Monday, August 11, 2014

Harvest Monday - August 11, 2014

I was complaining last week that my harvests weren't looking as seasonal as they might, considering the lack of solanums in my harvest baskets and that it is well into summer. How about this harvest, there's a few tomatoes and peppers, along with some beans and cucumbers - pretty summery! The Jaune Flamme and Sweet Gold tomatoes continue to trickle in, Dave helped me to harvest another small basket of the Sweet Gold this weekend that didn't get photographed and he also harvested a Salangana eggplant that was out of my reach, but that didn't get photographed either. That's the final harvest of Royal Burgundy and Slenderette beans, I removed the plants last week.


The Musica and Golden Gate beans reached their peak last week, but it looks like they will probably put out a second round.


And the Romanesco zucchini continues to produce...


and produce...


and produce. And there was at least one zucchini harvest that didn't get photographed. The Padron peppers are in need of regular harvesting now. The cucumbers come in at a nice comfortable pace.


And then there was the cauliflower that almost got away. This one got to be a little big as it lay hidden in it's cloak of leaves. I couldn't believe the size when I finally harvested it and trimmed away the leaves - 5 pounds (2.3 kg.)! There was also one last cauliflower that was ready to harvest last week (not photographed) that came in at less than half the size of its jumbo sibling. Junior cauliflower was baked in a cheese sauce the other night, big brother awaits some cooking inspiration. Dave requested a cream of cauliflower soup - so unlike him, he usually politely slurps a bowl of creamed soup if I present it to him and then the leftovers are mine.


The broccoli side shoot harvest is slowing down to a manageable pace.


I finally got around to photographing most of one of the weekly harvests of the cutting greens, these are baby Portuguese Dairyman's kale, Purple Pac Choi, and Ruby Streaks mizuna.


And Tokyo Bekana napa cabbage. I braised all these greens together with some sweet Italian sausage from Cowboy Sausage, good stuff! The harvest of Speedy Arugula didn't get photographed.


I finally got around to trimming and tallying the Spanish Roja garlic, here's a shot of a representative head. Nearly all the heads developed two little side heads, one on either side of  the main head. I'm going to have to use up the Spanish Roja quickly, the heads don't have great outer wrappers because of those little side heads.


Here's the harvests for the past week:

Speedy Arugula - 6.9 oz.
Golden Gate beans - 1 lb., 8.5 oz.
Musica beans - 2 lb., 13.4 oz.
Royal Burgundy beans - 9.4 oz.
Slenderette beans - 4.4 oz.
Di Ciccio broccoli - 15.9 oz.
Tokyo Bekana napa cabbage - 6.2 oz.
Amazing Taste cauliflower - 7 lb., 4 oz.
Garden Oasis cucumbers - 1 lb., 7.3 oz.
Tasty Treat cucumbers - 1 lb., 14.7 oz.
Salangana eggplant - 9.4 oz.
Green Lance gai lan - 3.2 oz.
Spanish Roja garlic - 4 lb., 9 oz.
Baby Portuguese kale - 3.2 oz.
Ruby Streaks mizuna - 2 oz.
Superstar onion - 2 lb., 1.4 oz.
Purple pac choi - 2.9 oz.
Padron peppers - 1 lb., 7.3 oz.
Isis Candy cherry tomatoes - .8 oz.
Jaune Flamme tomatoes - 1 lb., 2.4 oz.
Sweet Gold cherry tomatoes - 1 lb., 6.2 oz.
Romanesco zucchini - 6 lb., 14.7 oz.

The total harvests for the past week were - 36 lb., 9.6 oz. (16.6 kg.)
Which brings the total harvests for 2014 up to - 464 lb., 6.6 oz. (210.7 kg.)

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne on her blog Daphne's Dandelions, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.

15 comments:

  1. Gorgeous harvest basket of goodies! A 5 lb cauliflower? Holy Cow! And a gorgeous one at that. From what I keep hearing about how difficult cauliflower is to grow, that is quite the achievement!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That cauliflower is so perfectly white it almost looks creamy! I've just put in some cauliflower for a fall planting as it usually bolts in our summer heat - keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get anything even half the size of yours. And I love how you pull the squash still with the flowers on - mine always fall off..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great harvest, the cauliflower is beautiful and that squash is vying for Ripley's. My Spanish Roja garlic (new for me) did really well, best of all the varieties. I checked my heads and none have the side cloves and their skins are mostly smooth. Did you maybe dig them a little late?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did dig them a bit late, I think because those side heads developed later so there were still a lot of green leaves from them which fooled me into thinking that the garlic didn't need to be pulled.

      Delete
  4. Whoa 5 lb cauliflower! That's a beauty, and your baskets are super summery. Your Romano beans are always so straight and beautiful. How's the texture and taste of Golden Gate yellow beans as compare to Musica?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't done a side by side taste test, but I think the GG bean is a bit more tender but equally delicious. Ah, I cheat a bit for the camera and but the lovely straight beans on the top of the pile. :-)

      Delete
  5. What a great harvest! A 5lb cauliflower is amazing. I grew some Tokyo Bekana once and it seemed very flimsy - more like lettuce than what you call Napa Cabbage (we call it "Chinese Leaves").

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Tokyo Bekana is definitely more lettuce like, but that was one of the reasons I wanted to try it, I wanted to expand the range of salad leaves in my garden. I like it as a salad green and for wilting or braising as well.

      Delete
  6. Count me in awe of the cauliflower! I'm a fan of the Tokyo Bekana too. It produces better for me than heading Chinese cabbages that can be tough to grow here. I love the flavor raw. And as for putting the straight beans on top, I plead the fifth on that one!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, that's a great harvest! I really admire your vegetable garden, what fantastic plants you can grow there! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow that is one huge cauliflower. I didn't think they grew that big. I think it would take me weeks to get through it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Our three cauliflowers could maybe fit inside that one,

    ReplyDelete
  10. I too am in awe of your 5lbs cauliflower. What are you going to do with all those zucchini? I have some sausages and was wondering how I wanted to cook them, braising sausage with greens is just the idea I was looking for, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous cauliflower! Have you tried Paul Bertolli's Cauliflower Soup recipe? It is a very creamy soup but doesn't contain any cream. It is in my weekly rotation. Only a few ingredients and so satisfying. http://food52.com/recipes/15247-paul-bertolli-s-cauliflower-soup

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bekana Cabbage is extraordinarily good, i had a good crop a few years ago and made a ton of spring rolls, soups, stir fry, etc with it. It grows really well in the heat!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I value your insights and feedback.