What are you harvesting THIS week??

15 years ago

I am picking lots of snow peas, strawberries, rhubarb, a small Walla Walla onion as needed. And herbs: oregano, sage, thyme and mint are ready to dry.

I'm zone 8 PNW.

How about you??

Deanna

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (56)

whynotmi
15 years ago
Like Annie said, not much yet here in the mitten state. Salad greens, rhubarb, blackberries and mulberries right now.

Sidebar, I was out picking berries on this great mid-60s day. Perfect summer temp for cooking and canning. I got home to find my utilities turned off. It seems someone called in and changed my services to their name on the 25th then requested they be shut off a week later. Yeah, I'm not exactly happy. Due to recent storms the repair crews are rather busy but they will get my services back "as soon as possible". Seems like they sure found the time to swing by and turn them off. Sigh... At least it's cool so I'm not in total misery, just unable to cook, clean (don't want to drain my hot water heater) or do much other than work in the garden. LOL

I'm hoping I have enough mulberries to do mulberry jelly tomorrow.

Oh, and I got a Presto pressure canner from Wal-mart for $57. It was an unadvertised sale I guess. It's big enough to fit 7 quart jars. Being just one here I thing that will suffice. Also picked up some Bell brand pectin $1.41/box, low-sugar pectin $1.50/box, pickling salt (about the size of a regular box of salt) for $1.57 and some lids while I was at it.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow will remain cool.
lynn_1965
15 years ago
I'm also in zone 8, Oregon coast.

Nothing.....yet.

Last week, I planted pole beans for the third time! We have had so much overcast and fog that the seeds are rotting in the ground. This last time, I soaked the bean seeds first. I have never had to do that before. Our tomato plants are very slow growing. We have 4 little green tomatoes on them.

Waiting for the sun to shine! And our garden to grow.

