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Monday, March 27, 2017

Harvest Monday - March 27, 2017

It's catchup time for harvest reporting because I was away for a few weeks. Before I left I harvested a number of the usual suspects.

Pink Plume Celery

Peppermint Stick and Golden Chard

Syrian Medieval Chard

Brussels Sprouts
I don't remember what I did with most of the late February harvest except for some of the Brussels sprouts which I shredded and dehydrated.

And just before I departed I harvested the first somewhat immature heads of Batavia broccoli, some about to bolt Mizunarubasoi, and perhaps something else that I can't remember now because I gave all those veggies away without making any record of the harvests.

The garden fared pretty well in my absence so I was able to resume harvests of a number of the overwintered vegetables.

Starica and Nelson Carrots
The carrots are still sweet and crunchy although some of them are getting a bit weird shaped.

Purple Sun Carrot and Pink Plume Celery
One of the celery plants started to bolt just before I left so I cut out the main shoot, the side shoots are starting to bolt but the plant still has some nice stalks. The other celery plant is slower to bolt so it still has really nice stalks. They are still crunchy, not too stringy, and great tasting. I used some of those stalks plus a carrot and some of the sprouts below to make a Brussels Sprouts slaw with what has become my favorite dressing of creme fraiche, horseradish, rice bran (or peanut) oil, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar.

Gustus Brussels Sprouts

Mizunarubasoi
The Mizunarubasoi is still good eating even though it is bolting. It makes a great substitute for rapini. Last night I blanched and sauteed some to accompany some slow cooked Petaluma Gold Rush beans that I had simmered in a seasoned slightly sweet tomato sauce.

Batavia Broccoli
The side shoots that I found on the Batavia broccoli when I got home were bigger than the main heads that I harvested three weeks previously. We enjoyed a couple of those in a veggie saute.

Syrian Medieval Chard
I harvested most of the leaves off of one of the Syrian Medieval chard clumps (I allow 2 or 3 plants to grow together in a clump) because it is starting to bolt. We enjoyed that prepared in a Mediterranean style with chopped onion, pine nuts, currants, and a splash of red wine vinegar.

It was a delight to come home to veggies fresh from the garden. The one thing I miss most when traveling is good vegetables, they are so hard to find in restaurants and completely impractical to carry when backpacking.

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.

7 comments:

  1. Those are some big broccoli side shoots! I know what you mean about coming home to the garden veggies. We try and hit farmers market when we are away but that is often a hit or miss proposition depending on what you find. And I'm still amazed by all those sprouts!

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  2. I've admittedly had rhubarb on the brain lately, but absolutely thought that is what the celery was before seeing the caption. Beautiful colouring!

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  3. I thought that the first photo was rhubarb too. We have a patch of horseradish that we have never harvested - must try some.

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  4. Loving the Pink Plume celery..gorgeous color, and great tasting you say.. mmmm, maybe next year if I can get the seed. Great photos!

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    1. My seeds for the celery came from Seed Savers Exchange.

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  5. Those are some gorgeous Brussels sprouts, they really tempt me to try a fall planting of them. There are some beautiful things coming out of your garden.

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  6. Those are some crazy broccoli side shoots! I do find that I often get much more excited about the broccoli side shoots than the main heads, probably because it always surprises me how prolific they are.

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