Monday 14 September 2015

Harvest Monday: September 14, 2015


The weather has cooled considerably in the past few days and it rained all day Saturday and Sunday.  Which means I did not get a whole lot done in the garden.  The carrots below were harvested first thing Saturday before the rains started.  They need a lot more time to grow but I wanted some to cook with the parsnips from last week's harvest.  From left to right: Rainbow Mix, Nutri-Red and Nantes.  I'm not sure why the two Nantes have split, it's not exactly rough soil.  But these are only the first four I've pulled of that variety.


I've harvested a few things which I neglected to take a picture of ... a few more heads of Tiara cabbage and the last of the acorn squash.  Two of the cabbage went to friends and the one I kept was made into a quick slaw to top some of my pulled lamb tacos.


And I picked another huge batch of basil.  But I spent most of my time with the dried beans.  The black beans were picked weeks ago and left to dry.  I finally got around to shelling them last week.  This is the first half ...


It had been quite rainy by the time I finally harvested them and some had already started to sprout.


And here is the full harvest of black beans (about 350 grams) along with Tarbais in the upper left (which I also grew last year) and then the Scarlett Runner Beans.


I've never tried Scarlett Runner before ... I think most people grow them as an ornamental, so I think maybe they won't taste very good.  But I'll share my thoughts whenever I get around to cooking them.

And I unfortunately must report my failure with my beloved Borlotti beans.  During a bout of rainy weather a few weeks ago, the bushes fell over under the weight.  I simply didn't get to them in time and lost them to rot.  Many seemed okay and I dried them out, but when it came time to shell them, most had started to sprout inside like some of the black beans and were clearly rotting.


And for anyone who read my last post, you will know that I accidentally harvested this Dickinson pumpkin too early.  I will give it another week or so as I'm not quite ready to cook it up yet, but have no intention of trying to store it.  It will be turned into pies or casseroles very soon, assuming the flesh inside had enough time to mature.


Near end of day Sunday when the rains stopped, I did another walk around and picked some more kale, chard and a few tomatoes.  The brassicas I planted for fall harvests are pretty small so I haven't paid much attention but I found this little broccoli (bottom left of pic) which looked like it was ready to go to flower.


And I went through the crazy mess of the mouse melon plants and found another handful - I'm really loving these!


This is my submission for Daphne's Dandelions Harvest Monday collection.  Thanks to Daphne for giving everyone the opportunity to share in the harvests posted from all over the world.

12 comments:

  1. I've had beans do that to me. When I grew them I'd always try to get to them and pick before a rain hit. But if I didn't, they could mold and rot. I was checking my carrots the other day. The earlier ones are starting to size up well, but the bigger storage carrots are taking their own sweet time.

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    1. I'm confused about your carrots as you had such an early harvest. When do you plant your first harvest of carrots? Seems to me it was MONTHS ago when I was just planting mine!

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  2. Lovely harvest, and too bad that beans started sprouting inside. Hope you can still eat them. Love the carrots and that amazing tomato and mozzarella salad.

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    1. I tossed all of the ones that sprouted. Never occurred to me that I could still eat them, but geez, I suppose I could have?!

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  3. You think your carrots are small, all of mine look like the tiny ones I thinned out this week. I'm getting worried that I may not get a good harvest this year - hopefully our warm spell in the next couple of weeks puts them in overdrive.

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    1. I'm not great at growing carrots, but usually they are bigger by this time. But I keep changing my technique or area each year so hard for me to figure out what I'm doing wrong. And, of course, our weather is all over the place the last few years ...

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  4. You got some nice bean results despite a few setbacks. I assume you left the black beans outside to dry? I've learned to do the drying indoors. As for runner beans, most people (I guess) eat them fresh like green beans. I always let them dry fully and use them like any dry bean--they are delicious and hearty.

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    1. I left the black beans in a sunny area inside the house but, admittedly, just threw all of the pods into a basket. But I turned them every day so the fresher ones would keep getting fresh air. But I'm always uncomfortable about whether I've dried them enough so I don't store them in the cupboard. I put them in mason jars in the freezer until ready to use.

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  5. I haven't tried dried Scarlet Runners, but one of my favorite beans is a runner bean, the huge white Greek Gigandes are incredibly good. That's such a sad bean story, rot and sprouts. I'm lucky I can be totally lazy about harvesting my dry beans since we get virtually zero rain when they're maturing. The mild weather here makes for lazy gardeners, I would have real problems if I had to deal with real weather. Love those Mouse Melons, they are on my gotta try list.

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    1. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the mouse melons if you try them, I've become quite fond of them. Since I'm terrible (lazy) about trying to trellis vines, I've decided next year to go with Dave's idea of planting them in hanging planters.

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  6. If the sprouted beans are not moldy you could use them like you would bean sprouts which is really what they are.

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  7. What a nice looking tomato salad, Mmm. I don't do very well with carrots either, but keep trying (though sometimes a bit half-hearted!). Once our latest batch of bought carrots is nearly finished I might pull a few of mine up.

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