Harvest Monday....... July 1, 2013 & Harvest Totals to Date

We had two big harvests this week, a lot of the Broccoli and the Garlic. Some of you may have seen my Big Broccoli Harvest here. Well that wasn't all of it for the week. I harvested a few heads earlier in the week and a few more on Sunday. Sorry, no pics of those.

Sunday I went to the plots and pulled the remaining peas. The peas in the home garden were pulled last week. It's just too hot for the peas and they were about finished. After I finished with the peas. I thought that I better check the garlic. Well, it was ready to be pulled. I pulled all the garlic and brought it home.

Since we are in constant threat of thunderstorms lately, I had to put it under the covered part of the back porch. Now I can barely get out the back door!

38 Heads of Music (Hardneck Variety)

 

and.... 

 a total of 56 heads of Silverskin (Softneck Variety)

more of the Silverskin

 

The garlic heads are a good size and I'm quite pleased with the harvest. I think we will have enough for us and my son's household. Later this week I will hang the garlic and let it cure for storage.

 

Since I have been a bit busy and haven't participated in Harvest Monday this year, I thought I would post my year to date weighed harvest totals.

  



Baby Choi - 3.25 lbs.
Asparagus - 3.3 lbs.
Strawberries - 20.8 lbs
Broccoli - 16.8 lbs.
Garlic - 94 Heads (will be weighed once they are cured)
Greens & Lettuce - 3 lbs. (I haven't been weighing most of these)
Onions - 8 oz,
Peas - 11.2 lbs.
Peppers - 1 oz. (1 hot pepper)
Spinach - 5 lbs
Tomatoes - 3 Sungolds (not weighed)

Year to date Total - 62.45 lbs.

 

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in gardens around the globe!

The Home Garden at the beginning of May

I haven't posted much about the Home Garden lately since I've been so busy with the Community Garden move. The garden is growing well...but it's pretty messy around here!

This is the Left Cold Frame Bed

All of the overwintered Kale & Collards have been removed in the back of the bed. I planted some Celery and Baby Choi in their place. Do you think that we have enough lettuce growing???? Maybe somebody needs to harvest some!

This is the Right Cold Frame Bed

The overwintered Kale in the back of this bed is still doing well. It does look a bit funny since I just harvested most of the leaves. There is also some lettuce in the back that definitely needs to be harvested. Maybe Miss Banana will take care of that for me today! The mid section of this bed has carrots growing in it. I am keeping the bird netting on to deter those darn squirrels and birds!

Look at all those little carrots!

The Garlic is growing like crazy!

And so are the Snow Peas behind it! 

I know that they are not supposed to be friends....but, I have growing peas and garlic next to each other for years and they do just fine. Look at those boards just laying there....what a mess!

There are 4 Early Tomatoes growing in Kozy Koats in this bed with carrots in between. The pill bugs were so bad under the boards that I had to remove them. I decided to put the shade cloth over them for awhile so they could get a little bigger.

This is Bed #1

There are two different varieties of Snap Peas growing on each end and Shelling Peas along the long side.

Bed #1

Garlic growing at one end.

Bed #1

Some Pak Choi, Lettuce and Spinach at the other end

Bed #1

I also planted a few Broccoli Plants, Chinese Cabbage and I think a couple of regular Cabbage plants in the middle

One end of the messy deck. The cushions and table tops need to be brought out of the basement and put on the furniture. Someone also needs to replace 4 boards on the deck and then power wash and stain it!

My new little Dwarf Carmine Jewel Cherry Tree is in it's pot.

The Herb Garden definitely needs a little cleaning up!

This is the part of the Herb Garden behind the messy patio furniture.

That's a bunch of self seeded Cilantro, weeds and greens from the daffodils!

There is one flower pot that is looking good!

I planted perennials in some of the pots last year and this one doesn't need a thing added to it!

My new Dwarf Tophat Blueberry bush and some weeds in the stone pathway in the background.

The Carrots that I started in this pot in the basement were very happy until I took them outside. I'm sure they will perk up and green up once they get used to being outside. I also have three more large pots that need carrots planted in. That will have to wait until after vacation. And there's that dirty deck again!

