatively speaking for a 100 square foot garden- as the cool season stuff is on it's way out and needs harvested before it bolts. Get this- I FINALLY (successfully) grew carrots! Sweet success. Only problem is that the kids are eating them straight out of the garden (after rinsing them with the garden hose) and not many are making it inside! I guess that is a good sign that they at least taste good. GO ME! *snicker*

'Till next time!

Barbie~