Lynn
Related Discussions
This Week's Harvest
Q
Comments (25)
Courtney, You know, I just had to pass on the USO story to you after I read it in Sunday's paper because positive media coverage on any military issue is so rare anymore! We have turtles everywhere this year, much more so than in past years. Even in a year where I rarely see a turtle, there is always one or two plodding around the yard and garden, eating whatever strikes their fancy. This year, there's more than one or two! They are even digging up bermuda grass and laying their eggs right in the yard. Hmmm? An animal that digs up bermuda grass? I need more of those! Cutworms are sneaky. I can have 50 bush bean plants and they'll take out only 1 or 2 here or there, some years. Other years, they go right down the row and saw them all down. Some of them eat everything they cut. Some don't. Sometimes what I think is cutworm damage is actually plants being gnawed in two and then devoured by pillbugs/sowbugs (Slug-go snail and slug killer takes care of those bugs). Sometimes birds will nip young plants in half and it resembles cutworms. So, a lot of times, if you can't see the pest while it is active, it is hard (impossible!) to be sure what the pest is. Congratulations on the harvest! I love fresh chives. For a few years I had huge rows of chives as a edging on both sides of a raised bed that was 4' wide by 30' long. Last year, they mostly died when I gave up and quit watering the garden in June. However, a few came back and I transplanted them into my cottage border. Your Veggie Garden 'lessons learned' are priceless. I am here to tell you that learning these things 'the hard way' is the most fun! I agree that some weeds are good in the garden. By being smart and observing what bugs like what weeds, you will learn which weeds to allow as a 'trap crop' for pests. The main reason I interplant herbs and flowers in my veggie garden is because they attract beneficial insects OR trap harmful insects making them easy to catch/kill, OR improve the flower of a veggie (like borage and basil improve tomato flavor). It doesn't hurt that they are pretty or that they smell good too! This is also the reason I plant a mixed cottage border around my veggie bed. For what it is worth, I ALWAYS plant too many pumpkins and winter squash and ornamental gourds and I ALWAYS plant them too close together. Some years, disease and pests will wipe out some of them, but since I overplanted, I always have plenty. In a good year, I will have wheelbarrow loads and they make GREAT late summer to late autumn displays around the yard, garden and barn. After that, I give them to the dogs to play with and to the compost pile to feed it. Often, the pumpkins/witer squash/gourds reseed in the dog yard where they climb the fence, and in the compost pile, where they cover it up and hide it pretty well. Oh, if you have a fairly cool space to store them, some pumpkins and winter squash can be stored for MONTHS and then eaten, too. I have kept fall-harvest pumpkins in my tornado shelter until as late as February and March some years, and they were just fine for cooking/eating. I have also kept fall-harvested winter squash in my garage through the spring without a serious loss of quality. I am glad you are having a wonderful June in the garden. Now, if it would only stop raining! Dawn
...See More
What are you harvesting this week?
Q
Comments (19)
Carbon produced really well here this summer, but after I had canned, frozen and dehydrated all the tomtoes we could possibly eat, I took out the 4 rows of plants that produced big slicers and replaced them with southern peas and beans for fall. I guess that was in late July. My Carbon plants were in those rows. I still have about 30 or so tomato plants left--a handful in two separate parts of the big garden--and the rest in containers up by the garage. Of those 30, about half are small container types that produce cherry tomatoes. I tried to leave tomato varieties in containers that produce slicers and bite-sized ones. I removed all the paste tomatoes because I have no desire to can one more tomato this year. Nor do I have room for one more jar anywhere in the kitchen. I still have enough frozen tomatoes (frozen whole and in the form of frozen puree) to make another dozen batches of Annie's Salsa, though that is not necessarily what I'll use them for. However, with the tomato puree, I froze it in the amount used for salsa just in case that's how I decide to use it. This was the best tomato year we've had in ages, probably since 2004 or 2006. I have made candied jalapenos for several years now, and no matter how many I make we always run out. We give them, along with Annie's Salsa and Habanero Gold, as gifts at Christmas. I usually make about 60-70 jars of candied jalapenos per year. Sometimes, we already have less jars than we need by Christmas and I have to make more in order to have enough to give away as gifts. Larry, Your peppers need to be grown dry and hot in order for them to have the best flavor. I avoid watering mine as much as possible in the summer, letting them get almost to the wilt point before I water, and I don't water heavily. In extra-hot, extra-dry weather like we had last summer and this summer it can be hard to get them enough water to keep them from wilting but not so much that the flavor is not as pungent as it should be. I also choose jalapeno varieties that have good heat, like Biker Billy, Mucho Nacho and Chichimeca. Dawn
...See More
Interesting radish harvest after 6 weeks
Q
Comments (7)
That is plenty of room. Your soil is most likely too fertile. It causes leaf production over radish growth as you can see in the long skinny one. Much bigger leaf growth. Climate also. They like cool soil and cool nights. Once it heats up they slow way down. Probably harvested too soon. You can try another sowing in late August for a fall crop. (depending where you are). Some mistakes happen when a garden is planted all at once. Some crops love going in as soon as the soil can be worked and don't mind very cold weather.
...See More
What Is Everyone Harvesting This Week?
Q
Comments (219)
Kim, I've been throwing a lot in the freezer too, but the freezers are filling up fast, so the canning goes on and on and on. I hate it while I'm spending too many hours per day doing it (my feet are old and get tired fast!!!), but later on, when I think of all the home-grown food stockpiled in the freezers, pantry, etc., then I'm glad I took the time to preserve it all. autheray, I haven't seen our baby bunny in a few days, so I think either something got it or it left the garden when I left the gate open. I've never allowed a rabbit to stay in the garden before, but it was really small and appeared to be all alone so I wanted it to gain some size before it went out into the cold, cruel world. There's no longer any fruit low enough on our tomato plants for a bunny to reach them, so I suppose it wouldn't upset me if it was still in the garden. It might have nibbled a couple of cucumbers that were low on the trellis, but it didn't eat any plants. As rabbits go, it wasn't too destructive. I wouldn't want a rabbit of any size in the garden when peas and beans are sprouting as they sure do mow those down. Hazel, I hope the trip was fun and am excited for y'all that you got ripe tomatoes! None of my tomato plants look good. They all have something wrong with them. It doesn't matter. We don't grow them as ornamentals. We grow them to produce tomatoes. So, as long as they are producing tomatoes, I ignore how ugly they get as the season goes on. Tomato plants that look like crap, they have foliar diseases, spider mites and stink bugs galore still are producing huge harvests in our garden and I'm still canning and freezing tomatoes as fast as I can. So, I think that ugly tomato plants are okay, and I'm not willing to use the many kinds of chemicals that might keep them looking better. I think that once plants are supporting loads of tomato fruit, that's where their energy goes---to producing and maturing that fruit. I'd rather they expend their energy on that than on maintaining pretty foliage. Why is it so hot? a) It is summertime. b) It is summertime. c) Refer to a and b. It isn't hot if you stay inside in the air conditioning. Well, it it hot, but the heat is out there in the garden, not inside in the house. It felt pretty nice outside this morning around 7 or 7:30 a.m. when I went out to harvest, but by 9:30 or 10:00, it already felt too hot. Some days I am out by 6:30 a.m. and it feels even better, but I canned all day yesterday and had a hard time getting myself awake, alive, alert and enthusiastic this morning. Well, I was alive, but had to work hard on the rest. I'm supposed to be in the kitchen canning right now, according to the plan I had in my head when I got up this morning, but I'm putting it off as long as I can because I know that once I start canning, I won't stop until dinner time. Rebecca, I let my dill self sow and pop up all over the garden and yard. It seems to germinate sporadically which means I always have dill whenever I have pickles ready to pickle, at least until sometime in July when the dill tends to burn up in the heat. Our first dill plants this year popped up out of the ground in February and have long since gone to seed, but others kept popping up through at least May and those still are providing dill heads for canning and dill weed for drying. Some of the older ones are now going to seed to ensure we have dill next year. Amy, Our chickens ignore fencing. One flew over the 8' fence around the dog yard while I was out in the garden this morning and the dogs killed it. The garden is a long way from the dog yard and I got there as fast as I could when I heard the commotion, but it was too late for the chicken. We have deer netting roofs over all our chicken runs to keep them from flying out of their own runs if they are locked up in them, but I am not going to try to put a deer netting top over the large dog yard. You would think that chickens that have almost 15 acres to room wouldn't go to the trouble to invade a dog yard with 3 dogs in it. Hopefully all the chickens that witnessed the death of their compadre learned from it and won't go into the dog yard. We do all we reasonably can do to keep the chickens safe and yet still allow them to roam, dig, scratch and chase bugs like chickens love to do, but they don't make it easy. Today I only harvested the usual stuff...tomatoes, peppers, green beans PEPH peas and cucumbers, but when I walked up one row picking PEPH peas, I noticed that Lima Beans have set on our Violet's Multicolored Butterbean plants across the pathway from them, so then I went one row over and checked the trellis where we're growing Sieva lima beans and found they had set beans too. That's a relief. I was worried the heat was impeding them, but apparently it isn't. I'm getting tired of having too many tomatoes, but am hoping to have too many butterbeans! Dawn
...See More
flora_uk
15 years ago
Today I picked rhubarb, red currants, raspberries, lettuces, rocket (arugula), red orach, broad(fava) beans, oregano and sorrel. My neighbour has beaten me on the runner beans. My first picking will be ready in a couple of days.

