Harvest Monday - 28 October 2024

I thought last week's post would be my last for the year, but a few things happened this week that I'd like to record. Don't worry, it's short.

We have three mature apple trees, which I'm gradually pruning into shape after years of neglect. Last year and the year before, we got no fruit at all. This year, only the Granny Smith produced. Let's face it, these unsprayed apples are ugly, bumpy, and blemished. But peeled and sliced, they are fine and oh so tart.

The Kitchen Goddess made "Eve's Pudding," which can be described as a crustless apple pie, or more accurately, a deconstructed apple cake. It is so good, I asked her to make it again.

Ugly apples and yummy Eve's Pudding

I pulled a couple of leeks to make potato/leek soup. TKG is also making squash soup this coming week, so it's a soupy week, which is fine with me.

Lincoln leeks

 In 2022 and 2023 we really binged on making hot sauces, to the point where we wanted to skip it in 2024. But I was gifted two ultra-hot pepper plants, and that's really all we can do with them. This week I made 5 bottles of Scorpion Pepper-Mango sauce, and TKG made 4 of Carolina Reaper-Carrot sauce. She used two peppers for her batch, and I used three for mine. That made them much hotter, but not overpowering.

Scorpion/mango and Reaper/carrot sauces

I used all the rest of the Scorpion peppers to make a simple (i.e. unfermented) varietal sauce. I'm going to have to psych myself up to try it. I'm sure I'll find someone who will appreciate it if it's too much for me.

Pure scorpion pepper sauce

So now we are up to 20 bottles when we thought we'd have none.

Well, I really do think this is the last post for the year. Enjoy your gardening time off, and see you in the spring! Thanks again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday!

Harvest Monday - 21 October 2024

We got our first frost early Wednesday morning. I was prepared for it, so no harm done. It just meant that we closed out all the sensitive crops a little earlier than last year.

As such, I got a first harvest of "Sugaretti" spaghetti squash, which looks like a delicata. This is the only mature one the struggling plant managed to produce.

'Sugaretti' hybrid spaghetti squash

I also cut all the remaining squash from other types. There were four neck pumpkins, three of which coincidentally weighed 18.4 pounds each, and a fourth at a more demure 14.6 pounds. In the foreground is another Autumn Frost squash which was hiding in the tall grass.

Last of the winter squash

Only the neck pumpkins produced heavily for us. I estimate we got over 170 pounds from the single hill. We are begging people to take some from us.

I got a final big haul of green sweet peppers. These were chopped and frozen raw.

Final harvest of sweet peppers

I took all the remaining ultra-hot peppers. These are Carolina Reapers on the left, and Trinidad Scorpions on the right. They look the same, but the scorpions fittingly have longer "stingers." All in all, it was fun to grow them, but I really see no need to repeat it again, as they are so ridiculously hot they have limited utility for us.

Or maybe make homemade bear spray?

Actually I think I'll just (carefully) cut them up and freeze them. We can make sauces over the coming months.

Carolina Reaper and Scorpion hot peppers

After the frost I salvaged the other hot peppers that remained. The leaves were wilted, but the fruit was still fine. On the left are cayenne and guajillo peppers, hard to tell which is which. On the right are the few remaining jalapenos. The latter we have plans for when combined with what was in the fridge from the week before. I reserved some to make another jar of pickled jalapeno rings, and the rest were chopped and frozen. We want to make at least one more batch of the Creamy Jalapeno Sauce I showed last post, which we are greatly enjoying (it's excellent on eggs for example). The cayennes and guajillos were just chopped and frozen. We will probably find some good use for them in the future.

Last of the hot peppers

Ironically the weather warmed up substantially after the frost. We may even reach 80 today (Monday). But very little is left in the garden: leeks, carrots, lettuce, celery. This may be my last Harvest Monday post for the year. If so, thanks for reading and commenting on my posts. Big thank-you to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for providing the Harvest Monday forum for us.

Harvest Monday - 14 October 2024

As recently as a couple of days ago, we were getting a prediction of a frost on this coming Thursday night. They've since back-peddled on that, but who really knows? I'm taking steps in case it happens. 

We got a "first harvest," minuscule as it is, but it brings us joy: saffron. It is such a strange plant...growing in spring, dying back so completely that you think it really is dead, and then springing up with flowers in deep autumn.

Saffron crocus

At the start of this past week, I did a harvest just of things we needed: chard (silverbeet), celery, carrots, napa cabbage, green onions.

Tuesday general harvest

On Friday I had such a heavy harvest that I had to support the basket from underneath. This was in response to the frost prediction. I need three photos to show it all.

I took all the remaining (small) eggplants, and tomatoes that had a chance of ripening indoors.

Friday harvest #1

I took all the ripe (or nearly) sweet peppers. These were chopped and frozen.

