Harvest Monday June 10, 2019

It’s time for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We’re getting more variety in our harvests now, as more of the spring veggies and even some summer ones are ready to harvest. I pulled a trio of Beas kohlrabi for eating last week. Beas is the first white-skinned kohlrabi variety, and these were nice sized and weighed in at around 8 ounces each. They had quite a bit of slug damage on the skins, which won’t effect the eating quality any. I am mindful these could not be sold in a grocery, which is a shame since so much of our food here in the U.S. goes to waste, often because it doesn’t look perfect. But this is the way our veggies look around here – perfectly imperfect!

The first two Patio Baby eggplants I cut were pretty much picture perfect though. I’ve even managed to keep flea beetles off these container grown plants, with occasional sprays of a Pyganic and neem oil mix.. There are more fruits setting on the eggplants, and these first two got roasted up on a sheet pan along with other veggies.

Along with the first eggplant, we also cut the last asparagus of 2019. We had a good run of it, getting 20 pounds in all, and decided to let it grow out now. My wife has been busy weeding and mulching it again, and that should be the last we have to do to the beds until winter when we cut down the ferns. I say “we” but she pretty much does all the hard work in the asparagus bed herself.

I’m cutting more and more of the spring planted lettuce now. I’m growing Ruby Gem for the first time, and this baby romaine from Renee’s Garden Seeds did quite well for me. I’ll be growing it again this fall for sure.

I also cut Slobolt and Flashy Trout Back last week. They both had a little slug damage, but not as bad as the kohlrabi. The Slobolt wound up in a wilted lettuce salad, one of my favorite seasonal treats.

I cut some colorful Miz America and Red Kingdom mizuna to go in a frittata we had for lunch one day. Neither has started bolting yet, so we will enjoy them while we can.

Last but definitely not least, I cut more of the broccolini last week. This included the main heads of Artwork, and side shoots of Apollo. I also cut the first of the spring-planted Burgundy purple sprouting broccoli.

I cut these first spears of Burgundy just 60 days after setting out the plants. Most PSB is planted in fall and harvested in winter, but Burgundy is good for all seasons. It was bred and developed in the UK, and I look forward to seeing how it does here in summer and fall. I got my seeds for Burgundy from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!