The first harvest last week was a picking of Piracicaba broccoli shoots, Kefe Beinwil snow peas, Opal Creek Golden snap peas and various chile peppers. Those are mostly hot peppers with the exception of the yellow peppers at the top which are Grenada Seasoning, a mild cousin of the habaneros. To the right of the Grenada Seasoning peppers are Habanero Long Chocolate, the real deal, although not as hot as some varieties of habaneros. The small yellow peppers are Pimento de Cheiros, pretty hot but less so than the habaneros. The yellow peppers on the bottom left are Datils. All those peppers are Capsicum chinense and they all ripen very late in my garden. Most of the plants didn't set very many pods so that is probably the bulk of my harvest. That's ok, I don't use hot chiles very often. I put the hot chiles in containers and freeze them whole.
I cut a few amaranth seed heads to add to the sunflowers that my husband brought home. He pronounced the amaranth "weird" but it seemed to grow on him once his mom declared it fantastic and said she wouldn't leave without some!
Saturday I harvested more broccoli, snow peas, snap peas, and some dried Petaluma Gold Rush beans. And whoo hoo, the long anticipated first egg!
Sunday brought in another bowlful of Pimento de Padron peppers. The plants are covered in small peppers which take a long time to size up now that the days are short and the nights are cold, but the eventually get large enough to pick and they're still delicious.
Also harvested this week was a very large bunch of Portuguese kale that was braised for Thanksgiving dinner and a smaller bunch of Lacinato kale that was included in last nights Turkey Vegetable soup with Posole. I never seem to get photos of my kale harvests, probably because I always harvest it for immediate consumption. And the parsley patch is still very productive so I've been harvesting that regularly.
Go see what other garden bloggers are harvesting at Daphne's Dandelions, our host for Harvest Mondays.
Your first egg. How exciting. I would so love to have chickens. My husband is not nearly as enthusiastic.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic harvest. All I have left in the garden are a few parsnips and Kale.
ReplyDeleteKeewee, I bet the parsnips and kale are really tasty now!
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Daphne, My husbands enthusiasm is helped by the fact that the chicken coop is a couple hundred yards away on the neighbor's property :>
What bounty!!! Our garden is well into it's winter hibernation. Just a few oriental leaves, kale and leeks.
ReplyDeleteAnd is the that egg from an Aracauna by any chance?
Celia
Celia, the girls aren't real Aracaunas or even Ameraucanas, they're Easter Egg Chickens which have some of the Aracauna genes that produce colored eggs. They are pretty birds though and their buddy Bill is a handsome rooster.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteSuch a colorful assortment in your harvest.
I picked two tiny zucchini on Saturday and our kale is still too small to harvest. The kale is all that is left for this year.
Michelle, I'm always intrigued by the the kinds of peppers and chilies that you grow. I don't cook with chilies that often with the exception of Thai red chilies and jalapenos. I feel like I'm missing out!
ReplyDeleteI've never cooked with habaneros. I'm assuming very little goes a long way? Do they add any flavor to a dish besides heat?
Randy, I don't know about you, but kale is one of my favorite vegetables, so I'm always thankful that it does well in winter!
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Thomas, a little bit of habaneros does go a looong way. They reputedly have a wonderful fruity aroma and flavor which I've never been able to appreciate because of the extreme heat. That's why I've been experimenting with their mild cousins, the Aji Dulces and such, which have the flavor but not the heat. These chiles have been a revelation, they really do have a wonderful flavor and some of them are so mild that I have to add hotter chiles to make them spicy enough. They make a fantastic pepper jam that I love to eat with cheese.
Woohoo! Your first egg! When my hens started laying this summer, I was so thrilled I kept telling them thank you over and over. Getting homegrown eggs is so much fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm so intrigued by your milder baccatum chilies. I just placed an early order with an agreeable Seeds Savers member for Roberto's Cuban Seasoning and Aji Dulce. Are there other mildish baccatums and chinense that you would recommend highly?
I didn't know you had chickens, congrats on the egg. I would love to have chickens but I barely have room for a lawn chair in the yard. I'm still loving all your peppers :-)
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