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Monday, October 9, 2017

Harvest Monday - October 9, 2017

First up this week is something green again.

Kurin Kabocha
I harvested all of the Kurin Kabocha squash. I'm not sure what size I should have expected, they are supposed to be small, but the small ones are really small. I'll wait to pass judgement until I taste one of them.
Manoa Lettuce and Speedy Arugula
And there's more green in the form of lettuce and arugula. I'm relieved that both of them got through the excessive heat that bore down on the garden when these were still very small. There's no signs of bolting or bitterness. It's so nice to have fresh salad greens again.

OK, back to the pepper harvests. The harvests are peaking now, some nearly finished last week and others are in full swing or getting there. I did a series of "portraits" with one round of the harvests.

Rosso Dolce da Appendere
Rosso Dolce da Appendere is a long slim thick fleshed sweet roasting pepper. That's the first harvest of ripe ones shown above. This is my third year growing this variety and they're keepers.

Shepherd's Ramshorn
Shepherd's Ramshorn is in mid production now, as is Ajvarski. This is year 6 for Shepherd's, so it's obviously a favorite and year 1 for Ajvarski and it's promising to be a favorite.

Ajvarski

Violet Sparkle
Violet Sparkle is about done, there's just a few small peppers left on the plants and Odessa Market is winding down also.

Odessa Market

Gogosar
The harvests from the Gogosar plants are a mixed bag this year. The small peppers are coming from the plants that I caged for seed saving, but there's one plant that I didn't cage that is producing what I would normally expect. There's still a number of peppers ripening on all the plants.

Turkish
The Turkish pepper was also caged for seed saving so many of the peppers are on the small side, but I'm getting a few nice specimens. It seems that caging the pepper plants keeps the peppers from becoming large, I noticed the same thing with the caged Florina plants, but other than size the peppers are good quality and I'm getting plenty of seeds.

Hungarian Magyar
The Hungarian Magyar peppers are in mid production now. I've dried one batch of these but haven't ground any into paprika yet, I'll save that task for when the entire harvest is done and dried.

Topepo Giallo
Topepo Giallo is about way through the harvest now. I've been searching for a good thick fleshed sweet yellow pepper and have not been impressed with the ones that I've tried so far but this might be the one. I'll try it again next year to confirm.

Petite Marseillais
Petite Marseillais is thin fleshed and sweet. This is a great frying pepper and also dehydrates well. This is year 2 for in my garden and it was one of the few varieties of peppers that I got to enjoy last year before powdery mildew and rodents set in. I'm enjoying it again this year and will grow it again next year.

I wan't very good at getting the camera out last week so you'll just have to believe me when I say that I harvested a bunch of cherry tomatoes, the last Romanesco zucchini, more Tromba D'Albenga squash, the first stalks of celery, more chard, and more broccoli. I had a busy week last week and it was all I could do to get things harvested and dealt with.

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.


12 comments:

  1. You grow such a variety of beautiful peppers. I remember reading awhile ago that you grow a lot in containers...is this still the case? And is every variety represented with multiple plants?

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    1. Not so many in pots anymore, but there are a few. For most sweet varieties I have at least 2 plants and 3 or 4 for the long time favorites. I think the final count, not including potted peppers, was about 60 pepper plants this year.

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  2. Kabocha, yes.

    I've got some baking in the oven right now to be used in this recipe:
    https://allthingssicilianandmore.com/sicilian-pumpkin-with-vinegar-mint-sugar-and-cinnamon/
    Sicilian Pumpkin with vinegar, mint, sugar and cinnamon

    Not so much sauce. Serve over the Manoa lettuce and arugula.

    This is what I bring to those affairs where you are supposed to bring a dish to share. Always a big hit.

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    1. How funny, I've been making the fried version of that dish for years. The first squash dish that Dave has requested is that very one. And so far as my eater-in-chief is concerned, it's too good to share - all MINE as he frequently says about his favorite things to eat

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  3. Gorgeous peppers, as always - and envious of the greens! My lettuce unfortunately couldn't take the hot weather earlier this month and decided to bolt.

    I definitely think that conditions can have a big impact on the size of squash. I barely harvested any winter squash this year, but those that I did harvest, specifically one variety I had previously grown, were much smaller than in the past.

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    1. I agree, I suspect that the blast of heat caused the squash to stop growing, they are all the same size that they were when the heat wave hit. One of the squash on my Terremoto vines that was still sizing up at the time ended up withering away and it had looked very healthy and happy before it got roasted on the vine.

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  4. What a beautiful display of peppers! Mine are so far behind yours I'll be happy for anything I get. I have quite a few green Gogosar and I do hope some of them ripen before frost comes. I wonder if the caged peppers get a tad less light? I notice similar results on my container plants, where I have bird netting covering them to keep the deer away.

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    1. I'm surprised that your peppers haven't ripened yet, your summer veggies are usually way ahead of mine. I'm not sure if the caged peppers need more light or perhaps more movement, I think I read somewhere that vibration helps to pollinate the flowers, but I could be wrong...

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  5. I love when you hit your pepper season. It's always right around when my season ends and completely re-inspires me to get ready again for next year!!

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  6. The peppers are beautiful so perfect and such a cheery colour. Ours are resolutely green.

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  7. Lovely looking peppers you have, so clean and succulent. I need to grow more with thick walls for preserving in oil or brine so am on the look out for suitable varieties: I shall have to check out if Topo Giallo is suitable here

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