Monday, September 19, 2016

Harvest Monday - 19 September 2016

Welcome to another Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm. This week marked our first excursion below 50 at night. But we have other ways to mark the changing seasons. Our last sighting of "our" Ruby-throated hummingbirds was September 10. They are with us such a short time, starting in early May, but they bring us such joy! We've seen as many as five at one time. One of the nicest things we've done recently was to hang a feeder right off the screened porch (my office in the warmer months), as you can see in the picture below. It's so cool to see the birds hovering right outside, examining us with curiosity, when they are not busy drinking or chasing each other away (they are very territorial). We'll leave the feeders up another week or two, hoping to nourish the more-northern migrants as they pass through. We've seen a few.


Now on to harvests. Here is our first "Rosita" eggplant. The other eggplants have been giving us fruit for weeks, but Rosita is much slower. What it lacks in promptness and productivity, it makes up in loveliness I think.


Another first, a "Sugar Baby" watermelon. This is something of a joke, really. They are supposed to be petite, but 6 pounds, not 6 ounces! Sigh. We've never been able to grow a watermelon worthy of the name, but we keep trying.


Not a first-of-the-year, but a first-of-the-season picking of Asian greens. A smorgasbord of "oi's," you might say. From left, Toy Choy, Tatsoi, and Pak Choi. I realize now the photo is blurry, oops. 


Continuing harvest this week, starting with a muskmelon, a "Yellowfin" zucchini, and several "Rutgers" tomatoes.


An assortment of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. For those who inquired, we still have not had a hot example of "Mellow Star" shishito peppers.


Watermelon radishes, "Carson" yellow wax beans, a Cocozella Di Napoli zucchini, and another muskmelon.


A large picking of "Red Russian" kale and chard:


Finally, not a harvest, but something I find amusing. When I started eggplants this spring I noticed two of the pots had what looked like tobacco seedlings sprouting next to the "real" plants. I have no idea how the seeds got there. I mean, I am growing tobacco, but I really don't see how stray seeds got in with the eggplant. I left them, and now look at them! Doing much better than the tobacco I intentionally grew. And shading out the eggplants.


That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, and your comments. And thanks as always to Dave at Our Happy Acres for hosting Harvest Monday.


16 comments:

  1. Nice, you are still getting a variety of veggies, even melons, from your garden. I have been keeping an eye on the hummer feeder and the level does not seem to be moving, so maybe they are gone. But I will leave it up for a time.

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  2. Thanks, Dave. As I posted, keeping them up is good for the northern birds passing through. They need every little boost to make it to Central America!

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  3. I didn't realize the Ruby Throated hummers make such a long migration, how amazing for such a tiny bird. The Anna's hummers are year round residents here so I have a couple of feeders up all the time. One is right outside my kitchen window where I can watch their antics as I wash up. They have to share, unwillingly, with the migrating Allen's and/or Rufous hummers.

    Rosita is a gorgeous eggplant, so shiny and such a distinctive color.

    Funny how the volunteers find the perfect spot for their needs.

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    1. I love the Annas, but of course we don't have them here. They seem less territorial than the Rubies. Once in awhile a stray Rufous is spotted in New England.

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  4. I love watching hummingbirds too. Ours are still around, for now. You definitely have a baby of a Sugar Baby! I'd be happy to send you up some of our heat and humidity to help out your watermelons.

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  5. It's too bad about the watermelon, but the oi's look great! I have made a note to try the Mellow Star peppers next year. regular Shishitos usually wind up pretty spicy here, and a mild one would be nice indeed. Rosita is a beauty, and I think I grew it before I settled on Dancer which looks similar though may be a tad smaller. I do like the white flesh eggplants though.

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    1. Thanks, Dave. I'm not sure I'll grow Rosita anymore. It really seems suited to a climate warmer than ours.

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  6. I am planning on growing Toy Choy next year, do you like the texture and flavor? My garden volunteers always seem to do a whole lot better than what I plant in my garden.

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    1. The Toy Choy is really nice. It has fat stems, but tender. Flavor-wise, I really don't notice a difference between it and Pak Choi.

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  7. I grew Sugar Baby watermelons two years in a row. I'm not sure my harvests even averaged your 6 oz. Not doing it again. :)

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    1. Well, that's encouraging in a way. Last night I told The Kitchen Goddess I didn't want to plant them anymore, and got a glare in return.

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  8. Beautiful harvests (and great office!)- any watermelon would be worth celebrating at my house as I'm still hesitant to give melons a go...maybe something to experiment with next year.

    We've had one below 50 night as well - it went all the way down to 41 and a few places north of us even got a bit of frost in the low lying areas. And I'm not surprised by that tobacco plant - volunteers often seem to do so much better than those plants we coddle.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. Melons, especially muskmelons, are very gratifying if challenging. Watermelons...think their home is in the South.

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  9. Lovely to read your reflections on your New England garden. Brings to mind my years gardening in Ipswich, MA.

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