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| Pandorino cherry tomatoes |
Harvest Monday is a great blog hop to show case what you are harvesting and doing in your garden each week. Host by Dave over at
Our Happy Acres it's a lot of fun to visit the other gardens, even if I can't go there in person.
I picked 11 pounds of cherry tomatoes last Friday. I am really enjoying the Pandorino, a grape tomato from Italy. They make large clusters which almost all ripen at once, making for very easy picking. They also taste good. Will be planting more of them for sure next year.
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| Lancinato Kale |
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| Scarlet Kale |
I picked a good amount of kale, which is a staple seller at market.Some customers look for the Lancinato, aka Dinosaur kale and others like the Scarlet. I will probably try some new ones this fall. I also picked a small amount of chard, but didn't take a picture. I used to wait and let the chard grow large and put it up in bunches but most people like the smaller baby size leaves.
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| Albino, Golden and Ruby Queen Beets |
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| green onions |
I picked some beets, the Albino and Golden beets grow very slowly compared to Ruby Queen and Chioggio. I also picked some green onions.
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| Straight neck, Gold Rush zucchini |
I picked a lot of squash this week, this was just one crate full. I have 10 different kinds and pick the patches clean on Friday, so generally even the largest ones are only a week old. Even a lot of the large ones still have very thin and tender skins.
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| something eating the melons! |
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| Still some good ones! |
Until recently nothing had bothered the watermelons, but now something is eating them. There were still some good ones to pick though. I am really disgusted with things though. It looks like I won't get any cantaloupes. Now the birds and squirrels are eating them before they are hardly half grown. Seriously considering pulling all the melon vines out as soon as the last watermelons are ready to pick and planting something else.
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| Black Beauty and Black from Tula tomatoes |
I picked some ripe and almost ripe large tomatoes. Bird pecks, squirrel bites, blossom end rot, growth cracks, they were sure ugly and only about half were edible. But they sure tasted wonderful. I'll be brainstorming over the winter how to protect them better next year from all the wild life.
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| herbs and flowers |
Of course I picked herbs and flowers. I don't sell that many fresh herbs so bring them home and use them myself or dry them. I am still trying to figure out how to keep the flowers longer, especially the dahlias. By mid morning at market the stems are turning black and the flowers are wilting. I am wondering if it's because I tie the bunches together and maybe the stems are getting crushed. I think next week I'll try just making the bunches in individual containers and not tieing them up and see if that helps. I also think the heat in my house is not helping. I sure need a walk in cooler!
On Sunday I picked all the apples off a small tree because the birds were attacking them like crazy. Out of the 19 pounds about 2 pounds were half eaten. I saved them to make vinegar out of.
This weeks harvests:
7-5 Cherry tomatoes 1# 13 oz
Large tomatoes 3# 6oz
7-6 carrots 1# 2oz
lancinata kale 2# 8oz
green onion 4# 10oz
scarlet kale 4# 7oz
beets 6# 0oz
7-7 curley parsley 8oz
Italian basil 4 oz
Thai basil 2oz
Cherry tomatoes 11# 0oz
Watermelon 20# 10oz
squash 67# 0oz
chard 12oz
7-9 apples 19# 4oz
TOTALS
cherry tomatoes 12# 13oz
large tomatoes 3# 6oz
carrots 1# 2oz
kale 6# 15oz
green onion 4# 10oz
beets 6# 0oz
herbs 14oz
watermelon 20# 10oz
squash 67# 0oz
chard 12oz
apples 19# 4oz
GRAND TOTAL 143 # 5oz
It is interesting to read what sells and what doesn't at your market. if it helps, we keep dahlias up to their necks in water overnight before bunching them lightly and then standing them back in deepish water, and that seems to stop them wilting too quickly
ReplyDeleteI think it's just been way too hot for them to sit all day Friday. I've started picking flowers and some of the herbs on saturday morning, right before market and that is working out much better.
DeleteToo bad about the melons. I have had deer and groundhogs get after mine before I put up the fencing around the garden. 11 pounds is a lot of cherry tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteYes fencing works for the rabbits and javalina but does nothing for the rats and squirrels. I sold all of those tomatoes!
DeleteApple picking is a long way off for us,
ReplyDeleteThis is some sort of summer apple, mislabeled as a Granny Smith. I think it is probably a Grimes Golden but it doesn't usually get enough water. So now it's on a drip system so we shall see how it does next year.
DeleteI can totally relate to wild life damaging crops. At present it is the rabbits, an entire family, not to mention the deer and birds. Getting to the ripe berries before the birds is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI know! fencing works for the rabbits and netting for the birds, but it sure adds extra work and expense.
DeleteOh those dang animals! At least you were able to harvest one watermelon (and hopefully more) - this is my first year growing melons and they are taking their sweet time so I'm having doubts as to whether or not I'll actually harvest any.
ReplyDeleteI have gotten about a dozen watermelons but every one counts when you are counting on the income!
DeleteWhat a wonderful harvest, I am especially envying your kale! Shame about the melons, perhaps try netting them.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that area is fenced and netted, but the birds have found some small gaps at ground level and get in under. I'll be working to improve things this winter for next years melon patch!
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