Lyn - I seldom have much success direct sowing beans (French beans and runner beans) in the ground. They often rot or get eaten in my climate. I start them in modules indoors and plant them out. They transplant very well. Maybe you could start a few inside just in case your latest efforts come to nought. (Favas seem to fare better, probably because they tolerate much lower temps.)
zabby17
15 years ago
Sugar snap peas! Lots and lots, and they are wonderful! The same cool, wet weather this spring that has made my already-late-to-start tomatoes grow slowly and caused some of my (and the farm stand's) strawberries to rot on the ground has made the peas very, very happy. And me, too; I devoted almost a whole 3 x 8 raised bed to sugar snaps: a shorter, lower-yielding, but earlier variety and a tall, higher-yielding one that is climbing most charmingly up some trellises I made from an old wooden clothes-drying rack strung with twine.

I'm also cutting lots of lettuce and herbs.

On Sunday night a friend came by who is really not a fan of vegetbables. I served a salad based on my own garden lettuce and snap peas, with some store-bought peppers and cukes and then a homemade creamy garlic/herb dressing with my garden basil, oregano, and chives. Tossed on some goat feta and some fresh quality croutons from the gourmet store.

My veggie-hating friend couldn't stop talking about how good the salad was. "Usually I eat a bit of salad because I know it's good for me," she said, "but I never knew a salad could actually taste amazing!"

