Harvest Monday - August 22, 2016

It seems like I've been holding my breath in more ways than one. I keep waiting to have some sort of glut of summer vegetables to deal with, but apparently my continual attempts to moderate the quantity of what I grow is finally showing some results. I'm not complaining, it just seems weird. I'm getting a steady supply of vegetables to eat fresh and about the only thing that I have extra to deal with is some zucchini. So let's start with the new items in the harvest basket.

Sicilian Eggplant

The Sicilian eggplant is the first to be ready to harvest. I thought I might have held off too long to harvest it because the skin was turning dull, generally a sign that it is getting old and seedy, but it was actually quite good. The flesh was firm and dense and the seeds had started to form but they were still light colored and soft. I cut it in thick slices, panfried it in olive oil and served it topped with fresh sheepmilk ricotta and a fresh tomato and cucumber chunky salad/salsa.

Rosso Dolce da Appendere

I had to harvest one of the Rosso Dolce da Appendere peppers green because the tip had been damaged and the sowbugs were going to work on it. This variety of pepper is actually pretty good green, a lot more tasty than a green bell pepper, so it wasn't a total loss. I can't remember what I used it in, possibly stir fried broccoli.

I'itoi onions

And I finally cleaned and weighed the I'itoi onions which I wrote a Spotlight post about a few days ago.

Mixed Harvests

This  has been a typical harvest lately, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, and mouse melons have been coming in at a steady pace. The cucumbers are taking a break for now, that little one was the only one for the week.

Romanesco Zucchini

The zucchini in particular has been regular. My stash of dried zucchini is growing at a modest pace.

Pink Plume Celery

And there's plenty of celery to cut so we've been eating a lot of it. It's been nice to have a steady supply of celery. I like the crunch of it in salads and it's been a nice addition to the frequent veggie sautés that I prepare and other veggie dishes. (We do eat a LOT of veggies!)

Pink Plume Celery

Little Rosebud Romaine Mix

A couple of the Little Rosebud Romaine Mix lettuces were starting to bolt. One was a short head and the other a tall one, neither had really formed a solid heart.

Manoa Crisphead Lettuce

This head of Manoa Crisphead lettuce was growing a bit sideways and I think it was on the verge of bolting so I harvested it. The Manoa lettuces do form a nice tight crunchy heart, not a ball like an Iceberg lettuce, but good and solid nonetheless. At this time of year the heads can bolt extremely quickly, but they keep really well in the fridge so I try to cut them as soon as I see signs of bolting. I may end up with a lot of lettuce hanging about the fridge pretty soon...

Tropea Rossa Tonda Onions

Many of the onions have cured enough to trim and bring in. The Tropea Rossa Tonda onions did pretty well this year, they formed good bulbs without too many splits and only a few bolted. That one with the long neck was one that bolted and I used it right away since it won't keep well.

Exhibition and Rossa Savonese Onions

The Exhibition onions are big. These three came in at 2.7, 2.5, and 2.4 pounds apiece. There's still a few of them that I'm still waiting for the tops to completely dry. A number of the Rossa Savonese onions split and more of them bolted also.

Typical Foggy/Smoky Morning

Well, one other thing that makes me want to hold my breath is the ongoing Soberanes Fire. There hasn't been a day in over a week without smoky skies. Some days are stinkier than others, but nights and mornings are nasty because the smokes settles in the valley and mixes with the fog. Everything has collected a fine film of ash. The fire has been burning for a full month, it started on July 22. Currently the most rugged and wild area of the county (perhaps the state) is being allowed to pretty much burn as it will. There was a huge and successful effort to keep the fire from burning through the community of Big Sur on the west side of the fire. Another massive effort kept the fire from consuming the community of Cachauga on the east side. There are crews on the ground on the southeast side spiking out (aka going coyote) working the fire line on foot and camping out near the fire. It is extremely difficult and dangerous work but there are no roads in that area so that's the only way to do it. They are trying to keep the fire from running into the southern portions of Carmel Valley. I don't know what the plan is when the fire reaches the Tassajara Zen Center. The northern end of the fire is completely contained. But the south side is just going up in smoke. Ventana Double Cone - poof. Ventana Cone - going. Miller Mountain - going going. Uncle Sam Mountain, Elephant Mountain, Island Mountain, you get the drift, there's a lot of peaks there and they're all burning. So many areas that Dave and I have hiked or have been meaning to hike are burning up. Over 86,000 acres have burned so far. The new estimated containment date is now September 30 - not likely. Funny how the containment has stayed at 60% while the fire continues to spread day by day. One damned illegal campfire. And I read recently that people continue to camp illegally and burn illegal campfires. Mind boggling.

Sorry for the diversion, but this has become my place to vent and document my frustration. So, back to the harvests.

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

Batavia broccoli - 8.6 oz.
Pink Plume celery - 2.9 lb.
Green Fingers cucumber - 1 oz.
Mouse Melons - 4.2 oz.
Sicilian eggplant - 1.4 lb.
Little Rosebud Romaine Mix lettuces - 1.9 lb.
Manoa Crisphead lettuce - 1.3 lb.
Exhibition onions - 7.6 lb.
I'itoi onions - 3.3 lb.
Rossa Savonese onions - 3.9 lb.
Tropea Rossa Tonda onions - 10.2 lb.
Rosso Dolce da Appendere pepper - 3.4 oz.
Camp Joy cherry tomatoes - 3.9 oz.
Jaune Flamme tomatoes - 3.4 oz.
Lime Green Salad tomatoes - 12.5 oz.
Piccolo Dattero cherry tomatoes - 1.2 oz
Sweet Gold Cherry tomatoes - 7.4 oz.
Romanesco zucchini - 3.5 lb.

Total harvests for the week - 38.9 lb. (17.7 kg)
2016 YTD - 454.2 lb. (206 kg.)

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