Harvest Monday 4.1.13

No April Fool's Jokes here. The only joke is the way I feel after a ton of work in the yard this weekend.

Not only did we get the new container filled up, but the playground got cleaned up and newly mulched, the hedges got trimmed, the lawn got mowed, the seeds got sowed, the chicken coop got cleaned... we spent the entire weekend outside. Except for the 3 hours Easter morning that we spent hunting eggs and doing the whole bunny thing.

 

Harvests this week? Peas, Jalapenos, mulberries, a head of lettuce, radishes and...

THE! FIRST! BLUEBERRIES!

Nom, Nom, Nom. Just for Easter morning. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't show anyone. I scarfed them. Most of the berries have been disappearing just before ripening. Much like my peaches. :-( But these I got to in time! Next year I'll net the bushes, but this year I just don't have enough on the poor bushes to make it worth my time and effort. I'll have to decide what to do with the bushes when they are done producing. Around here it's pretty common to see the big producers cut them hedge style at the end of picking in order to allow the new canes time to grow again before next season. I might do this as this is the second year these plants are int he ground. (They spent one yer in pots getting nursed back to health) They are now just barely large enough to sustain that treatment.

Of course we also harvest eggs. And, given the nature of the week and all, you probably figured out what I did with those eggs, right? Right. I boiled them suckers up and we played with them! The kids a blast this year. I don't think that they even really remember dying them last year. They remember seeing them dyed of course, but not the process and just how messy and fun it can be. I'm always on the look out for special things to do with our eggs, and since I'm just not willing to spend the money to go and buy WHITE eggs for this singular occasion we have to get creative to make them stand out. I think we did a pretty darn good job. If I do say so myself. :-)

 

As for the outside work? I don't have all the pictures, but the two boxes I have pictures of.

The newer box still needs the top finished in brick. They are there and waiting, but they were holding up the side bricks while they dried. LOL. The first box is fully planted now. I snapped a picture from the window of my living room. I don't know if you can really see or not, but it has lettuce, tomato, potato, leek, and strawberries. :-D

 

I'm really enjoying the height of the boxes. It makes it nice to have a seat and be able to garden without breaking my back. No aching knees and no itchy grass, either.

 

Sown this week: Early Sunglow? corn, Henderson bush Lima beans, Top Crop green beans, Burmese okra,  Sierra Gold & Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe, Sugar Baby Watermelon,  Kubocha Sunshine, Yard long cucumber, Cilantro, Genovese, Sweet & Giant basil

(BOX) Contender bush beans, Holstein beans, Sun Spot sunflowers, Eureka, & All Season cucumber, Ground cherries

 

I think that is everything. I may have missed something. I only sowed half the box. I'm still undecided on the other half. I may just wait 2 weeks and fill it in with green beans. Can't go wrong with them around here. :-)

 

See you soon!

 

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~

(Not Quite) Harvest Monday

Well Harvest Monday fell on Labor Day and I'll be darned if I didn't slack off on my day off!
We swam, and had a cook out. We relaxed and yes I did do some gardening too- but NOT MUCH!

 

I did harvest this week though. Broccoli as a matter of fact. 1.2 stinking ounces of wonderful yummy *tiny* goodness. 1 lb of limas, a couple limes, a lemon, a pound of dry beans,  a cup and a half of mulberries, 2 cups of basil which was about 3 ounces maybe.... and some hot peppers for our burgers, an onion... when you are cooking out sometimes things just jump out of the garden at you (like those limes, for the beers)
I also made the yummiest, moistest, most delicious cake with one of my packets of pumpkin. One of my neighbors who swore up and down that she didn't like squash or pumpkin was there to give it a try, boy did I show her.... She liked it! :-D Her kids all gobbled it up and they don't eat any veggies so we definitely have a winner! (We didn't tell the kids. teehee)
There will be no pictures of this cake because, well it was devoured while still warm. While it was cooking all of us were drooling over the smell of it. Once it came out it was game over!
See you next Monday!

'Till next time!

Barbie~