Zabby, beaming with pride
grandad_2003
15 years ago
Picking the week of June 30, 2008 - eggplant, tomato, cucumber, asparagus beans, summer squash (yellow straight neck and zucchini), cubanelle pepper & jalapeno pepper.
ksrogers
15 years ago
Many lettuce leaves of different types. Wish the cukes and tomatoes were ready, but they aren't.
dgkritch
Original Author
15 years ago
Anybody else have trouble posting yesterday??? I tried to answer trsinc and Lynn and it never showed up. Sigh.

Anyway, trsinc, I dry herbs to share with family who don't have gardens and to use in the winter when I don't want to go muck around in the rain for a snip or two! I'm Lazy. LOL

Lynn, we are finally getting growth now that the sun has figured out it's summer. You guys probably have way more fog than we do. Hopefully it'll burn off and the smoke California fires will clear out as well. It's been very hazy here for days!

Deanna
zabby17
15 years ago
Ken, I'm so glad your lettuces are working out!

Nothing like fresh-from-the-garden greens, eh?

Zabby, thinking she might just pop in a few more lettuce seeds between the cukes and the corn...
shirleywny5
15 years ago
I ate all the radishes. Sugar snaps and snow peas are just starting. Still harvesting green onions and rhubarb. I snuck, or is it sneaked, a few red Norland potatoes and beet greens for dinner yesterday.
ksrogers
15 years ago
Actually, I decided to give it another day or two, as I want to harvest a larger amount of the lettuce. Some is that ferny leaf stuff, as well as bib, and red leaf. I also planted two additional seed areas so the lettuce will produce all summer. We have had some very heavy rain here, so I wasn't able to get out to cut any yet. I have to deal with store bought cukes and tomatoes however, so the lettuce should taste good. I am also finally able to use my new salad spinner. Wish I had some of those 'green bags' to help the lettuce keep a bit longer in the fridge. My radishes are still quite small and thin.
trsinc
15 years ago
Deanna, thanks for letting me know. I was thinking perhaps all of that "lovely" rain you get turned perennial herbs into annuals. I envy that rain, by the way... The grass is always greener on the other side, yeah? Understand about being lazy, too. That's why the only ornamentals I have are TX natives or extremely drought resistant. Also why the only vegies I have growing and or producing right now are the ones that tolerate hell temps!

I love reading about all the different gardens around the U.S. Sometimes it frustrates me, but other times I really gain respect for you folks that have such short growing seasons! We've all got our problems, I guess.
lexilani
15 years ago
Hi All,
Not too much happening here in Paw Paw WV, the rain and cool weather really slowed growth. I have picked peas, beans, and blueberries. Really happy about the blueberries as I'm finally getting enough to make it worth it.
I messed up my strawberries this year so they are just now bouncing back :( I read online somewhere that putting straw on top would help with all the weeds but really it killed many of the plants. Shoulda checked in with you guys first.

I put netting on my fruit trees and something managed to eat every single sour cherry! Not one hole in the netting either. I planted silver queen white corn this year and the first planting I planted about 350 kernels of corn...and they got to about 2 or 3 inches tall and then the darn big black crows pulled out every little corn stalk!! Never saw that happen before. So I replanted and made an obstical (sp) for them. I've got string running through it like a checkerboard and i've got blue tarp on tall poles that flap all over the place and bells and little pie pans lol. But it's worked so far.

Looking forward to searching the old posts for some good blueberry ideas :)
macheske
15 years ago
Hmmm...we're picking probably 15 zucchini, 20 crooknecks, 3 lbs of yellow beans, 4 lbs of green beans, 20 cucumbers (pickling cukes, asian cukes, and Divas), dill, basil, parsley and cherry tomatoes (sungolds). The strawberries are done for the year and we're waiting on the big tomatoes, peppers, watermellons, cantaloupe, winter squash, and pole beans. This year has been incredible for us so far. The neighbors and co-workers are very happy. I've put up 3 doz quarts of beans, 5 gallons of claussen type dill pickles and 1 1/2 doz pints of dill relish (yesterday). This is my first year of canning so I'm learning alot! This is also the second year for the garden so I'm learning even more there. Next year we're adding corn and grapes so we're going from 40 x 80 to 80 x 80. No more store bought produce for us!
macheske
15 years ago
Oh...that's per day.
zabby17
15 years ago
trsinc,

I know what you mean about the grass being greener! Up here in the True North I sometimes find myself jealous when I read about more southern gardens. Some perennial herbs are turned into annuals here by our wicked winters---bay and, to my great sadness, rosemary won't overwinter. Nor did the lovely mexican oregano I tried a few years back (though common oregano fluorishes just fine). And when I read about folks harvesting even lettuce in February, when we're under 3 feet of snow, and getting their first tomatoes in June, I get a bit green.

