Harvest Monday July 17, 2023

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. I am feeling much better, after recovering from a summer cold bug I picked up recently. It was rather mild, all things considered. I didn’t do a lot of cooking last week though, as my wife was in Alabama dealing with the passing of her sister. She is home now, and hopefully our normal routine will resume as best it can. The harvests continue though, and it is still very much squash season here. I’m filling up the freezer with extras, and we’re eating it as often as possible.

assorted squashes

squash and cabbage

I got another pickling cucumber, which will be just enough to make another batch of garlicky dill pickle kraut. That and the Fermented Curtido are two of my favorite cabbage based krauts. I try and make several jars of those two each season, and they keep for at least a year when refrigerated.

Excelsior cucumber

And speaking of the Curtido, I got two more ripe Pot-a-peno peppers last week to spice up a batch of the kraut. One hot pepper is usually more than enough to add zip and flavor to the ferment, which is mostly cabbage.

Pot-a-peno peppers

curtido ingredients

I cut the first of the Jacaranda broccoli last week. The heads were a bit loose, which is not surprising given they matured in very hot and humid conditions. The eating quality is fine however, and it has made a nice addition to our lineup of broccoli varieties.

Jacaranda broccoli

The container eggplants are keeping us well supplied too. Fairy Tale, Gretel and Icicle all showed up in meals last week. We used a few for an eggplant sandwich I made for dinner last night.

eggplant harvest

I got the first acorn squashes last week, one each of Goldilocks and Starry Night. Neither plant seems to be very productive this year, but I’m sure we will enjoying eating whatever we get. The Centercut squash vines are loaded as usual though.

mixed harvest with first acorn squashes

The greenhouse cucumbers are managing the heat, producing enough to satisfy our needs. Nokya and Mini Munch are doing well at the moment as I wait for other to join in the harvests. I made some Quick Refrigerator Pickles with most of these last week.

Nokya and Mini Munch cucumbers

In non-harvest news, I was pleasantly surprised to see our resident bluebird pair had built a 4th nest for the year. I’ve been hosting bluebirds for almost 40 years now and it’s the first time I can remember seeing 4 nests! #1 had 4 eggs and the next two had 6 eggs each. It brings joy to my heart every time I see or hear a bluebird.

bluebird nest #4

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!


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Harvest Monday July 10, 2023

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. This will be a brief harvest report since I have been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple of days. The harvests don’t stop though, and I generally visit the garden early in the morning to beat the heat even when I’m not feeling poorly. There’s a bit more kohlrabi and cabbage left sizing up, and the squash is still coming on strong, including the first tromboncino.

July harvest

Another morning harvest featured eggplant and Burgundy broccoli along with assorted squashes. I never know quite what to expect when I head to the garden to harvest. Rule number one for me is: take a Tubtrug! And my little harvest knife.

another harvest

The container grown eggplant is producing well now, and I’m getting a nice assortment of Icicle, Fairy Tale and Gretel.

assorted eggplant

The best performing broccoli here so far this spring has been Burgundy. It doesn’t make a huge main head, but the side shoots are large, numerous and tasty. I used some to make Lemon-Broccoli Pasta with Parmesan last week, served along with some pan seared trout.

Burgundy broccoli

broccolli with pasta and fish

The greenhouse cucumbers are slowly beginning to produce. I got a Mini-Munch last week to add to our salads.

Mini Munch cucumber

We’ve been trying to come up with new and creative ways to use our bounty of vegetables coming in. I made a casserole dish of Baked Ziti & Summer Veggies last week that was a big hit. The veggies including lots of yellow squash and zucchini, plus green onions, fresh basil and oregano. A bit of tomato from a local farm stand added color and flavor, and I mixed in ricotta and mozzarella cheeses along with one egg before baking. I plan to make this again, and I think eggplant and pepper would also be good additions. I served it up with some green leaf lettuce (not ours) topped with olive oil and parmesan cheese. There were no leftovers that night!