Not the best color in this pic.

Here are the Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants and some herbs hardening off on the back porch waiting to to planted......

Here!! Yes, the beds at the plots are finished!!! Yippee!!

Well, it's going to be a busy week! Today I will be baking for the graduation picnic tomorrow. "The Italian's" daughter is graduating from college tomorrow. We will be leaving early in the AM. Then her graduation dinner here (not at our house) on Sunday....then the plots must be planted before vacation next week!

Harvest Monday..............04/23/2012

This week's harvests are once again all about greens and a little asparagus. The overwintered cold frame greens, lettuce and winter spinach bed  had started to bolt from the heat.  So, I harvested what was ready and cleaned up the beds. There is another harvest left before I have to pull the plants. In addition to what is pictured below, I  harvested at least 2 lbs of lettuce. I did not take any pictures of it though. I am not including their weight in this week's total. As I am not sure how much of the lettuce is good and will add the weights in as they are eaten.

The spring planted Collards & Kale did not bolt. So, we will have another flush of Collards & Kale before the summer weather sets in. I also have some spinach starts to plant out once the rain stops.

8 oz. Vates Collards

5.5 oz. Squire Kale

This variety is not bolting

4.5 oz. Lacinato Kale

12.75 oz. Mixed Spinach

2.25 oz. Asparagus

All of the transplanted asparagus plants are sending up shoots!! I really don't think we will harvest much more though. As most of the shoots are very tall & thin and starting to flower out into ferns. I am just so happy that they survived the move!

Total Weighed Harvests - 33 oz.

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday and see what's going on in Veggie Gardens around the globe!

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard..........4/05/2012

This week's Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard is all about Greens.....freezing greens and drinking greens! We have had some really nice greens & spinach harvests around here lately.

First I'll talk about freezing greens. I freeze, Kale, Collards, Spinach and even Asian Greens. It's very simple and they store very well in the freezer. The only green that I have noticed doesn't taste well after about 6 - 8 months is spinach. We had one portion of frozen spinach that was in the freezer for awhile and it wasn't very good. I really forget how long it was in there, but I do believe that it was under 1 year.

How to Freeze your Greens:

1. Go out in the garden and pick some really nice greens.
2. Wash them and then drain them in a colander or you can place them on a towel. I wash mine off, shake them a bit and then place them on a towel.
3. Next, I start a big pot of boiling water on the stove
4. While I'm waiting for the water to boil, I chop off any woody parts of the stems and then chop the greens a bit. You don't have to chop them. I don't chop the spinach.
5. When the water starts to boil, prepare a big bowl or your sink with very cold water & ice.
6. Next, you blanch the greens in the boiling water. You will find that the recommended time for greens is about 3 minutes for collards and 2 minutes for other greens. I don't blanch my greens that long. I blanch them about half the recommended time. I know that according to "you know who"....this is a no no. But, that's the way we like them.
7. Once the greens are blanched, immediately put them in the cold ice water for a couple of minutes. This stops them from over cooking.
8. Remove the greens from the ice water, drain thoroughly and then put them in Freezer Bags or Vacuum Seal them. 

I freeze all of our vegetables in portion sizes for the two of us. That way we don't waste any nice veggies. Another tip is to use a stainless colander to hold the greens in while blanching and cooling.

That's all there is to freezing greens!!!

Now, How to drink your greens. We have been having some great Kale shakes around here lately. I have to say that they are absolutely delicious!!

How to drink your Greens:

1. Go out and pick yourself some nice greens. We have been using Kale. I guess you could use other greens too.....but, Kale is so so good for you
2. Get out your avocado green blender from the 1970's
3. Chop those greens up, about 2 Cups for one big shake
4. Put a little crushed ice in the blender
5. Add the greens, 1 Cup of Soy Milk, 1 Organic Banana (or other fruit of choice) and blend!
6. That's it....now drink those wonderful nutritious greens.

You can also add about 1 tablespoon of  flax seeds to your drink before blending for some added nutrition and fiber.

I just love this shakes.....and I don't even like bananas! I think this would be a great way to get the little ones to eat more greens.!

