I harvested the first snow peas this week. That's the first handful shown above, it's 2 varieties, Green Beauty and Yellow Giant. The Yellow Giant peas are the 3 smallest peas on the bottom. I'm not sure how this variety got its name, neither the peas nor the plants are yellow and they certainly aren't giant either, growing to about half the height of the Green Beautys.
We're finally getting summer-like weather which accelerated the pea harvest. I picked the 3 ounces shown above and then 4 days later another 11 ounces. The purple snap peas also started coming in quickly, barely keeping ahead of the spread of powdery mildew in the plants. I harvested enough of the snap peas to make a quart of pickles. You can see what an amazing color the pickling solution picked up from the peas.
I suspect that all the color will be pulled out of the peas by the time they are ready to eat. We'll see 30 days from now. I've found that the best way to retain the color in the cooked peas is to simply steam them.
The hard neck garlic was ready to harvest and I dug them up on Saturday. The rest of the varieties need more time. I haven't weighed the garlic yet since it still has the stems attached, but when it is cured and trimmed I'll add them to the harvest totals. Anyway, I pulled about 50 heads . . .
The only other "new" item was the first Devoy beet which I didn't take a photo of. The greens were used to make a savory galette yesterday and I roasted the root to use in a salad later this week. The color of the stems and root is an deep intense pink, not as red as a typical red beet but close, it's very pretty.
Oh, I forgot, I harvested a couple of Gigante kohlrabi that were taking up valuable space. I couldn't wait for them to size up anymore so out them came and in went the eggplant which had been sitting in the wings in 1 gallon pots.
Here's the totals for this week:
Devoy Beet - 1 lb, 8 oz (includes greens)
Piracicaba Broccoli - 14.75 oz
Capers - 2.75 oz
Gigante Kohlrabi - 14.25 oz
Sugar Magnolia Purple Snap Peas - 2 lb
Mixed Snow Peas - 14.25 oz
Romanesco Natalino - 1 lb, 7 oz
Strawberries - 1 lb, 8.75 oz
Total for the week - 9 lb, 9 oz
Total for the year - 222 lb, 4.25 oz
14 eggs this week
If you would like to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting head on over to Daphne's Dandelions, the home of Harvest Monday.
Congratulations to your good harvest. I thought that artful display of peas on the plate is creative indeed. ~bangchik
ReplyDeleteOh wow...I've never heard of pickled peas before. The color is amazing. Is the entire purple pod edible or just the peas inside?
ReplyDeleteBangchik, thanks!
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Thomas, Oh, you've got to try pickled snap peas, yum yum, just ask Daphne! The whole pod is edible.
I really like your pea photo! I will have to try purple snap peas next year or maybe this fall. They are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYour peas look great! I didn't know you could pickle peas - the color is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteRobin, thanks, isn't that color something!
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Jane, pickling the snap peas is my favorite way to preserve the harvest. I love that color, it's shocking.
Too bad the kohlrabi's didn't size up but I think at this point I would trade them for eggplants too!
ReplyDeleteThat first photo of the peas is worthy of framing.
I had to laugh at the perplexing pea name (neither giant nor yellow!). The pickled purple peas are really attractive to look at... I may have to track down some of this seed for next year's garden.
ReplyDeleteSeems everyone is harvest peas but me! I'll look forward to the report on the pickled peas.
ReplyDeleteNice harvest. I need to make some pickled peas too. My brine won't be a pretty red though.
ReplyDeleteVillager, The kohlrabi was large enough to eat, but it can get much larger, it just seems to take its own sweet time doing it. I've got one plant left in spot where it can stay so some day I might actually harvest a giant kohlrabi.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad you liked the photo. :)
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kitsapFG, It is strange to name something for attributes that it doesn't have. I was hoping it would be like the Golden Sweet snow pea that I grew last year but with larger pods, but no. At least it's tasty and it does seem to be more resistant to the powdery mildew that's rapidly killing off the other pea plants. The purple peas came from Peace Seeds, there's a link on my side bar.
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Dan, No peas yet from your own garden, dang. I don't remember seeing on your blog if you planted them this year.
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Daphne, I'm not so sure about that shocking red brine, it's a novelty, but I wonder how appetizing the peas will look in the end. We'll see!
Pickled snow peas would have been a good way for us to use up the monster harvest. Hmmmmm. Recipe?
ReplyDeleteThe rest sounds pretty good.
Stefaneener, I haven't tried pickling snow peas but I bet they would be great that way. Here's a link to the recipe I use for the snap peas:
ReplyDeletehttp://fromseedtotable.blogspot.com/2009/06/while-gardener-was-away.html
50 garlic heads is a lot. I will be happy to have that much for all year. There are so much weeds and I’m very close to let them win this battle.
ReplyDeleteLovely color of pickled peas.