Monday, September 14, 2015

Harvest Monday - 14 September 2015

Welcome to another Harvest Monday report from Eight Gate Farm. Here's the weekly roundup. Though the calendar still says summer, this weekend felt like fall in this neck of the woods.

Tomatoes and zucchini are slowing down, while the raspberries and summer-planted cucumbers are coming on strong.



The watermelon radishes are just ballooning.


Another mini-farm-stand picture:


That's the last two Chinese cabbages, and the last of the snap beans. But there's the first muskmelon! We had it for breakfast next day--we ate it standing up in the kitchen, and it was gone in 60 seconds.

Halona Muskmelon

The Kitchen Goddess made and canned dill pickle chips (crinkle-cut--I'm such a baby) and the radishes.

Pickles On Parade
Saturday was hop-picking day.

Mt. Hood Hops

And Sunday was apple-picking day.


These are Macintosh. It's our best year ever. Before we've gotten no more than 1/2 bushel from this tree, and here are two full bushels. Those are drops I raked up in the background. They will get thrown over the stone wall for the deer--not that they need it. Out of this crop, we selected about 50 of the nicest for fresh eating, another 100 or so for canning, and the bulk (misshapen or small) went into the freezer whole for later cider-making. TKG canned 6 pints of delicious apple sauce right away. Next she'll can apple pie filling. I pick 'em, she processes 'em--I think we know who has the harder job.

Are we done with apples? Nope. The green apple tree (maybe Granny Smith?) needs a few more weeks.


As you can see, it's loaded. I'm really dreading looking forward to picking it. But it will be easier now that I've lowered its height by 10 feet or so. These will go toward hard cider. We've found that freezing the apples makes them (when thawed) much easier to grind and press, and we can do it when it fits our schedule.

Wow, all this talk of apples makes me crave something apple-y. How about a glass of our Vintage 2013 sparkling hard cider?


Cheers! The ageing has really mellowed the flavors. It's potent, too.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! And thanks as always to Daphne's Dandelions for hosting Harvest Monday.
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13 comments:

  1. Jenny RottingerSeptember 14, 2015 at 10:07 AM

    WOW! Amazing harvest of apples! We had our first 1 that we allowed to keep for this year and tried it but definitely won't strip trees next year.

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  2. MargaretSeptember 14, 2015 at 11:06 AM

    That melon is a beauty - just perfect! And so very envious of all those apples. It will be a couple of years until ours begin to produce, if all goes well...give me a minute to find some wood to knock on ;)

    Funny how the weather can be so similar hundreds of miles apart - we broke out the sweaters this past weekend, but it looks like shorts are in the forecast once again now.

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    Replies
    1. Eight Gate Farm NHSeptember 15, 2015 at 9:35 AM

      Thanks, Margaret! We are supposed to warm up again--temporarily of course.

      Delete
  3. MichelleSeptember 14, 2015 at 12:59 PM

    Wow, I'm impressed, home brewed cider and I'm assuming beer too! Those are things I leave to the pros, along with wine (certainly no lack of that one here). You be sure to treat the Kitchen Goddess well, make sure she knows she's appreciated.

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  4. Daphne GouldSeptember 14, 2015 at 1:08 PM

    Love your apples. I've planted a couple of mac type apples in the rock wall garden, but they haven't gotten big enough to bloom yet. Maybe next year. I can hope. I'll have to go to the farmers market to buy my applesauce apples this year.

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    Replies
    1. Eight Gate Farm NHSeptember 15, 2015 at 9:36 AM

      Thanks, Daphne. I'm sure your trees, like everything you do, will be bountiful soon.

      Delete
  5. SusieSeptember 14, 2015 at 6:21 PM

    Amazing to make your own cider!! Beautiful apples. I love the farm stand picture. I used to sell veggies at our "farm gate" - what few I could grow, mind you, which wasn't much. Nice memories.

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    Replies
    1. Eight Gate Farm NHSeptember 15, 2015 at 9:37 AM

      Thanks, Susie. The cider is not that difficult to make. Anyway, what else could we do with all those apples?

      Delete
  6. LexaSeptember 14, 2015 at 10:18 PM

    Another busy, busy week at your place. It definitely is apple time in New Hampshire :) That's a great idea about freezing them. Sometimes the harvest comes on so fast that there just isn't time to process everything.Your melon looks great. If you can grow that melon, you can grow my "blacktail mountain" watermelon. It only takes 70 days to mature.

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    Replies
    1. Eight Gate Farm NHSeptember 15, 2015 at 9:38 AM

      Thanks, Lexa. Looks like a bumper crop of apples all over NH, after last year's washout. I may try your watermelon; the "Minnesota Midget" (which you think would do well in cooler climes) just does not make large fruit.

      Delete
  7. PhuongSeptember 15, 2015 at 4:15 PM

    Your watermelon radishes are just enormous. And it looks like you're still getting lots of tomatoes and cucumbers.

    None of my watermelon radishes came up, so I replaced them with turnips. :)

    ReplyDelete

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