Friday harvest #2

And I took all the hot peppers. These are Anaheims, cayennes, and jalapenos. We are desperately thinking of ways to use them all. There will be a lot of Hispanic-themed meals in the coming days.

Friday harvest #3

It was a terrific year for peppers here, even though I planted no more than two plants of each type.

I also cut two more Penn. Dutch Crookneck Squash/neck pumpkins. The one on the right is our largest yet, at 19.6 pounds (~8.9 kg).

"I know what you're thinking..."

The Kitchen Goddess took two of the cabbages and started fermenting a batch of 'kraut.

Sauerkraut

I made "Creamy Jalapeno Sauce," (non-dairy, with emulsified avocado oil to give it its creaminess). The jalapenos are definitely hotter this late in the season, so this has some kick to it. But it's really good, and sticks to the tortilla chip!

Creamy jalapeno sauce

My goal this week is to take all the remaining green sweet peppers, and cut all the winter squash. The latter would probably be okay in a light frost, but the vines have run all over the spot I want to plant garlic in.

There was a lovely light at sunrise Sunday morning, just prior to rain. The picture does not do it justice.

Lovely autumn morning

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 7 October 2024

The autumn leaves are cascading down, the nights are growing chillier (and longer!), and the harvests have slowed. But they're not finished yet. Here's a look at what went on this past week. 

 I got a first harvest of the hybrid C. moschata squash called "Autumn Frost." It's a favorite of ours for its intensely orange flesh and sweetness. But it's also a last harvest, as there aren't any more. They're shown here in front of two big neck pumpkins I also brought in.

Autumn Frost and neck pumpkins

I did two general harvests this week. Here's Tuesday's.

Tuesday general harvest

And here's Saturday's. The leek at the top went right into Cock-A-Leekie soup, with all vegetables from the garden and homemade chicken stock. It's really good. The two smaller things that look like leeks are actually green onions, which I've allowed to grow since planting in spring. On the left is a good haul of summer-sown lettuce. On the right is the very last zucchini.

Saturday general harvest.

The Kitchen Goddess reports that raspberries are slowing down, but still in quantity, as you can see.

Fall raspberries

I had accumulated a large amount of cayenne peppers, so it was time to make some chile powder.

Red Ember cayennes pre-drying

After drying and grinding (wore a KN95 mask this time, so no sneezing).

Cayenne powder

Similarly, I had a lot of guajillo and Hungarian Cheese peppers, the latter of which serve as paprika.

Guajillo and Hungarian Cheese peppers pre-drying

The drying process was complicated by our oven deciding to go on the blink, so all drying was done in our entry-level dehydrator--a long process, especially since the cheese peppers have very thick walls.

Guajillo (left) and two packets of paprika

It's startling to think how much of our produce is mostly water, and pounds of fresh peppers, for example, become only a few ounces of powder.

That's pretty much it for the week. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 30 September 2024 - Blue Ribbon Edition #8

The last weekend in September means time once again for The Deerfield Fair, now in its 147th year. And once again I entered some of my vegetables in the competition.

I always wanted to, while never believing I would, but I did! I won "Best of Show," for my big Neck Pumpkins (PA Dutch Crookneck squash). Proud? You bet!

Best of Show award

 Not only that, but my extra long leeks also made it into the Top Ten in Show. I guess size matters after all.

In the Top Ten

Including the above, I won 6 blue, 3 red, and one white ribbons. A little disappointed in that, but not very much! I won't show them all, but I do want to call out the first prize I got for guajillo peppers, because the seeds were given to me by our Harvest Monday host, Dave. Thanks Dave!

Guajillo peppers

Okay, this is the "Harvest Monday" fiesta, not "Shameless Bragging Monday." Here were the harvests for the week, starting with "first harvests."

I took the first leeks, which went to the Fair. It's the first time I'm growing this variety, called "Lincoln," so I don't know if they always get this tall.

Lincoln leeks

I also took the first of the rare tomato variety called "Compost Bin." It always amuses me when tomatoes volunteer out of the compost area. You can never really tell what they are supposed to be. I'll try them once they've fully ripened indoors, and decide if I should just rip out the plant.

Volunteer tomatoes

The Kitchen Goddess asked me to go pick a carrot, so here's what I came back with. More than enough.

Newhall carrot

For general harvests, here was Monday's. The jalapenos, guajillos, and cheese peppers were sorted through and went to the Fair on Tuesday,

Monday general harvest

And here's Saturday's harvest.

Saturday general harvest

TKG continues to pick large quantities of raspberries. This one was about 2.5 pounds.

Fall raspberries

Now for "Using the Harvest." TKG made two quarts of raspberry liqueur, using cheap wine, cheap whiskey, and cheap (for us, anyway) raspberries. This should be ready in a week or so. Also, she followed a (simple) recipe to make Fermented Hot honey using our jalapenos and cayennes, which should be delicious as a glaze for meats. As the peppers ferment, they make the honey thin out, which is perfect.

