It’s time for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We got our first hard freeze last week, along with a couple of heavy frosts. The frost crystals were beautiful on the fall brassicas. and should make the greens all the sweeter for it. I thought it was particularly pretty on the big collard leaves which were literally covered in frost.
frost on collards
another frosty collard leaf
I harvested a few leaves of Georgia Cabbage collards last week before the frosts, and they were tender and flavorful already. I can hardly wait to taste some of the greens now. The kale is quite hardy but the collards a bit less so, and collards will get priority on harvesting for a bit. The collard kraut is supposed to be better tasting after a frost, so making that will be on my to-do list this week.
Georgia Cabbage collards
Before the freeze I raided the pepper plants and found a few more for drying. I also found a few eggplants while I was at it. I’m amazed the plants produced fruit given our cool weather, but they did and we roasted them up and enjoyed what will surely be the last of the season.
late season peppers and eggplant
Korean peppers for drying
I also managed to get almost two pounds of pole beans from the vines. I cooked most of these, and froze the rest. It’s been a great year for beans, and the freezer is full so we will be enjoying them all winter and spring.
late season pole beans
I finally got a couple of heads of flathead cabbage to size up. I used most of these two to make a jar of sauerkraut. I still have a couple of pointed cabbages sizing up, if the weather doesn’t get them. That should give us a bit for fresh eating.
Tendersweet flathead cabbage
With the freeze forecast, I pulled in all the remaining winter squashes left on the vines. These are all neck pumpkins types that I will roast in the oven and turn into puree. The smaller ones are the Centercut squash we enjoyed so much as a summer squash. We will see how they do when they mature! The larger ones are Turkerneck, and while they were smaller than usual they still weighed between four and five pounds each.
Centercut and Turkeyneck squashes
And finally I cut more broccoli, this time Apollo. The stem broccoli is so sweet when roasted, that is our favorite way to prepare it. The purple sprouting broccoli is now ready to start cutting, so we should be supplied with broccoli for a bit longer.
Apollo broccoli
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!