Harvest Monday - September 22, 2014

It was another big week from the garden. I had some heavyweights coming in, including a bunch of big beets that should have been harvested weeks ago. That big one in the center of the basket was fine roasted and pureed to make a batch of Ottolenghi's Za'atar-Spiced Beet Dip. The rest of the beets are waiting in line after the eggplants and tomatoes for me to think up a way to preserve them.

Red Baron beets

Golden and Chioggia beets

Potiron Ecarlate is always the last tomato to arrive at the party, this big scarlet beefsteak tomato is the last to bloom and set and the last to ripen in the tomato patch.

Potiron Ecarlate tomatoes

The Amish Paste tomatoes put out one last flush of ripe and nearly ripe fruit. They are the project for today, there should be enough to put up another 4 or 5 quarts of canned tomatoes.

Amish Paste tomatoes

It's a good thing that I like dried cherry tomatoes because they have been cracking like crazy again and all the cracked tomatoes go into the dehydrator. The Isis Candy tomatoes are taking their turn at cracking and splitting before I can harvest them. My theory about all of this cracking is that the plant is so defoliated because of fungal problems (probably powdery mildew) that much of the water that the plant takes up goes to the tomatoes. I'm tempted to put a shut off valve on the main line that feeds the half of the bed for the tomatoes. When I shut off the water to the entire bed the pepper plants suffer and they are still sizing up their green fruits so I don't want to shut down that process and no way am I going to hand water.

Isis Candy cherry tomatoes

The Sonora Anaheim peppers are beautiful this year. I grow these specifically for roasting. Dave at Our Happy Acres has a great tutorial on roasting them on a gas grill.

Sonora Anaheim peppers

I did this batch directly on hot coals, but Dave's method is a lot easier, less smoke in the eyes...

The sweet red peppers are ripening. These were roasted in the coals also. The roasted Stocky Red Roasters were great in a batch of Romesco Sauce that I made to accompany grilled zucchini and sausages.

Shephard's Ramshorn and Stocky Red Roaster peppers

Another favorite grilled pepper dish around here is a Spanish salad of grilled peppers with tuna and egg. This is one of the first dishes that Dave requests when sweet peppers start coming from the garden.

Odessa Market peppers

I took a cue from Dave (Our Happy Acres) and roasted this picking of Sonora peppers on the grill. I don't have a gas grill, my Dave got us (me) a Big Green Egg recently and it does a fabulous job of roasting peppers (much better than the old Weber BBQ).

Sonora and Giallo di Cuneo peppers

I even cooked up part of the latest batch of Padron peppers in the BGE using a method that I also use in a hot oven - I place a cast iron pan in the oven or covered grill and let it get good and hot, toss the Padrons in a bowl with some olive oil and then put them in the hot pan, cover the grill and let the peppers roast to the desired degree of blistered doneness, tossing a few times as they cook. I've also been experimenting with variations on seasoning the peppers. This latest batch was seasoned with a few dashes of umami laden fish sauce (I buy it by the quart now!) and another recent batch was tossed with dried bonito flakes (more umami) - both were delicious and not at all fishy tasting.

Padron peppers

The zucchini keep coming... And the cucumbers... I made another batch of the preserved zucchini, using all Tromba d'Albenga zucchini this time - it preserves beautifully. Did I mention last week how good that preserved zucchini is when it is served on Spanish style tomato toast? Tomato Toast with Preserved Zucchini - a smash up of Spanish and Italian goodness.

Tromba d'Albenga and Romanesco zucchini
Tasty Treat cucumber

The Di Ciccio broccoli plants seem to be always sporting sprouts that need to be harvested. I finally relented and gave up trying to eat it all fresh from the garden. The last two harvests are now blanched and frozen, ready to be incorporated into one of Dave's lunch frittatas.

Di Ciccio broccoli

Dessert is last again, the strawberry plants are producing a surprising flush of autumn berries - two bowlfuls this week! The sow bugs are doing some damage but not nearly as much as the rats might do if they discover this bonanza. Sshh, I don't want to tempt the furry boogers...

Seascape strawberries

I also harvested the first Retato Degli Tuscan melon but neglected to photograph it. The latest harvests of Alvaro charentais melons also escaped the photographer. More snap beans trickled in but didn't get photographed. And I didn't photograph the Tarbais beans which finally got weighed.

Here's the details of the harvests for the past week:

Golden Gate beans - 5.6 oz.

Musica beans - 15.8 oz.

Tarbais dry beans - 3 lb., .3 oz.

Chioggia beets - 4 lb., 3.4 oz.

Golden beets - 3 lb., 11.2 oz.

Red Baron beets - 7 lb., 5.3 oz.

Di Ciccio broccoli - 1 lb., 3.6 oz.

Garden Oasis cucumbers - 5.4 oz.

Tasty Treat cucumbers - 2 lb., 12.2 oz.

Alvaro charentais melons - 7 lb., 3.9 oz.

Retato Degli Tuscan melons - 3 lb.

Candy onion - 1 lb., 3 oz.

Red Candy Apple onion - 1 lb., 3.1 oz.

Giallo di Cuneo bell peppers - 1 lb., 2.7 oz.

Lady Bell bell peppers - 13.1 oz.

Odessa Market peppers - 1 lb., 2.7 oz.

Padron peppers - 20 oz.

Piment doux long des Landes peppers - 4.7 oz.

Shephard's Ramshorn peppers - 1 lb., 5.7 oz.

Sonora Anaheim peppers - 4 lb., 7.9 oz.

Stocky Red Roaster peppers - 1 lb., 7 oz.

Amish Paste tomatoes - 10 lb., 8 oz.

Black Krim tomatoes - 1 lb., 14.2 oz.

Chianti Rose tomatoes - 1 lb., 12 oz.

Isis Candy cherry tomatoes - 4 lb., 9 oz.

Jaune Flamme tomatoes - 8.1 oz.

Potiron Ecarlate tomatoes - 8 lb., 5.4 oz.

Sweet Gold cherry tomatoes - 3 lb., 6.8 oz.

Romanesco zucchini - 3 lb., 14.2 oz.

Tromba D'Albenga zucchini - 1 lb., 5.1 oz.

Total for the week - 84 lb., 11.5 oz. (38.4 kg.)

Total for 2014 so far - 833 lb., 14 oz. (378.2 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.