Monday 20 July 2015

Harvest Monday: July 20, 2015


I'm a bit behind on gardening chores with a recent trip away (went to Grey Fox Bluegrass Music Festival in Oak Hill, NY !!).  I had a friend looking after watering but it's unfair to ask favours of weeding so I have some work to do.  I'm also behind on the blog.  I missed last week's Harvest Monday so this is a two week summary of what I've been pulling out of the garden.


This is all of the garlic harvest ... there might be a few stragglers that I've missed, but I pulled them last week as I wanted to use the space for the fall planting of brassicas.   These are all Red Russian - 3.7 pounds worth.  With previous harvests of Red Russian garlic and the smaller harvest of Music garlic, I ended up with a total garlic harvest of 6.4 pounds (includes scapes and heads).  Considering this is the first season that I had to deal with an infestation of leek moth, I'm pretty happy with the final tally.

I have actually harvested several batches of potatoes but keeping forgetting to take photos - here are some Russian Blue potatoes with another batch of basil that I've picked.


My first of several kohlrabi I've picked in the past couple of weeks.


The first of many hot peppers (jalapeno and hungarian hot wax) ... plus my first pick of chard and some arugula.


Beans have started coming in ... and fast.  I've harvested several batches for almost 2 pounds in the past week.  These are Royal Burgundy and Delinel.


And I've harvested over a pound of escarole, most of which went to friends.


This basket has more of both for my friend to take home when we arrived back from our trip.


And finally, some lettuce and a bit of broccoli from last week.  I'm wondering about how side shoots work??   I have harvested the main heads of broccoli over the past few weeks but there are no signs of side shoots.  Does it take some time for the side shoots to start forming?   Any help on this subject is appreciated!


Why not pop over to Daphne's Dandelions and see what other folks around the world are harvesting on this Harvest Monday?

15 comments:

  1. What fun, a bluegrass festival. Been to a few of those myself. I really like your Royal Burgundy beans--aren't they much easier to pick than green ones? Nice to have the hot peppers coming in--mine don't want to change color yet. As for side shoots, I've found that if you don't see them within a few days of taking the main head, they aren't going to amount to much. Could be variety, or how close you planted them to each other (I read that closer = more shoots), or just this year's gardening gods' whim.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are SO much easier to pick than green. Thanks for the tip on side shoots, will check out the plants closer. I was also thinking it was just the variety ...

      Delete
  2. It does take time for side shoots to form, but I would think you would see the little tell tale signs just at the crotch of each leaf. That is where the new shoots come from. I harvested my first broccoli head around the middle of June. I'll probably get to pick my first side shoot tomorrow.

    And your beans look fabulous. I like the purple beans as they are easy to pick, but I always hated them to cook with as they didn't stay purple.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK yes, just looked and I do see a few small sprouts coming up at the leaf crotch. I pulled one of the plants as it had no evidence and they are really taking up a lot of space. I'll wait another week or two.

      Delete
  3. Those are some wonderful harvests - peppers already? Wow! Mine are developing, but I think it will be at least a couple of weeks before I get to harvest any.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most of the peppers are from inside the greenhouse but the outside ones are doing well. I should have a big harvest in the next week or two (pickled peppers for sure!).

      Delete
  4. You have your priorities straight. Weeding can wait. You got a nice haul of beans and that's an impressive garlic harvest with all your bug problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes thanks, I am pretty happy with the beans!

      Delete
  5. I am impressed with your garlic, its something I use a lot in my cooking and wish I had grown some, as well as your kohlrabi - I am hoping next year I will be better organised and get things I really want to eat in the ground, got way too many brassicas this year (that is if the cabbage butterfly doesnt get to them). Your lettuce is good too, the slugs got mine :( I stuck some more seeds in this w/e

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the first year I've really had to deal with the larger slugs ... just a wet spring, I guess. Things are holding up OK but that darn cabbage moth is causing more than a few problems. Good luck with yours!

      Delete
  6. It does take a while to get side shoots, and production will be variable even if all the plants are the same variety. What a great haul of garlic, my garilc was horrible this year so I'm really envious.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like escarole but have never planted it. The broccoli side shoots will appear just takes time. Was not aware there is a Bluegrass Festival within a short drive from where I live.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's beautiful country there in the Catskills - geez, was it ever hot this past weekend!!

      Delete
  8. Your beans look great! And what a nice garlic harvest! I never seem to be able to grow enough myself.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow. You're getting lots of different spring and summer vegetables at the same time. And that looks like a nice big haul of garlic.

    ReplyDelete