The harvests are surely getting smaller but I have one newcomer this week ... broccoli! I have had challenges in the past with broccoli bolting in the heat of the summer. Well, I guess this summer was not very hot because it worked! I also started them from seed later than previous years for more of a fall crop. There isn't much here but I have several more heads (if that is what they are called) forming.
And more of the usual ... starting with kale which I used to make kale and ricotta phyllo packets. Also in the basket is another batch of swiss chard which was sauteed with onions and garlic then mixed with strands of spaghetti squash and ricotta for a lovely casserole.
Oh and in the top left corner (sorry bad exposure) is a very tiny amount of coriander seeds pulled off the cilantro plants that had bolted.
I pulled the rest of the Paris Market Atlas carrots (that is as big as they get folks!) and what was left of the spanish onions.
The onions were planted from seedlings that I bought at the local store - not very successful. I wonder if I can store these to use as sets next year? I am going to look into that. They aren't much use for cooking - I would waste half of the onion when removing the outer skin!
The plum tomatoes here were added to the basket of greenish tomatoes layered in newspaper until ripened. Then they were cooked with the peppers and some onions from a previous harvest for another jar of pasta sauce to go in the freezer (rosemary was used with a roasted lamb shoulder).
And these are some Tarbais beans (have I posted these before?). I've slowly been adding to the pile with what few were left after my beans were nibbled in the spring. There are still some left on the plants but we have some nasty weather in the works here so not sure if they will last much longer.
The temperature is supposed to drop to only 2 degrees C this coming Thursday night (Friday morning). I will try to get everything covered up. But just in case this next item doesn't make it to harvest, I wanted to share it now. Drum roll please ...
I have this one plant left in a straw bale that I have been closely babysitting.
Can you see what is there?
Look a bit closer ... my FIRST and ONLY zucchini for this season!! But it's only a few inches long so hopefully it will last through this cold snap and I will get to eat it!
Stop by Daphne's Dandelions, the host for Harvest Monday, to see what everyone else is pulling from their gardens this week.
Hurray for the broccoli & first zucchini! I know what it's like to wait and wait & only harvest one squash - like those gold nugget squashes where I only got one squash per plant and they were only slightly bigger than my fist.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying broccoli for the first time and it was supposed to be a quick maturing variety but I think I may have planted it too late still as it's really not doing much yet & our weather is getting just about as cold as yours with a low of 4°C on Friday.
It's going to get that cold for you already?! Wow, you do have a short growing season. Congrats on the broccoli and zucchini. Yay for Tarbais, my stash is still growing as well, but there's just a few pods left on the vines. Cassoulet here we come!
ReplyDeleteOoh, cassoulet, awesome idea! It will dip that cold for a bit then should warm up again. We don't usually hit a hard frost until later in October, but often have these awful cold fronts around this time. If I cover up with plastic, should be OK but that is pretty darn chilly!!
DeleteI keep waiting for my fall broccoli to start. Impatiently I might add. Though later is probably better since I have plenty of other brassicas that need to get picked now. Still broccoli is such a favorite.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, great post. Those carrots are cute :) and congrats on the broccoli! It's much bigger than my first attempt also this year. We had a really cold dip recently but luckily the last couple of days it's warmed right up again. We could actually really do with some rain, other parts of the uk have had it but not here, only thunder.
ReplyDeleteHope your courgette survives the dip!
Unfortunately I failed to protect my courgette properly :). The zucchini plant was to put rest recently during a sudden frost along with his buddies ... bean and tomatoes!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! :(
ReplyDelete