It’s time for Harvest Monday, where gardeners from all over celebrate all things harvest related. My wife and I just returned from a getaway to Maine, where we enjoyed the sights in Portland and fought the crowds in Bar Harbor. We ate a lot of good food (like clam chowder and lobster rolls), but it is nice to be home again for sure. We got a bit of rain while we were gone, and the vegetable garden stood up to the hot weather quite nicely. I got a big haul of peppers and a few eggplant when we returned home. I can see me making a batch of sheet pan ratatouille this week for sure.
eggplant and sweet peppers
hot peppers
The Hernandez hot peppers have done quite well for me this year. They are a Fresno type, like Flaming Flare which also does well for me here. I find they have about the same heat level as the jalapenos I grow, but with a tad more flavor perhaps. I’ll make hot sauce with these and the other hot ones I harvested.
Hernandez hot peppers
Before we left for our trip, I harvested some Cherokee lettuce from the greenhouse for our salads. This one colors up nicely for me in both greenhouse and outside plantings, and I have more growing in the beds behind our greenhouse that should be ready soon.
Cherokee lettuce
And I got a small but much appreciated harvest of pawpaws from our modest plantings. This native fruit has a flavor that is often described as tropical, like a mix of banana, mango and pineapple. The texture is soft, like a custard, and I like to to scoop it out with a spoon and eat it for a snack. I am guessing the racoons or opossums got a few of the fruits before I found these two.
pawpaws
And in non-harvest news, we saw several lighthouses while we were in Maine, including the much-photographed Portland Head Lighthouse. It was built in 1791, and is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine. I can see why it is so popular with photographers! We had great weather for our trip and enjoyed the cooler temperatures of coastal Maine while it was baking back home in Indiana.
Portland Head Lighthouse
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 check out what everyone is harvesting!
Nice haul of peppers! And the Cherokee lettuce is really attractive. Glad you had a good time in Maine. You should have stopped by since you were so close!
Sheet pan ratatouille sounds like a good plan. Though I don’t grow eggplant, my neighbor usually has an abundance. Do I recall that Cherokee is your best bolt-resistant for warm weather? Gotta love Maine. My family goes back to 1639 in the Portland area.
Cherokee is one of my favorites for bolt-resistance, and Muir and Tehama also do well for me.
I’ve never eaten a pawpaw. Your peppers just keep on coming don’t they?
It has been a good year for peppers Sue.
I hadn’t heard of Portland, Maine; I guess the one on the west coast has a better marketing department.
Is the “pawpaw” that you are growing “Asimina triloba”, rather than the “Carica papaya”? It looks interesting. How does it taste?
It is Asamina triloba, and the taste is hard to describe. Fruity and tropical, like a banana with mango and pineapple mixed in.
Thanks so much for the low bolt lettuce varieties
You are welcome! Slo-Bolt is another green leaf type that works well for me.