Harvest Monday - July 11, 2016

There isn't anything new in the harvest baskets this week but I can't complain because most of what has been coming in has been very nice.

The snap bean harvests continued, I've been harvesting them every 3 or 4 days lately, which made for 2 harvests in the past week.

Rolande Filet

Royalty Purple Pod, Slenderette, Red Swan

Roc d'Or

Cucumbers are just trickling in. So far only the Green Fingers Persian cucumbers are producing. The Gagon cucumber plants have already topped the 5 foot tall trellis without producing a single cucumber. Two female blossoms have opened but did not set. I don't have much patience for plants like that so I've already got some Japanese cucumbers started in pots and I'm going to replace the Gagon plants with the Japanese ones as soon as they are large enough to set out. Maybe I'll try another Gagon plant in another part of the garden later, if space opens up, maybe.

Green Fingers Persian Cucumber

Green Fingers Cucumbers

Dorato d'Asti and Pink Plume celery

The celery has far exceeded my expectations. The Pink Plume plants keep producing larger and larger stalks. And I found a Dorato d'Asti plant that is growing from a root from an overwintered plant that I had removed earlier this spring. I think it actually grew from just a piece of root that I had dug in after removing the plants. It's a nice healthy plant and is showing no sign of bolting.

And as I said, I got to harvest beans twice last week and they all got photographed.

Pink Plume Celery and
Red Swan and Royalty Purple Pod Beans

Rolande Filet Beans

Roc d'Or and Slenderette Beans

I used a good portion of one of the bean harvests in a mostly vegetable Thai style curry, which also included onion and zucchini fresh from the garden, roasted sweet peppers from the freezer, and a red coconut curry sauce spiced up with some fresh Makrut lime leaf, basil, and mint from the garden. It was almost vegetarian with the exception of some ham that was in the fridge that needed to be used but was totally optional to the dish.

The last of the spring lettuces were bolting so I had to cut them. They have not turned bitter yet and they keep quite well in the fridge so I won't run out of lettuce for a week or so. There were two harvests like the one shown here but I only got around to photographing one of them. I set out more Manoa Crisphead the other day but yesterday afternoon I found that a rabbit had figured out how to get into the tunnel and had started to nibble on them. I set up extra defenses around the tunnel and sprayed the entire perimeter of the garden and each bed with some really stinky deer and rabbit repellent. I also set a Havahart trap baited with lettuce and broccoli to try to capture the little you-know-what, grrrrr. The stinker will get to go live with its relatives elsewhere in the valley if I have my way.

Manoa Crisphead and Ruby Gem Romaine Lettuces

The Romanesco zucchini plant produces a good sized zuke every 2 or 3 days. This one got away from me a bit and got to be extra large but it was still nice and firm and tasty, not at all seedy. The winter sown Batavia broccoli plant put out a few shoots and I got to harvest most of them, the rabbit got the rest. Grrrrr.

Romanesco zucchini and Batavia Broccoli

I sure hope that **** rabbit falls for the trap, my summer broccoli is just starting to form some nice heads and I DO NOT WANT TO SHARE WITH THE **** RABBIT! Am I PO'd about the rabbit? Extremely...

And last but certainly not least, more of those oh-so-cute tangy little Mouse Melons! Hopefully not rabbit sized as well.

I also harvested but didn't photograph more bolting onions, a couple of other zucchinis, and more capers.

Oh wait, there's one more thing to show off that won't hit the tally yet.

I'Itoi Onions grown from a single bulb

The tops of the I'Itoi onions were falling over so I lifted them when I prepped that section of the bed for the fall/winter brassicas. The best clump that I started from one shriveled tiny bulb produced at least 40 little onions and the other 4 clumps were nearly as prolific. They aren't big, only about the size of a small shallot, but they sure are productive. I haven't sampled them yet, I'm letting them all cure, and then I'll save the best of the harvest to replant and then I'll cook with the rest. They have an interesting story which you can read about here.

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

Red Swan beans - 10.2 oz.
Roc d'Or beans - 11.9 oz.
Rolande Filet beans - 2.2 lbs.
Royalty Purple Pod beans - 5.7 oz.
Slenderette beans - 3.2 oz.
Batavia broccoli - 6 oz.
Capers - 6.3 oz.
Dorato d'Asti celery - 2.8 oz.
Pink Plume celery - 13.2 oz.
Green Fingers cucumbers - 15.1 oz.
Mouse Melons - 1.4 oz.
Manoa Crisphead lettuce - 1.5 lb.
Ruby Gem Romaine lettuce - 2.2 lb.
Ramata di Milano onions - 2.6 lb.
Yellow Spanish Utah onions - 12.7 oz.
Romanesco zucchini - 2 lb.

Total harvests for the past week - 16 lb. (7.2 kg.)
2016 YTD - 352.8 lb. (160 kg.)

Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog Our Happy Acres, head on over there to be inspired by what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.