But then I hear about folks digging up spring bulbs and putting them in the freezer so they get enough cold to bloom, and about tomato gardeners in the hottest parts of Texas who have even shorter seasons than I do because they can't get anything to set in July or August (so they plant a spring tomato garden and a fall one), and I realize we all have our challenges!

With the peas and lettuce and coming in fast and furious and lots of herbs to snip, I'm feeling content enough with my zone 5 right now, though all the rain we've had lately is making the strawberry crop rather soggy.

Zabby
macheske
15 years ago
Looks like I spoke too soon....

My first non-cherry tomato of the year!!!
{{gwi:95182}}

Came in at 1 lb, 2 oz.
ksrogers
15 years ago
Harvested a big batch of the various lettuce. All were rinsed off and run through my Oxo salad spinner to remove the rinse water. Does a great job. Had gone out to buy a few pickling cukes as mine are not ready yet. The only ones I could find were 'baby cukes' in a zip top bag. Opened it up and all were SLIMY! Went back and got my $3.50 back! Four little cukes for that price, HA! I opted for a 'big peelable' cuke instead. The tiny grape tomatos I also bought were fair. Soon, more lettuce will be bigger. Its a mescilun mix, bib, and red leaf. All growing in the same locatons as it was a seed packet of mixed lettuce. At stores they get $5 a pound or more for this stuff. Most are ready in 30 days. I was impressed! No varmints DARE chew these, so I don't spray or anyting. Today, its quite cool outside with temps in the 60's again. Not good for any growing except maybe peas and broccoli. My dill is huge and the grape tomatoes are just now flowering. No pickling cukes but at least I have 2 foot long vines now.
{{gwi:894649}}
lynn_1965
15 years ago
Now that's a garden!

Very nice!

Lynn
greenhouser
15 years ago
This morning I brought in a ripe tomato, a zucchini, a cucumber and some stringbeans. I saw small eggplants on the 2 plants I have. This is the first time I'm growing eggplants.

The cuke is a volunteer that came up by the greenhouse so we left it there. It's growing like crazy and is full of small cukes.
macheske
15 years ago
ksrogers,
I'll give you as many cukes and cherry tomatoes as you would like! I can't keep up with mine. I can't believe the price you paid...
belindach
15 years ago
Ken, lovely garden. Is that asparagus toward the backside?
whynotmi
15 years ago
Ken, your garden is really inspiring. Thanks for posting the pic. =)

BTW, what is your secret for dill? I can't get it to do anything in my yard.
macheske
15 years ago
I can't make it leave my yard. I didn't plant it and I have more than enough to make pickles.
ksrogers
15 years ago
This whole garden is tilled each spring and as you can see I have flack plastic fabric mulch put down to block weeds. The same fabric has lasted 4 years now and I am thinking it might work again next year. Bought a SERIOUS supply of 300 feet by 6 foot wide. The 'gus ferns are in front of the small shed from next door near the top of the photo. There's about 'gus 40 plants there now. Just below the 'gus and close to the peach/plum/apricot is seedless watermelon, which was tarted indoors and has been doing very poorly so far due to no long heat spell yet. I also have soaker hoses spread out. Some of the center area is still sprouting new lettuce and some radishes. Yes, I was not going to pay $3.50 for a bag of slime..I made the produce guy pull every bag of them after I cam back for the refund.
lynn_1965
15 years ago
We are still getting a lot of fog and drizzle here on the coast. Upper 50's to mid 60's.

When it gets warm/hot in the valley,(Eugene) It brings the fog in here.

Our bush beans are about 3" tall now.

A couple of little green tomatoes on the vines.

Squash plants are still small.

Maybe next week will be better. :)

Lynn
ksrogers
15 years ago
Your not alone. About the only thing thats really doing well is the lettuce, and half my pea crop is picked and passed now.
lynn_1965
15 years ago
Thanks Ken,

Makes me feel a little better!

