It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We harvested a few “firsts” last week, including the first blueberries and blackberries. My wife is in charge of blueberry picking, while I harvest the blackberries. We have been enjoying eating these fresh, and will freeze any extras for use later. It’s always a treat for me when the berries begin to ripen and we have fresh ones.
first blueberries of 2022
Natchez blackberries
Another first was a harvest of eggplant from the container grown plants. Fairy Tale and Gretel are two that do very well for me in containers, and the plants are usually quite productive grown that way. I am also growing the 2022 AAS Winner Icicle in containers, and they will be ready soon. We love these smaller fruited eggplants when roasted in the oven, or grilled.
Fairy Tale and Gretel eggplant
Another first last week was cucumbers, from plants I am growing in the greenhouse. Nokya and Mini Munch are two slicing types with tender skins, while Excelsior is a pickling type. We often make quick refrigerator pickles with the homegrown cukes, and they are a light side dish for many a meal. We had some for lunch one day, which went well with our panini sandwich on my homemade sourdough bread.
Mini Munch and Nokya cucumbers
Excelsior cucumber
refrigerator pickles with panini
I continue to get side shoots from the spring planted broccoli. I also got the first big head of the Jacaranda variety. It’s my first time growing it out in the vegetable garden, and so far I am impressed. This variety is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, and the head was nicely formed, with a great purplish green color. I used some of the broccoli harvests to make a Broccoli Salad with Walnuts, one of my favorite ways to eat raw broccoli. More went into a pasta dish I made for our dinner one night. We enjoy the fresh broccoli when we have it in the garden, and rarely buy it from the grocery.
broccoli side shoots
Jacaranda broccoli
Broccoli and Walnut Salad
I cut two heads of cabbage last week, a big one of Green Presto that weight four pounds and a smaller one of Conehead that weighed over two pounds. I used the Green Presto to make a couple of jars of sauerkraut, while I used some of the Conehead to make a slaw. Considering I had aphid issues with my brassica seedlings this year, I am quite happy to see most of them doing well finally!
Green Presto cabbage
Conehead cabbage
Another brassica that’s doing well is kohlrabi. I have harvested over 10 pounds of it already, and I pulled two of the larger Kossak last week. I used these big ones to start a couple of jars of kohlrabi kraut. I have several more of these sizing up in the garden, so it looks to be a good kohlrabi harvest for the spring season. It is one of my favorite vegetables, and we eat it raw, cooked and fermented. The summer squash continues to roll in too, you can see it in the below photo with the Kossak kohlrabi.
Terek and Kolibri kohlrabi
Kossak kohlrabi with summer squash
Kossak kohlrabi
making kohlrabi sauerkraut
All the harvesting is keeping me busy for sure! And it’s hard to believe, but it’s also time to start the fall brassica seeds. I’m actually running a few days behind last year, but I sowed seeds for collard greens, cabbage, mizuna and kale yesterday. I hope to sow broccoli and other brassicas in the next few days.
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 please take a minute and check out what everyone is harvesting!