It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. It’s officially autumn now, and the hot weather seems to be gone for at least a while. The harvests are slowing down, except for peppers and beans. It will be time to dig sweet potatoes soon though, and that will keep me busy for a couple of days. I usually wait until early October for that harvest.
late September harvest of eggplant and peppers
assorted hot peppers
The hot pepper harvest last week included green and red jalapenos, plus a fiery hot Early Thai pepper I have growing in a container. I will dry these, and they will be more than enough for our uses. One of these goes a long way to add heat to any dish!
Early Thai hot peppers
One pepper I’m growing for the first time is Jaloro jalapeno. The fruits go from light green, to yellow and orange, and finally on to red if allowed to fully mature. It has a medium heat level, and I got a few last week to try at the yellow/orange stage.
Jaloro peppers
I have been keeping busy picking the pole beans. I got over seven pounds from two heirloom varieties last week. In the below photo it’s Lazy Wife Greasy on the left and Turkey Craw on the right. I’ve grown both for several years now and they are productive for me as well as very good in the kitchen. I blanched and froze most of these, but cooked up some of the Lazy Wife Greasy for a couple of our meals.
Lazy Wife Greasy and Turkey Craw beans
It’s not all beans and peppers though! I got a small cutting of Miz America mizuna from a container plant I have growing in the greenhouse. These leaves went into a frittata I made for lunch one day.
Miz America mizuna
And I also got a couple more of the mature Centercut squashes. These two weighed a bit over three pounds each. I’ll let them cure for several weeks before cooking.
mature Centercut squash
In other news, I baked up a batch of sourdough focaccia bread. I’m using a recipe from Elaine Boddy’s Whole Grain Sourdough at Home. It featured a mix of bread flour and whole grain rye flour, and was naturally leavened with sourdough starter. I sprinkled course salt over the top and a bit of fresh rosemary on one end. I love this recipe for focaccia, and we enjoyed several pieces of it while fresh and then I froze the rest for later use.
sourdough focaccia bread
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!
Nice hauls of peppers and beans, and the bread looks absolutely delicious. I’ve never had mizuna to my knowledge, what’s the flavor like? Spicy?
Miz America has a mild flavor with little “mustard” taste. I like the young leaves on salads.
Our climbing beans have been a failure this year
It looks like ours will keep us well supplied Sue.
You can grow peppers and beans! (And so many other crops). In the past you’ve mentioned several things you cannot grow successfully. I’m coming to the conclusion that I should not be concerned about those that don’t grow well for me and revel in those that do. Case in point: from four tomato plants I only harvested about 18 Early Girl tomatoes.
You are so right Sue, and I am thankful for the many things I grow. Snap and shell beans are a staple for us here, and we always have plenty of tomatoes even in a bad year. I am hoping for a good haul of sweet potatoes here soon, and they keep us fed for many months.