Sunday, October 6, 2013

Harvest Monday - 7 October 2013

Welcome to the first Harvest Monday in October 2013. Thanks to Daphne's Dandelions for hosting.

Here at Eight Gate Farm, we are just starting our biggest-by-far harvest of the year--sugar maple leaves. They make great mulch when shredded.


The volunteer tomato plants in the compost that were looking so lush suddenly croaked this week, leaving us with a lot of green fruit with no hope of ripening. Making the best of a bad situation, The Kitchen Goddess put up 6 pints of salsa verde, made with green tomatoes instead of tomatillos, and using store-bought habaneros.
 

A fun fall tableau, featuring virtually our entire harvest of winter squash. I just could not keep up with the bugs this year.


Kind of sad. Five Waltham Butternuts, two pumpkins, and in the middle, a few Tatume left to go to their fall stage. Also a King Daddy sunflower head. That's not really the variety. I don't know what it really is. It was a volunteer in the squash patch.

We took the first of the Brussels Sprouts. I know they are supposed to be better once a frost or two has kissed them, but some were getting really big. There are many more left. It is amazing to me that I transplanted these on April 16.


Add to the above a few broccoli sprouts (shown below), some radishes, raspberries, and more tomato drops, and you are looking at our entire harvest this week.


Still, we can't complain. It's a damp, chilly Sunday night and we lit the woodstove for the first time this year, but no frosts are predicted in the near term, so we might yet get a few more ripe tomatoes and eggplant.


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4 comments:

  1. Looks great. Some of my brussel sprouts are rotting at the bottom of the plant. Can I still harvest the ones above on the same plant? This is my first time growing brussel spouts, any suggestions would be great.

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  2. Hmm, wonder why they are rotting? You should be able to snap off the bad ones and the others will stay healthy. Have you been picking off the lower leaves gradually as the season progressed? That's the technique we use. So by now the stalks are bare except for the sprouts themselves up to two feet off the ground. This supposedly makes the plant direct its energy to the sprouts. Definitely remove any yellowed or weak leaves if you have them. At the very least it will help air circulate. Good luck!

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  3. I'll be shredding piles of leaves in a few weeks and adding them to the compost bin. They do wonders for the soil. I've found that the older brussell sprouts near the bottom should be picked early or they will get strong. And they taste good this time of year.

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  4. Great looking Brussels sprouts and your squash harvest is what I would call a good one! We'll be busy shredding leaves here soon too!

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