Monday 22 August 2016

Harvest Monday: August 22, 2016


The summer veggies keep rolling in, with a distinct lack of zucchini or other summer squash (as noted in my recent update on my squash plants).  But peppers and tomatoes are doing very well so far and are the majority of my recent harvests.  The above basket includes more Gypsy (left side of basket), which left longer than I had previously turn this lovely deep red.  In the middle are more orange Xanthia, in the upper right some King of the North, Jalapenos on the bottom and some San Marzano plum tomatoes I picked at the same time.

And more tomatoes ... these are mostly Big Rainbow (with the yellowish tinge) and Red Brandywine, plus more San Marzano plums.  The yellow one is a Dixie Golden Giant (not exactly "giant-ish") of which I've had just a few so far.


I also needed some green onions and carrots to make my old style potato salad and grabbed a few other items while I was in the garden.


Seeing the larger bulbs on these spring onions, I went out later and did a better thinning job hoping to get more of these.


And another last harvest of peppers late Sunday... L to R: Xanthia, King of the North plus a Super Red Pimiento at bottom centre, and more Gypsy on the right.


I have not harvested any more of the Croatian Chard (Blitzva) this week, but thought I'd share a salad made with the harvest from a week or two ago.  It is most often sauteed and served as a side dish (with potatoes) but it is more tender than Swiss chard and I quite enjoyed it raw in this salad that included candied nuts, dried blueberries, feta cheese and a balsamic vinegar dressing.


This is my submission to Harvest Monday hosted by Our Happy Acres.  Please pop over to see what other gardeners are doing this week.




9 comments:

  1. Your tomatoes and peppers look so good, and it looks like your potatoes and carrots are doing great.

    Your potato salad sounds wonderful, it's wonderful to be able to run out into the garden and grab a few things for a recipe. I've never heard of adding shredded carrots and radishes but it sounds delicious.

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    1. Thanks Phuong! It's how my mom always made the potato salad (with grated carrot and radish) so I still do it. I like it but I guess I'm just used to it.

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  2. Beautiful basket of peppers and tomatoes. The spring onions are really mouth-watering. The raw chard salad looks wonderful.

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    1. Thanks! I usually have thin onions, so was happy how these ones came out.

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  3. Nice harvest, beautiful tomatoes and peppers. You have referred to Croatian chard, cooked in a dish called blitva. Are you growing a special variety of chard, or is that just the usual Swiss chard used in a Croatian dish?

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    1. According to my Croation friend who gave me the seeds, it is called Blitva and he brought the seeds back from Croatia. When I googled Blitva though, I found that it was a reference to the dish itself and the greens were called Croatian chard. I'm guessing it's just a specific variety of chard ... but will need to get seeds eventually so I'll have to get more details from him!

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    2. Or most likely ... blitva is just the Croatian word for chard.

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  4. Once again I am in awe of your ripe pepper harvest! I am struggling to get any of mine to ripen up. I love the looks of your potato salad. I've not had it with radish or carrot either, but there's nothing not to like about it. My 'old school' recipe would have some of the potatoes smashed up. These days I think your version sounds better, and I do like extra vinegar and mustard.

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  5. I don't think I've ever seen such colourful pepper harvests - practically every colour of the rainbow!

    I've not heard of Croatian chard before either - sounds great, being able to use it as a salad green.

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