Baked Ziti & Summer Veggies

One tried and true way to cook our veggies is an easy one – roasting in the oven either on a sheet pan or in a cast iron skillet. One lunch meal last week featured Centercut squash cooked in the skillet along with eggplant roasted on a sheet pan. I’m not sure I ever get tired of this treatment when the veggies are fresh and flavorful.

roasted veggies with quesadilla

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!


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Harvest Monday July 3, 2023

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We got much needed rain last week, right at three inches of it. Unfortunately it also came with storms, including one that resulted in a power outage that lasted for much of last Thursday. We got no damage here, and the garden should be growing leaps and bounds now with the soil moisture replenished. The harvests are getting bigger and more varied these days, and one morning saw me hauling in kohlrabi, cabbage and a lot of squashes. The cabbage is one I’m growing for the first time called Sweet and Tender, which is much like the Tendersweet I’ve grown in the past and is a good choice for fresh use.

morning haul from the garden

Sweet and Tender made a good sized head that weighed in at 44oz/1.2Kg. I can see it going in a stir fry meal I have planned this coming week. That would be a good way to use lots of the veggies we have coming, including some kohlrabi which will give it crunch.

Sweet and Tender cabbage

We have a nice assortment of summer squashes, from dark green and light green zucchini to the yellow Tempest variety. I’m still freezing it, and working on a post about how I freeze it and then how we use it afterwards.

assorted summer squashes

I pulled the last of the kohlrabi I had growing in a bed behind the greenhouse. These are Terek and Kolibri, which remained tender and sweet even though they could have been pulled a couple of weeks ago.

Kolibri and Terek kohlrabi

Another morning saw me harvesting yet more kohlrabi and squash, plus another head of cabbage, broccoli side shoots, blackberries and a single Fairy Tale eggplant. The container eggplants are covered in blooms, and more fruit will be setting on soon.

another day, another harvest

I also cut the first of the young Centercut squash last week. I love this dual-purpose squash which is useful at both the immature and mature stages. When young like this I usually cut them in pieces and roast in a cast iron skillet or on a sheet pan. You can read more about this unusual variety in my Variety Spotlight.

Centercut squash

Another first was a cucumber from the greenhouse planting. This one is Nokya, and it gave us our first taste of homegrown cukes since last year. The other vines are growing nicely and blooming so we should have more to eat soon.

Nokya cucumber

And my last first was a ripe Pot-a-peno Pepper. That went into a batch of Fermented Curtido I made last week using some of the cabbage I had cut earlier.

ripe Pot-a-peno pepper

The blueberries are about done for. It’s not been a great year but we’ve enjoyed over five pounds of them. We pruned one large bush back last year and it didn’t produce much. Thankfully we have a couple more mature bushes that did quite well.

end of the blueberries

I used some of the Artwork and Melody broccoli to make a batch of Broccoli and Walnut Salad. It’s a seasonal treat, since we only make it when we have homegrown broccoli on hand. It went well with my wife’s Curried Chicken Salad for a cool and light lunch yesterday. A slice of my fresh-baked sourdough bread completed the meal, and was handy for getting the last bits of goodness off the plate!

Broccoli and Walnut Salad

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!

 


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Harvest Monday June 26, 2023

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. It’s an exciting time of year in the vegetable garden, with lots of ‘firsts’ coming in. I pulled the first kohlrabi last week, one each of Terek, Kolibri and Beas. I have these growing in a small bed behind the greenhouse, and they are fairly intensely planted. There should be more to pull in a few days, and they will keep well in the refrigerator until we eat them all.

first kohlrabi of the season

We love our kohlrabi, and one of our favorite ways to eat them is raw. I make a dip from homemade plain yogurt, garlic and a bit of lemon juice and serve the kohlrabi with that. It makes a cool summer side dish that goes with a lot of things.

kohlrabi with yogurt dip

And I also pulled the first giant Kossak kohlrabi from the main vegetable garden.

Kossak kohlrabi

The one in my handed weighed in at two pound after trimming off the leaves. We use most of these big ones for making kraut and kimchi, though we also roast them in the oven for a side dish. I have about 10 more of these sizing up in the garden, and we should be well supplied!

