Monday, August 22, 2022

Harvest Monday - 22 August 2022

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm. We had the best harvest week of the year, and maybe one of the best in recent memory. I'll get right to it, starting with the "first harvests" of the season.

I picked the first artichoke, as always petite compared to supermarket size, but so much fresher!

'Tavor' artichoke

Two "Halona" muskmelons/cantaloupes had slipped from their vines, indicating full ripeness, as if their fragrance wasn't enough of a tell.

'Halona' muskmelon

We ate the larger one, and I gave the other to my MIL. Why would I do such a foolish thing? Because I knew an even larger one was getting ready!

Halona weighing 3.5 lbs

Words cannot describe how good it tasted, both standalone and with a little prosciutto.

Halona

I picked the first ripe Serrano pepper, shaped like a jalapeno but hotter.

Serrano
The first Brandy Boy indeterminate tomato was ready, a respectable one pound ten ounces.

Brandy Boy (hyb)

We've found in the past that Brandy Boy is almost as good as Brandywine. We seem to be adopting the "BLT" method of taste-testing, and BB did very well, maybe a little sweeter than Brandywine if that's how you like it.

Next up is "Horizon," an indeterminate. This was from a free trial packet. It makes shapely 8 ounce slicers. It is said to be very sweet. I had one for lunch (not a BLT, just a pinch of salt) and was surprised to find it very acidic at first, not a bad thing for my tastes. More bites found it to balance out, but still on the acidic side. I liked it.

Horizon (OP)

I've mentioned that I'm experimenting with several hybrid replacements for the San Marzano paste tomato, which I like a lot but has no disease resistance. One of them is "Andiamo," which was supposed to be earlier than San Marzano. I picked two this week, along with two San Marzanos, so the earliness was not so. I accidentally mixed them up bringing them in, and they are so similar I don't know which is which!

Andiamo (hyb) and San Marzano (OP)

The other San Marzano replacement is "Granadero." I tried it last year and the plant did not do well, but this year looks great. The fruits are solid and heavy, and look more like Roma.

Granadero (hyb)

Speaking of Roma, it too started coming in this week. It's another of our canning workhorses.

Roma (OP det.)

I had planted a short row of Red Norland potatoes, and dug them this week. I was very pleased with the results.

Red Norland

For continuing harvests, The Kitchen Goddess picked some of the last blueberries.

Blueberries

Here are Monday's general harvests (i.e. crops I have already featured separately).

Monday non-tomato general harvest

Monday tomato harvest

I picked tomatoes again on Tuesday ahead of a threatened storm, which actually never really materialized for us.

Tuesday tomato harvest (mostly)

Friday's harvest was so big I need four pictures to show it. First is cucumbers, shishito peppers, broccoli shoots, and pole beans. You know how many people "zucchini bomb" friends, relatives, and people they don't know? We do that, but we also shishito bomb.

Friday part 1

Next is courgettes et aubergines.

Friday part 2

Next is the hot pepper harvest of Anaheims, Poblanos, Jalapenos, and fiery red Cayennes.

Friday part 3

Last is the tomato harvest.

Friday part 4

TKG and her mom got several great harvests like this from their community garden plot. Mom was thrilled.



Saturday was very hot, so why not make the kitchen even warmer by canning? But we had to reduce the glut. TKG, with my feeble help, canned six quarts of chopped tomatoes, 6 pints of chunky mustard cucumbers, and seven jelly jars of sliced jalapenos. 

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with it. I hope you had great success this week too. Please join me in thanking our talented Harvest Monday host, Dave, at HappyAcres.blog.






1 comment:

  1. Those are some epic harvests! Your melon and prosciutto combo has my mouth watering. Like you I am trialing paste tomatoes here, and it's my 4th year growing Granadero. They didn't do as well this year as last year, but then all the tomatoes have struggled with our wet conditions. Perhaps I will add Andiamo to my list to try next year, as it sounds promising.

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