Happy 4th!

Lynn
melva02
15 years ago
All my herbs are ready except the dill. Zucchini flowers finally opened along with the watermelon flowers. I have green tomatoes on the yellow pear, roma, and husky cherry red plants. The banana peppers are getting longer, and there's actually more than one on the plant, so maybe I finally found a pepper match for me.

My CSA (farm share) has been providing cucumbers, potatoes, and green onions for about 3 weeks now. This week it was purple potatoes! I boiled them with lots of salt (Alton Brown recipe from the Good Eats episode on salt) and they were so good, even cold. My share this week also had some red onions, a few little heads of savoy cabbage, and some rainbow chard. I don't love cooked greens so I think I might make lentil & chard soup.

I know tomatoes are ready in VA by now, so I need to hit up the produce stand one of these days. My feet are getting tired of canning every weekend!

Melissa
zabby17
15 years ago
I found a teeny tomato today! A blossom was JUST falling off on my Stupice plant. Woo hoo! I might have tomatoes SOMEtime this year!

Meanwhile, like Ken, I'm making do with lettuce and peas. My pea crop, too, is half done---the shorter, earlier-producing plants are about pooped out so I think I'll pull them. The taller variety is still doing well.

And herbs. I have been making really good use this spring of my herb garden, which is all in pots along the side of the house. Lots of homemade salad dressings, seasonings for the grill, flavourful tuna sandwiches, thai dishes with fresh thai basil and coriander, parsley garnishing everything... and OH! made my first pesto of the year the other night. Oh, man, is fresh basil good.

Zabby
ksrogers
15 years ago
My tall peas are huge pods and have maybe 10 or more peas each. Wish I could remember what type they were, but they did take almost a month more to grow to maturity. I have a couple of small grape tomatoes now, but still green. Also have a couple of small peppers. I am spraying a kelp spray on my peas, and tomatoes to get them to flower and mature faster naturally. Its also been effective in getting all the first peas to mature at once. In mid August, I plan to replant more peas for a fall crop. I figure by the time they sprout its Labor Day and it starts to cool down at night. You can't beat store bought frozen peas though. A buck a pound, at $6.00 for 3 two pound bags at BJ's..
zabby17
15 years ago
> You can't beat store bought frozen peas though. A buck a pound

Well, not for price you can't beat them. But the taste just isn't in the same universe. I use store-bought frozen peas to cook with in the winter, but I really don't consider them to be the same vegetable as fresh garden peas.

All the ones I grew this year were sugar snaps, btw, and I think I'll do that again in future. THey are at least as tasty as any shelling pea, but you just get SO much more edible pea for your garden space, and less work to prepare!

Just planted a new batch of "tom thumb" mini head lettuces, in the shade of the cucmber trellis. We'll see how they make out. (Usually my lettuces all poop out by the time I have fresh tomatoes; I'm trying to find a way to get a garden BLT.)

Also just put in two new summer squashes, a really short-season variety (less than 45 days to the first ripe squash!). I planted the others about 5 weeks ago; they're just starting to flower. I figure the new ones will be ready to take over when these are starting to poop out.

Gonna put in some more coriander, too. It always bolts long before the tomatoes are ready so I have to buy it to make salsa.

Haven't been very successful with this kind of succession planting in the past--usually I forget all about planting anything new once I start harvesting. Maybe the cool weather is keeping me in a planting frame of mind. We'll se whether any of it is successful!

Zabby
ksrogers
15 years ago
I had sugar snaps next to snow peas one year and in the early stages they were not easy to seperate. I picked both when still a bit flat and found the sugar snap type to have some stringy pods even though they were immature. I only tried them one year as I was not impressed. I had tried frozen sugar snaps and they too have a few strings. With a buck a pound and no shelling, or planting, picking, weeding, and blanching, I can deal with store bought frozen peas. They may not be as fresh from garden to factory, but for the minumal cost, well worth the money. I used to plant limas too and they were not as productive last year, so I stopped. Just way too much foliage and not many pods. I let them sit for a longer while in hopes of getting more mature ones, but alas, the were yellow beans inside, which are quite dry and tough, so I pickled them instead. Some of my dill now has green seeds already. The dill seeds I planted the end of May are just 2 inchs tall, but the stuff that survived the winter as seeds is growing out of control now. Next year, lots of yellow corn will be grown, and also yellow waxed beans and a few less cuke plants.
aclum
15 years ago
Hi,

I'm in the Central Valley of CA. Today I harvested my first zucchini and eggplant and, along with tomatoes, basil, and various types of peppers from garden, and onions and garlic from the store, made up a big batch of ratouille. I also made a batch of Sweet Italian Sausage today and fried up some of this to add to the ratatouille.