What have you been making with your harvests, stores or putting away for another day???

Harvest Monday............03/26/2012

There were some pretty good harvests this past week here at the home garden. I finally got around to harvesting some more overwintered Collards, Kale, Lettuce & Spinach!

Overwintered Cold Frame Vates Collards, 14.5 oz.

Overwintered Cold Frame Lacinato Kale and a few leaves of Winter Red, 10 oz.

Overwintered Cold Frame Squire Kale, 8.5 oz.

Overwintered Spinach of mixed varieties, 13 oz

This is my first good Spinach Harvest since 2010!!! And there is a lot more out there!

Total Weighed Harvest - 3 lbs. 4 oz.

Collards, Vates - 14.5 oz.

Kale, Lacinato - 10 oz.

Kale, Squire - 8.5 oz.

Lettuce - 6 oz.

Spinach - 13oz.

Stop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens around the globe!!

The Peas are Popping and Sowing Carrots

It cooled down a bit today and we even had some misty rain this morning! We haven't had rain in forever. The last couple of mornings I have been watering the beds a bit to try to get the soil damp enough to plant some carrots. I figured if I watered then maybe we would get some rain.

This is the Right Cold Frame Bed. 

The soil was amended and loosed up a bit so the carrots could grow. Then I put down carrot seed mats that I made back in January, covered them with a little damp soil and then put boards on top to keep them moist until they germinate. I also stuck in some onions plants wherever I had some room. I think that I put in about 30 onion plants throughout the beds. I still have at least a couple of hundred to plant at the plots!

This is the Left Cold Frame Bed.

Last week I planted out some more Kale & Collard seedlings that were started back in January. I had to put the bird netting back on both the beds since the Dang Squirrels were in there trying to rip out my seedlings. Everything is growing like crazy! I guess that I have some harvesting to do!

The overwintered Spinach is growing like crazy too! I also planted 5 Quattro Stagioni Sel. Rossina Di Pescia lettuce plants in this bed....boy that's a mouth full!

The peas that I planted on March 13th are popping up!

All of the garlic is going to town! 

I decided to dig up a Blueberry Bush that I planted about 4 or 5 years ago on the property next door. There were two and they never did well. Something would nibble on them and I don't think the soil was any good for them either. So, I dug this little guy up and put it in one of the big pots I have. It was mulched and also covered with bird netting. If I don't cover something right after I plant it, the squirrels will most likely dig it up and just toss it!! I swear they watch me plant!

This year I am planning to buy 3 Dwarf/Miniature Fruit trees for my 3 biggest pots and one more Blueberry bush for another pot on the deck. Then I won't have too many flower pots to fill and we will have some nice fruit to eat!

Harvest Monday............03/05/2012

I had a couple of harvests the past two weeks. This is a re-run of my last Harvest Monday post. I harvested a small amount of spinach for 'The Italian's" BD dinner last Sunday, February 26th.

The spinach harvest was about 3 oz.

 It was just enough to stuff the flank steak which I posted about on Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.

The remaining Tatsoi in the cold frame was harvested on Wednesday. The Tatsoi was starting to bolt, even the smaller heads.

"Miss Banana" is checking it out. You know how those nosy cats can be!

The Tatsoi weighed in at 45.5 oz.

After the Tatsoi was harvested, I removed the tops from both cold frames. I also turned off the lighting, which I had on a timer to give the plants 2 extra hours of light during the winter. This will give the cold frames some fresh air and exposure to some colder temps. Hopefully, this will help take care of some of the bugs in there. I will also give them a good dose of DE this week.

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens around the globe!!

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard..........3/01/2012

I woke up this morning and realized it was Thursday and I hadn't done a post for Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard! Boy the week and the month just flew by! I can't believe that is March already. Before we know it the gardening season in this part of the world, will be under way! Then there will be lots goodness going in the cupboard too!

I found a great recipe a couple of months ago for a Stuffed Flank Steak here. It is supposed to be rolled. But, one flank steak makes three meals for "The Italian" and I. 1/3 is used for regular marinated broiled flank steak. 1/3 is used for a stir fry and the remaining 1/3, I have been stuffing. We love this recipe so much that I made a whole one for il secondo at "The Italian's" Birthday dinner this past Sunday. Yes, the Italian has reached "the speed limit age"!

