Harvest Monday - August 19, 2013

Oh wow, I was so amazed to find 2 big eggplants ready to harvest last week! It seemed like they were just little things just days before. My plants aren't loaded but what they've got is good sized and good quality. Both of these were seedless and not at all bitter. On the left is Sicilian, grown from seeds that I saved from one lone plant that I grew last year, and on the right is Bonica, an Italian hybrid. The Sicilian had a very white and slightly lacy interior, the Bonica was creamier colored and very solid, but neither had any seeds. I prepared these simply, just sliced into 1/2-inch rounds and pan fried in a little olive oil and then topped with a fresh tomato-basil-caper salsa.

First and last in this basket, the first ripe chile Manzanos and the last of the blueberries.

The Manzanos are quite spicy, at least for my wimpy palate, so I'll be making a hot sauce with them.

And the Pimento de Padrons finally produced enough peppers to fry up a nice bowlful.

The broccoli harvests are continuing, Di Ciccio is on the bottom and Purple Peacock is on the top. I wrote up a Saturday Spotlight post about the Di Ciccio broccoli yesterday (yeah, Sunday, I know).

The cucumbers keep trickling in. These are, from top to bottom, Tasty Green Japanese, Green Fingers Persian, and Tortarello Abruzzese.

And the zucchini keep on giving, and giving, and... (68 pounds so far)

Just a few tomatoes again, Jaune Flamme, Nyagous, and Galinas cherry are shown below and I ate the lone Isis Candy cherry tomato before it could be photographed. I have to keep reminding myself that the glut will happen, it's still August, the glut comes in September and October. Patience, I need more patience.

The French Gold filet beans produce a handful almost every day and it doesn't take long to accumulate a nice pile of them. The Spanish Musica beans are producing a second round of beautiful long flat big tender beans. These were great prepared using a simple method that I found on a Food52 post about Penelope Casas' Garlic Green Beans - check it out.

I prepared that dish by cutting these big beans on the diagonal in big pieces. My favorite way to cook these beans is to leave them whole, slick them with a bit of olive oil and grill them on a ridged stovetop griddle or on the BBQ until they are blistered and tender, dress them with some good vinegar, salt and pepper and chopped herbs. They make great finger food appetizers.

I also harvested another big but slighty funky looking Sugarsnax carrot that was grated and added to a smashed cucumber salad with tomatoes and shrimp.

I also harvested more green runner beans and I weighed more garlic. I'm not weighing all my garlic at once this year. It has been bundled into a faux braid and is hanging in my pantry and I weigh each head as I cut it from the bundle to be used.

The weather has warmed up and it seems like summer coastal California style may be starting. We've actually been able to dine outside a couple of evenings without wearing a parka! Although it does cool off quickly when the sun dips toward the horizon.

Here's the harvests for the past week:

French Gold filet beans - 1 lb., 2.4 oz.
Runner beans - 1 lb., 8.4 oz.
Spanish Musica beans - 1 lb., 13 oz.
Di Ciccio broccoli - 1 lb., 11.8 oz.
Purple Peacock broccoli - 10.4 oz.
Sugarsnax carrot - 7.6 oz. (one carrot!)
Garden Oasis cucumber - 6 oz.
Green Fingers Persian cucumbers - 15.4 oz.
Tasty Green Japanese cucumbers - 6.4 oz.
Tortarello Abruzzese cucumbers - 3 lb., 2.1 oz.
Bonica eggplant - 14.2 oz.
Sicilian eggplant - 12.7 oz.
Red Janice garlic - 2.3 oz.
Manzano chiles - 1 lb., 1.4 oz.
Pimento de Padron peppers - 7.5 oz.
Galinas cherry tomatoes - 1.1 oz.
Isis Candy cherry tomato - .4 oz.
Jaune Flamme tomatoes - 2.8 oz.
Nyagous tomatoes - 6.6 oz.
Ortolano di Faenza zucchini - 1 lb., 7.5 oz.
Romanesco zucchini - 5 lb., 14.6 oz.

The harvest totals for the week came to - 23 lb., 10.6 oz.
Which pushes the total for the year over the 300 pound mark - 317 lb., 14.2 oz. to be more precise

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