This week we had several days of unseasonable but lovely warm and humid weather. But today (Sunday) the thermometer did not even reach 50 degrees (F.), and tonight we will most probably get our first real frost. Time to bring in the very, absolute, last of the tomatoes. While we were there, a good chance to harvest chard, kale, raspberries, and watermelon radishes:
The radishes weighed 9 oz. One of the chard plants had been uprooted by a vole. So I sprinkled MoleMax. I can't believe I had to do this so late in the season. The voles seem to only like eating the root stem. But some of the leaves had been damaged by leaf miners. Again, why this late in the year?
The Kitchen Goddess harvested all the tender herbs, and some hardy ones too. Here they are after a visit to the dehydrator:
That's chives, winter savory, parsley, sage, thyme, oregano, and cutting celery. So nice to have these put by!
Earlier this week TKG roasted our accumulated watermelon radishes as an experiment. Here they are prior to roasting, tossed lightly with olive oil, kosher salt, and thyme:
Aren't they pretty? And here they are after 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven:
They kept their lovely color but lost their bite. The result was a pleasant root-vegetable tasting product. I preferred it hot; TKG cold. However, we both decided we like them better raw.
Say, can I have some of your purple berries? How many old-timers (like me) get that musical reference? TKG made jam with our frozen blueberries and raspberries. And a special "you've been a good boy" treat: a big jar of raspberry liqueur!
In other garden news, an old-as-time apple tree butt finally fell over this week, and of course landed on the garden fence and one of the raised beds therein. Fortunately, the bed was nearly empty. We were able to horse it off the fence, and here it will stay until my chainsaw comes back from the repair shop.
And lastly, garden bench refurbishment #2 was completed. This is before:
And this is after:
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, and happy harvests to all!
Interesting experiment with the watermelon radishes. I think you can also saute them. And I shred them and use them in slaw and kimchee.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that shredded they could also be a poor-man's horseradish.
DeleteOoh, too bad about the apple tree. The garden bench looks good as new now! Voles usually munch on my sweet potatoes late in the season. Maybe they are fattening up for the winter?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave. The apple tree was just an old (but tall) hollow stump, so no great loss. I just procrastinated cutting it down--serves me right.
DeleteYour bench is beautiful, it looks like new! Those watermelon radishes are gorgeous. I've got a few coming along in the garden but I'm not sure that they will ever amount to anything.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. The radishes really put on size once the weather turned cold.
DeleteThat's quite the end of season harvest - like so many have said before, loving the watermelon radishes - they are huge! Btw - the new header is lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret. The radishes have been an unexpected joy.
DeleteI love your new header. I am sorry about your apple tree. And the location of the fall was rather bad, but I guess it's good that it's the end of the season. Your old-is-new-again garden bench is great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christy. I appreciate the comments about the new blog design--it's a work in progress. Now to figure out how to do tabs. Yes, it was fortunate that there was nothing really in the garden bed.
DeleteThose radishes are so pretty. I keep thinking that I have to grow them some year. But I'm pretty picky about the taste of a radish. Sorry you lost your tree and fence.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Daphne. The radishes are definitely spicier than, say, French Breakfast. But we really like them. The tree was no loss, as it was long-dead anyway. It must have been huge in its day.
DeleteThose watermelon radishes are awesome. I might have to try growing some. I'm not a huge radish fan, but I always end up planting some because in gardening time, they are instant gratification.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie. I definitely recommend the radishes, both for appearance and taste. Hope you like spicy though! You are right about instant gratification. These radishes take longer to mature, but they get sizable.
DeleteYikes for the fallen tree and glad no one was injured. Very lovely harvests, especially those watermelon radishes. Nice bench work!
ReplyDelete