Stuffed Flank Steak
Ingredients:

• One Flank Steak
• 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce (We use the good stuff from the Asian grocery store. It really makes a big difference in the taste. You can actually find labeled non GMO food at these stores!)
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• 2 tsp. Steak Seasoning or a combination of seasonings of your choice
• Thinly Sliced Provolone Cheese
• Sliced Bacon
• Fresh Spinach
• Mushrooms (one time I used them)
• Sliced Bell Pepper 

This is just 1/3 of a whole Flank Steak

Directions:

1. If you are using a whole flank steak, cut through the meat horizontally to within about an inch or so of the opposite side. If you are using a piece, you will have to cut it the opposite way to create a pocket. You can also have your butcher butterfly it for you.
2. Mix the Soy Sauce, Olive Oil & Seasonings together. Then marinate the steak with this mixture. You are supposed to marinate it for 4 hours or overnight. I have made it after only marinating it for about 30 minutes and it was great!
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
4. Layer the Provolone Cheese, Bacon, Spinach, Mushrooms & Pepper inside the pocket.
5. Roll the meat (if you can) and then tie it with kitchen twine about every 2" to keep it together.
6. Place in a baking dish and pour what ever marinade you have left over the meat and bake..
7. The directions say to bake for one hour. I have found that with a small piece it only takes about 15-20 minutes. When I made a whole one it baked for about 30-35 minutes. We do not like out meat well done and dried out.
8. Let the meat rest for about 5-10 minutes, slice and serve

This is the best Stuffed Flank Steak ever!

I served it with Mashed Cauliflower. If you have never had it...you don't know what you are missing! Just cook some nice cauliflower. Place it in your food processor (or you can mash it with a mixer or by hand), add some Butter, Adobe or other seasonings like garlic, Cheese of your choice and a little milk, if needed and mash. I like Mashed Cauliflower much better then Mashed Potatoes. It is also much better for you and a great way to get the little ones to eat more veggies! They will never know it's good for them!

So, What goodies have been going in or out of your Kitchen Cupboard Lately????

Harvest Monday............02/20/2012

I had a couple of harvests this week. One tiny one and one big one. Wednesday I harvested a handful of spinach from the spinach bed that I needed for a recipe. On Friday, I finally got around to harvesting a lot of the Tatsoi. 

The spinach only weighed about 2 oz. It was just enough for the recipe.

This is one big bunch of Tatsoi! It weighed 3.3 lbs.

Boy, it was a lot! I gave about half of it to a friend of ours since there is still more in the cold frame!

There is also some news on the Community Garden move and some seedlings growing in the basement! I will post about the garden tomorrow.

Now, Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday and see what's going on in gardens around the globe!

Harvest Monday.............01/02/2012

This week's Harvest Monday post includes the last harvest of 2011 and the first little harvest for 2012.

The Pak Choi in the one cold frame was starting to bolt. So, I pulled all of it. It really turned out to be a great year end harvest!

Not bad for the end of December....31.55 ounces!

As you can see, the bugs are still alive and doing a little nibbling on the veggies. I certainly hope that we get some seasonably cold weather this winter. If not, I am going to have a real bug problem come spring!

The last four carrots from the cold frames were pulled.

The big carrot weighed in at 4 ounces!

There was also some spinach to pick in the spinach bed.

It wasn't a lot. Just enough to put in the bottom of the fish casserole I was making with the left overs from our Christmas Eve feast.

Yesterday we stopped by the plots. I wanted to check on things since I haven't been there for a few weeks.  While I was there I harvested a little broccoli crown.

Our first harvest of 2012...weighing in at 2 ounces!

Total weighed Harvests: 2011 - 2.64 lbs., 2012 - 2 oz. 

2011
Carrots - 8.7 oz.
Pak Choi - 31.55 oz.
Spinach - 2 oz.

2012
Broccoli - 2 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's happening in Veggie Gardens around the globe!!