Monday, November 23, 2009

Harvest Monday - 11/23/2009

Harvest Monday is here again, what a nice way to start the week! I'm still bringing in some "summer" vegetables in spite of night time temperatures dipping down as far as the low 30F's. This is the final harvest of Diamond eggplants shown below. We've already eaten half of them this week and they have still been very very good.


The Pimento de Padrons are still trickling in also. I roasted the picking shown above on the day I harvested them and they were delicious also, not a spicy one in the bunch. There's also two more Chilhuacle Amarillo chile peppers and two ripe Marconi Purple sweet peppers. And the first handful of Opal Creek Yellow snap peas! The snap peas are distinctly yellow when the pods are young and flat. As the green peas inside develop they start showing through the translucent yellow pods, turning the pods a pale yellowish-green. These were sweet and tender.

The pepper plants have been surviving the low night time temperatures, although a couple of the chinenese plants got a little bit of frost damage on their tender young new growth. Here's a trayful of Aji Angelo chile peppers.


And here's a few Petaluma Gold Rush beans, some coriander seeds, and another bunch of fennel seeds.


I used the very last of my seed stock to grow the Petaluma Gold Rush beans this year and they didn't do very well. Fortunately, enough beans dried on the plants to try again next year. These beans don't seem to available anywhere so I want to try to grow out enough next year to offer some seeds.

Piracicaba broccoli shoots.


I finally harvested the Magadalena Big Cheese squashes.


I had two Magadalena Big Cheese plants, but both of the squash that I harvested came off of one plant. These weighed in at 6lb 2oz and 4lb 12oz. The other plant set a couple of squash much later than the first plant. Those squash are still on the vine and the plant is still alive so I'll leave them for now.

Gigantesque and Black Sea Man tomatoes - I'm not sure if these will have much flavor after spending a few nights in the cold. But the Piment Doux Long des Landes sweet peppers are still flavorful.


Cherry tomatoes harvested on Saturday.


The Black Cherry and Isis Candy tomatoes plants bit the dust on Sunday. The cold weather has definitely affected the flavor of the cherry tomatoes and I've decided to pull them out in spite of them still producing. Time to move on...

The Meyer Lemon tree is loaded with newly ripe lemons.


I picked a bunch of lemons yesterday, at least 20, but neglected to take a photograph. Some of them were juiced to make a tart that had a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate on the bottom of the crust, the rest of the filling was lemon curd. That little bit of chocolate was fantastic with the lemon. The lemons that I didn't use were given to a friend who doesn't have her own Meyer Lemon tree yet.

I nearly forgot about the big bunch of Portugese kale that I harvested. It was braised with some garlic and chicken stock - my husband loved it!

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne of Daphne's Dandelions. Get on over there to check out what other garden bloggers are harvesting. And if you're harvesting something, join the fun and show us what you've got!

14 comments:

  1. You got to harvest the squash! Mine were a bit more squat than yours.

    You are still getting tons of peppers. How many pepper plants do you have?

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  2. Daphne, Yes, a couple of them made it! The other 2 I have doubts about, it's getting too cold.

    Um, I'm somewhat embarassed to admit to growing about 40 pepper plants... Next year I'll grow a lot again, but more sweet peppers. I would like to have a lot more roasted sweet peppers in the freezer.

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  3. Oh, harvest envy!

    Nice peppers and ristras (in previous post). What kinds of recipes do use them in?

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  4. Oooh, the lemons! Lovely! Our little tree doesn't seem to be going to produce any this year. Everything else looks great too. I picked the last aubergines, too, today. And I can't believe you're still picking tomatoes - we've taken our plants up now.

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  5. As usual Michelle, you get the prize for having the most beautiful and productive harvest! I'm particularly jealous of your chilies and cherry tomatoes.

    Also, that Meyer lemon tart sound delicious! I wish I had more to spare! The last of mine are destined for more marmalade and preserved lemons.

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  6. Thomas, Gee thanks, but you know I can't take credit for living in a mild climate! And that tart would be good made with "regular" lemons too.
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    Chaiselongue, it's not long for the tomatoes, I've pulled out most of them and after the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend the rest of them are coming out as well.
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    Sally, I use the peppers for various things. The chilhuacles are destined for mole. Some peppers are dried to make chile powder and paprika. I grind some of them to make pepper flakes (fab on pizza, pasta, and braised greens). Some get frozen to season salsas and sauces. I love Spanish romesco sauce and either dried or roasted and frozen sweet peppers can be used to make it...

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  7. Those tomatoes look absolutely divine!

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  8. Love checking in on your harvests! Your blog may just get me through the winter once the snow starts flying. The Chilhuacle Amarillo chile look interesting, what do you use them in?

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  9. Dan, I only wish my harvests could be like this all winter! It won't be long before the kale predominates.

    The Chilhuacles are new for me, they are traditionally used in Oaxacan cuisine for moles so that is what I'm going to try them in.

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  10. Beautiful harvest.

    That lemon tart sounds wonderful. My tree is just getting close to starting harvest, and I've got to try something similar. I can imagine the dark chocolate and rich lemon filling working very well together.

    Thanks for the inspiration.

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  11. Christina, the tart had only 2 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate spread over a prebaked 10-inch tart shell, then the freshly made lemon curd was poured in when it was still warm but not hot. The tart is served cold with a dab of whipped cream. The chocolate and lemon do work very well together.

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  12. I'm particularly jealous of your lemons. I only have one so far, so feel I must save it for a special occasion. But I feel my willpower giving out...

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  13. Lovely pictures. Your soil must just be fantastic -- I have the same mild climate but less productivity!

    And the tart sounds fantastic. I assume I don't need a recipe; just follow what you say. I'll have lots of lemons waiting when I get back home. They're just turning now.

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  14. Susan, how agonizing, only one! But, if your tree is typical, someday you'll so many you'll be giving them away... Any ideas how the special one will be used?

    Stefaneener, thanks! My soil is a work in progress, I keep adding good things to it and it's responding.

    I did have a recipe for the tart but there was nothing really unique other than adding chocolate. It's 2 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate spread in the bottom of a 10-inch prebaked sweet tart crust and warm (not hot) freshly made lemon curd poured in and then the whole thing chilled for a couple of hours.

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