Raspberry liqueur and hot honey

It was time to try using the ultrahot peppers I grew. I made 5+ bottles of a pineapple-based hot sauce using one Scorpion Pepper, and TKG made 4+ bottles of a carrot-based sauce using one Carolina Reaper pepper. They both taste really good, but were not as hot as we were expecting. Next time we'll up it to two peppers per batch, or more if we dare.

Left: Scorpion-Pineapple, right: Reaper-Carrot sauces

No trip to the Fair is complete without gazing in bewilderment at the giant pumpkin competition. Here's this year's winner, at 2,457 pounds (~1114.5 kg). Part of me thinks this entire process is silly, but the thousands of dollars in prize money is definitely not silly.

2024 Giant Pumpkin winner

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading. Once again I heartily encourage you to grow stuff for your local fair. It is so much fun. Thanks also to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 23 September 2024

I missed posting last Monday, since we were spending three nights in a cabin at the lovely lakeside nature preserve we enjoy so much. It was a fitting end of summer--warm days, cool nights, and the lake like glass. Truthfully, I was a little nervous about leaving the crops un-watered, as it's been so warm and terribly dry, but they held up well.

So this post shows what's come in over the previous 2 weeks. I managed to get four first-of-the-season harvests, which I will lead off with.

These are Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash, also called Neck Pumpkins. The picture does not do them justice. The smaller looking one at the rear is actually larger, at 18.8 pounds, and the one in the front is 17.6. Both of these shatter my previous record.

PA Dutch Crookneck

 I've mentioned that someone gave me two ultrahot pepper plants. I previously showed the Scorpion peppers, now I have Carolina Reaper to show. Some sources say it can reach two million Scovilles--pretty ridiculous. I am enjoying them for the curiosity factor, and don't plan to do much else with them.

Carolina Reaper

I cut a couple of napa cabbages that I planted in summer. They are not very large, but are very dense.

Minuet napa cabbage

Finally, I took some collards for the first time this year. I actually planted three plants, but two didn't grow well. The third grew very big, but recently got ravaged by the cross-striped cabbage worm, a new pest here that does not seem to be affected by organic sprays. I salvaged what leaves I could, and got three one-gallon freezer bags full. The plant, worms and all, went into the compost.

Top Bunch 2.0 collards

Here are the ongoing harvests over the past two weeks.

Mid-September harvest #1

Mid-September harvest #2

 

Late September harvest

Last Day of Summer harvest

And then there's raspberries. The Kitchen Goddess is picking them every other day, and they haven't yet started slowing down. This was one of the largest hauls, and just over two pounds. We give away a lot, and freeze the rest.

Fall raspberries

That's all for today. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 9 September 2024

Many gardeners, in my climate anyway, are familiar with this sad equation: cooler weather + diminishing daylight = smaller harvests. In my case, it is amplified by my reduced plantings this year. But I did manage to get two "first harvests" this week.

We like super-hot peppers, but we typically only use them for hot sauces. Habanero is a favorite, with a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of +/- 300,000. I'm not growing any of them this year. However, a guy I know asked if I like hot peppers, and when I replied in the affirmative, he gave me two "special" plants: Carolina Reaper and Scorpion. The heat level? Over one million SHUs. I was not sure they would do anything in our climate, but I was wrong. I picked the first Scorpions this week.

Danger! Scorpions!

What are we going to do with them? Well, I was afraid to even touch them! We're thinking we'd make a small batch of hot sauce, outside on the porch with a camping stove, wearing full hazmat gear, and using a cheap pot we won't use for anything else. Not by themselves, but adding something like pineapple or mango. What do you think?

Guajillo is a lovely, mildly hot pepper, which I've been growing for several years, using seeds provided by our Harvest Monday host, Dave. They take a long time to ripen here, but make a wonderful chile powder. I got the first ripe one this week.

Guajillo pepper

Now for general harvests. Here was Wednesday's, dominated by beets both red and golden.

Wednesday harvest

 Here was Friday's. Pole beans, at least, are coming in strong.

Friday harvest

Sunday's was equally small, but colorful at least.

Sunday harvest

Another thing coming in strong is the fall raspberries. The Kitchen Goddess is picking them every couple of days. This was the biggest, at 718 grams.

Fall raspberries

Even if the harvests are smaller, you can still have fun. Last week I wrote that I'd sampled hopped gin from a craft distiller at the garlic festival. Having plenty of hops, I wanted to make it. But TKG invalidated me by beating me to it! She just tossed a handful of hops into a quart jar filled with gin, and let it sit for 24 hours before straining. The result is quite good, with an interesting green color. It's hard to describe what it tastes like.

Hopped gin

And I made pickled jalapeno pepper rings, using a simple recipe. I like to toss a few into a glass of lager beer. I know, I'm strange.

Pickled jalapenos

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks as always to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for continuing to host Harvest Monday.