Kossak after trimming

The zucchini is still coming on, and I have begun freezing it for later use. I hope to start a new series this week on preserving the harvest, and I think zucchini and other summer squashes would be a good place to begin.

zucchini harvest

We’ve been enjoying the fresh squash in a number of dishes, including a Zucchini and Tomato Bake I made last week. Our tomatoes are just beginning to set on, so I picked up a couple of purple ones from a local farmer (Helms Greenhouse) who has a truck set up in a parking lot not too far from our place. His tomatoes are are good but not nearly as tasty as our homegrown ones, but they did fine for this dish. It’s a fairly simple treatment, with layers of zucchini and tomato drizzled with olive oil and topped with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and fresh herbs (basil and thyme) from the garden.

Zucchini & Tomato Bake

Another first was the Artwork stem broccoli. I cut the main head from one plant, and another should be ready soon. The side shoots are the main attraction with this AAS Winner, and it has been a great performer for me here in our garden.

first Artwork broccoli

I set out a few raspberry plants last year and we are getting a handful of berries now. Caroline is a red everbearing variety and we are now getting a sampling from last year’s canes. The new canes are coming up and should give us a bit more this fall, though it might take another year to really get the raspberry patch going. The berries are sweet and flavorful, and this is one of my favorite red varieties. I have grown it in the past but it has been a few years ago when I had it growing in another spot, next to the asparagus bed.

Caroline raspberries

Pizza was on the menu last week and around here that calls for arugula. I’ve gotten several cuttings from this planting in the greenhouse, and should be able to get at least one more before the plants flower and bolt.

arugula harvest

And now for something completely different – baby bluebirds! This is brood #3 this year in this PVC nest box, and 5 of the 6 eggs hatched. I was holding the box like it was the most precious cargo on Earth, even more so than the DSLR I was holding in my other hand. Having three broods is pretty much normal for the bluebirds here, but they got off to a much earlier start than usual this year.

baby bluebirds

Bluebirds need a cavity to nest in, and suburban development brings loss of suitable habitat. That and competition from non-native birds like starlings and house sparrows means they need help from humans. House sparrows don’t like the smaller size of these PVC boxes, and the opening is too small for starlings, so the bluebirds use them with much success. I’ve got this one mounted on a pole in the sun garden with a predator guard attached. We work around this area all the time and the bluebirds don’t mind our presence. They also don’t mind my nest inspections as long as I keep them brief!

bluebird house surrounded by perennials

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!

 


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Harvest Monday June 19, 2023

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The garden is giving us a variety of goodies to eat now, but for me the star player has to be the blueberries. We are enjoying them atop homemade yogurt most mornings for breakfast, and also enjoying some of last year’s crop in the freezer in our fruit smoothies.

blueberry harvest

I’m still pulling spring onions as needed, and a typical harvest one morning also included zucchini and mini broccoli. The Melody broccoli may indeed be early, but so far the harvest has been small compared to other stem type broccoli I grow which is just now starting to head up. It has been disappointing to say the least.

morning harvest

Melody broccoli

The summer squash is not disappointing though. Zucchini and yellow squash are featured in many a meal, and I have begun freezing it for later use.

zucchini

Tempest squash

I got an assortment of squash one morning, and from top to bottom in the below photo we have Clarimore, Green Machine, Cash Machine, Mexicana and Tempest. We used a couple of them to make Turkey Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats for dinner last night.

assorted summer squashes

baked zucchini boats

I also cut a few more leaves of the Winterbor kale to go with some previously harvested. I braised those for a side dish to go with fish one night. We also roasted some of last year’s Beauregard sweet potatoes that night, which are still in great shape in storage.

Winterbor kale

braised kale with fish and sweet potatoes

I’ll close with something in the future harvests department. Our container grown eggplants have begun blooming, which means eggplant will soon be on the menu! I have three AAS Winners growing in containers this year: Fairy Tale, Gretel and Icicle. They kept us well supplied with early eggplant in 2022, and I am expecting similar results this year.

Fairy Tale eggplant blooming

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!


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