Tomorrow I'll be picking ancho/poblano peppers that I'll be stuffing for our second batch of chile rellenos using homemade mozzarella. I've got a batch of feta that will be ready in a couple of days, and then we'll be eating Greek Salad (feta, tomatoes, olives, sweet onions) on a regular basis. Should be getting beans and cukes soon - so we'll be into gazpacho and salad nicoise.

This is my first year in a newly created garden and I'm really enjoying the harvest so far!

I'm getting half a hog (butchered, of course) for the freezer in a couple of days and a lamb for the freezer in August, so I'm hoping that we can rely on our freezer and the garden for a good percentage of our meals this summer.

Anne
ksrogers
15 years ago
For red skinned or russets for be baked. I liek coating the whole potato in olive oil (rib it all over with your hands), and then coat with kosher salt and bake. Most of the salt drops off, but what is left and the butter or inside additive* you give it are really tasty.

*Recently I used some of the POWDERED Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (bought from BJ's), and some margerine, and this was just as good as a rich sour cream without the digestive issues (lactose intolerence). Baked potatoes are not the same anymore. A few years ago, I had grown an almost 3-4 pound single red skinned potato. It was huge and when baked, took over 3 hours when baked hole. Fed 3-4 people! Never ever saw a potato THAT big before. It needed to be held with two hands.
macheske
15 years ago
Anne,
Those chile rellenos sound really good. I've had some in South America that didn't use the standard dipped batter but used a crispy crust instead. They were amazing. I wish I could find out the recipe for those.
Rick
whynotmi
15 years ago
I've conned a friend of mine into going with me to a local orchard tomorrow to pick sour cherries. (= When I called the owner to check on the status of the picking he said there was a 2 lb. picking minimum. I laughed a little and said I was thinking more along the lines of a lug or two. He said if I was serious he'd knock $5 off the price of each lug. I see some very stained fingers in my future.
ksrogers
15 years ago
More lettuce tonight. Accidentally picked a couple of radish leaves to. What a shock! Tatested a bit bitter and hot. Then the radish taste came through. Must mark that spot so I don't take more radish leaves.

Cherries, lucky you! If you have way too many, or are in a rush, simply pit and freeze so they can be used later..
whynotmi
15 years ago
Yes, I am lucky to have a source less than 10 miles from home.

Several years ago I found a source for Winesap and Gravenstein apples. Woohoo! A young couple had purchased a run down farm with a small orchard and were slowly bringing the tress back into production. Each season I make my annual pilgrimage up the bumpy dirt road to their tiny stand. It's been nice watching the farm develop over the past few years.
dgkritch
Original Author
15 years ago
I am so tempted..................

My local craigslist just had a posting that there's a cherry tree (Ranier) at someone's business and for $10 you can pick all you want.

Shoot. Wish I like cherries a LOT more. I'll eat a few Bing's fresh, but that's pretty much it. I do have a recipe for Black Forest Jam though.....thinking.....thinking...

:+)

Deanna
fearlessem
15 years ago
It is fruit picking mania on our property right now... Picking about 2 quarts of raspberries every day, and DH just picked about a gallon of wild black raspberries, which happens about every other day... And then there are some pie cherries to be picked before the birds get them!

Picked a big bowl of shelling peas, a bowl of sugar snaps... To me there is a big difference between the two -- while I love both, I find the shelling peas to be even sweeter than the sugar snaps -- I agree with Zabby that they are a totally different animal than frozen. My shelling peas never even make it to cooking -- they all get eaten raw as a snack...
whynotmi
15 years ago
My friend got a call for a job interview so I was solo in the orchard. Well, solo except for the bus of kids from a VBS. YIKES!!! Two of the older kids found a bucket of my picked cherries and were about to claim it. Imagine their surprise when I called down from the tree asking them to be careful not to knock over my bucket of cherries. They hadn't noticed I was there. I confess I was tempted to lower my voice and pull a "voice of god" routine on them. ;^)

The upside was that the church moms weren't letting the kids climb the ladders so I had the upper level of picking all to myself. 43 lbs.

