Harvest Monday - Seriously! - 30 December 2013

A Sunday trip to the garden proved fruitful! After breaking through the crusty snow, of course.

 

Now that's a cold-frame!

 

Inside, carrots are looking pretty good! They even seem to be growing a little, though the soil is now frozen around them, too frozen to pick. Might as well leave them for a month or too and see what happens.

 

 

The kale looks no better nor worse than it did before winter. Maybe it will put on a growth spurt in spring.

 

But aha! Brussels sprouts can be harvested! They look a little raggedy where they were above the snow, but under, nice baby sprouts.

 

 

So we get something fresh for our supper. The sprouts were sauteed with our storage onions. The meat is beautiful, tender venison steaks which I "harvested" in November. The Kitchen Goddess soaked them in milk for half a day, then marinated them with our own dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage), chive-flower vinegar (the idea for which was provided by Daphne), and olive oil. The starch was saffron risotto. Complementing the repast was a lovely organic Cabernet Sauvingnon from a wonderful family-run, all-organic winery, Yorkville Cellars, in beautiful Anderson Valley, California. Delicious!!

 

As proud as I am of it, I won't show you the nice buck I got, to spare the feelings of those who might be opposed to hunting.

 

More shots of the garden as it looks now.

 

The raised beds look like graves.

 

I told you I like the way corn stubble looks in the snow.

 

Almost time to prune the blueberries.

 

So it goes to show us cold climate gardeners can get a winter treat now and then.

 

Happy New Year to the Daphne's Dandelions community!

 

Harvest Monday - 23 December 2013

No harvests, but...

Happy Festivus!* to the Daphne's Dandelions community, from Will (The Gentleman Fahmah) and Diana (The Kitchen Goddess) at Eight Gate Farm!

 

*The holiday for the rest of us! (Thank you Seinfeld)

 

It's the time of year

when all the spicy farmer porn appears.

(a holiday poem).

 

I really liked Daphne telling us what seeds she is buying, and why. Continuing that theme, here are my purchases for the coming season. I'm trying to keep it to two sources this year, with the largest order from Fedco. I like the company, and the free shipping on seeds if you order $30. But I'm not happy with the fact that you have to order cover crops and tubers/onions from 2 other Fedco web sites, and the shipping is high. But the prices themselves are low, so take your choice. 

 



Plant	Variety	Source	Remarks	Cost
Artichoke	Imperial Star	Fedco	Hoping by planting in better soil we finally will get a ‘choke or two	$1.50 (~10 seeds)
Broccoli	Arcadia Hybrid	Fedco	Supposed to not mind a little heat	$1.80 (0.5 g)
	Fiesta Hybrid	Fedco	Everyone says this one is productive	$2.50 (0.2 g)
Brussels Sprouts	Gustus Hybrid	Fedco	We loved “Franklin” but only have a few seeds left, and don’t want to reorder just one item from the source	$2.50 (0.5 g)
Carrot	Mokum Hybrid	Fedco	Had good productivity from “Danvers,” but The Kitchen Goddess wants something sweeter	$1.90 (1.0 g)
Corn	Espresso	Fedco	Bicolor, early	$2.60 (2 oz.)
	Honey Select	Fedco	Yellow, midseason	$2.50 (2 oz.)
Cover Crop	Bell Bean	Fedco	Trying green manure for the first time. Wanted something with good early spring growth	$8.00 (2.5 lb.)
Cucumber, Pickling	Cross Country Hybrid	Fedco	Looking for a replacement for “Double Yield” which did not do well for us	$1.50 (1/16 oz.)
Cucumber, Slicing	Diva	Totally Tomatoes	The Kitchen Goddess’s favorite	$2.25 (20 seeds)
Eggplant	Galine Hybrid	Fedco	Black, bell-shaped, early	$1.70 (0.2 g)
	Rosita	Fedco	Pear-shaped, pink-lavender, heirloom	$1.60 (0.2 g)
Onion (set)	Stuttgarter	Fedco	These have done well for us	$8.50 (1 lb.)
Pea, Snap	Sugarsnap	Fedco	We grew Sugar Daddy but it had too many off-types	$2.00 (2 oz.)
Pea, Snow	Blizzard	Fedco	Looking for a replacement for “Avalanche” which did well, but I don’t want to reorder just one item from  the source	$2.50 (2 oz.)
Pepper, Hot	Big Bomb Hybrid	Totally Tomatoes	Supposed to be faster and larger than “Cherry Bomb,” which we traditionally grow	$3.25 (20 seeds)
Pepper, Sweet	Chocolate	Fedco	Saw them in my “cousin’s” garden; looked great	$1.80 (0.2 g)
Potato	Kennebec	Fedco	First time growing potatoes. I figure if it does well in Maine it will do well in NH	$9.25 (2.5 lb)
Pumpkin	Cheese	Fedco	Hoping that if I grow only C. moschata varieties I will beat back SVB	$1.40 (1/8 oz.)
Radish	Watermelon	Totally Tomatoes	Just for something different!	$1.95 (250 seeds)
Tomato, Paste	Incas Hybrid F1	Totally Tomatoes	Large, productive, did well for us last year	$2.95 (15 seeds)
Squash, Winter	Burpee’s Butterbush	Fedco	Another C. moschata, to complement Waltham	$1.80 (1/8 oz.)