Now it's time to pit the little suckers. Ahhhh, so glad it's nice and I can do it at my picnic table under a tree. Don't have to worry about squirts and pits that way.
lynn_1965
15 years ago
Deanna,

If it were me...... I would pick the cherries. Ranier cherries are $7.98 a pound!

No cherries here for me :(

Lynn
whynotmi
15 years ago
$10 for all you can pick?? WOW! I'd be camped out next to the orchard with food for 3 days and a flatbed trailer to haul it away. lol
whynotmi
15 years ago
Deanna, where did you get your recipe for Black Forest Jam? Sounds like heaven on a saltine to me. If you could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it. I tried searching this site but, well, you know how great the search engine here is. lol thanks
ksrogers
15 years ago
I read that eating raw peas or raw stringbeans, have a higher level of an enzyme that may make some people sick. If at all possible, cook the peas after shelling, in covered microwavable dish. About 2 minutes (depending on the amount of peas, and wattage of the microwave. No added water! Drain the cooked liquid that is exuded, add butter, salt, margerine, or nothing and its pure peas or stringbeans. Sugar snaps go to mush once frozen. Snowpeas are also not crisp after a freeze.
dgkritch
Original Author
15 years ago
whynotmi, here ya go.
The PEOPLE here are the best search engine!!! LOL

Black Forest Preserves

6 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups firmly packed coarsely chopped pitted sweet black cherries
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 pouches liquid pectin (each 3 oz)
4 TBLS. amaretto liqueur or 1/2 teaspoon/2 ml almond extract
1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder. Stir well and set aside.
3. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine sherries and lemon juice. Stir in reserved cocoa mixture.
4. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
5. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
6. Stir in amaretto liqueur.
7. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
8. Leave 1/4 inch headspace in jars.
9. Process 10 minutes in BWB.
Makes about seven 8 ounce jars.

And, no I didn't go pick cherries. I am TRYING to only put up things we actually LIKE! :+)
MY DH wasn't all that thrilled with the "different" kinds of jam I make in the last two years.

Lemon-Lime Marmalade
Apple Pie Jam
Banana Nut Jam
Black Forest Preserves
Vanilla Fig Preserves (thank you Jessy! And I don't care if he doesn't like this one...I DO, more for me!! He actually does like it though)

He usually just wants Grape, Strawberry, Raspberry or Blackberry. Just one flavor, no combos. Boring! But he eats more of it than I do, so I guess I really should consider THAT!! Ha ha ha.

Deanna
whynotmi
15 years ago
Thanks so much for the recipe. Okay, I don't care if it is supposed to be 90 today, I gotta make that Black Forest recipe. Woo Hoo
whynotmi
15 years ago
While eating some stewed cherries on toast I sipped some coffee and it made me wonder. Would adding a bit of instant coffee to the Black Forest recipe cause any problems?
lynn_1965
15 years ago
I just pulled my first 3 radishes! :)

First thing to come out of our garden.

Lynn
dgkritch
Original Author
15 years ago
Wow, Lynn, you guys are a lot colder than we are.
I can't even get more radishes to germinate....too hot!
Lettuce is bolting. Snow peas are done. Strawberries are about done. Now I'm waiting for broccoli to get a little bigger (it's a race to see if the heads get bigger or if the moles eat the roots first, I've lost 3 plants so far, but they were the weaker ones, little to no head on them).

Waiting for peppers, tomatoes, cukes, beans, corn and blueberries.

I picked two tiny yellow summer squash, but there are tons more coming as well as traditional green zucchini!!! (Uh, I may have overdone it....again.)

I'm still harvesting herbs.

Deanna

What are you harvesting THIS week??

Comments (56)

Related Discussions

dgkritchOriginal Author

dgkritchOriginal Author

dgkritchOriginal Author

dgkritchOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

dgkritch
Original Author

dgkritch
Original Author

dgkritch
Original Author

dgkritch
Original Author