Harvest Monday - 27 June 2016

Welcome to another Harvest Monday update. We had several first harvests of the year this week.

I haven't grown turnips before, and to be honest, wasn't sure I'd like them. My experience with turnips was as starchy, softball-sized root vegetables that were a component of "New England Boiled Dinner," Not my favorite meal by any means. Anyway, "saladette" turnips were said to be a different animal. And they were right! We picked one just to see how they were sizing up.

This was sliced thinly and added to salad. Delightfully crunchy and spicy. So a few days later we took more:

The purple one is "Royal Crown" and the others are "White Egg." The Royal Crown is not as spicy, but the White Eggs seem to grow more robustly. The greens were delicious, too. Turnips will definitely make the cut for next year.

Next, we took a few beets:

Beets are not my thing, but The Kitchen Goddess loves them. I planted two varieties: Red Ace and Pronto. But did I label which was which? Of course not. Too bad, because one group grew a lot faster than the other.

Next was the first harvest of chard:

These are "Peppermint" and "Fordhook." I haven't grown Peppermint before, and not only is it lovely, it grows robustly.

Then there was the first harvest of long-anticipated snow peas, which we were craving. Delightful!

Other harvests (not firsts) were the last of the radishes:

More salad (I can't say enough good things about Baker Creek's "Rocky Top" and "European Mesclun" mixes):

And finally more tatsoi and ching chang:

And here's a delicious use of Asian greens. TKG used her homemade chicken stock and whipped up a batch of soup with the greens, egg, garlic scapes, and udon noodles, topped with fresh basil. I can't get enough of this.

Thank you for reading my post. Please head back to Our Happy Acres, hosted by Dave, for more Harvest Monday treats.

Harvest Monday - 20 June 2016

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm! Weather-wise, the days are starting to get warmer while the nights stay cool. Good for sleeping, but not for the solanaceae family, melons, cucumbers, squash, or corn. All are still not "taking off." Speaking of corn, I drove by a commercial cornfield yesterday, and the plants there are at least a foot tall, while mine are barely 3 inches. GMO Frankencorn? Super-fertilized? Who knows?

Now on to this week's harvests, which I'm sorry to say are just like last week's. We took virtually the last of the radishes:

And a good amount of lettuce:

Those make up our nightly salads, the health benefits of which are completely negated by the ranch dressing I love to pour on.

More Asian greens and the last of the garlic scapes:

I don't write about them often, but herbs from the Kitchen Herb Garden (a repurposed sandbox) are giving us lots of flavor. Here's a picking of thyme and winter savory:

They went toward a dry marinade for grilled chicken breasts, which gave some delicious protein accompaniment to our salads.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! And as always thanks to Dave at Our Happy Acres for hosting Harvest Monday, without which you would probably not be reading this!

Harvest Monday - 13 June 2016

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm! Here is this week's harvest roundup.

First up, garlic scapes:

All 24 cloves planted last fall have produced scapes. Since this is my first time growing garlic, I don't really know what to expect, but it just feels early to me. They sure are tasty, though!

Next, pak choi (many ways to spell that), variety "Ching Chang"  (also many ways to spell).

Next, tatsoi:

Both of these Asian green varieties are bolting. I really expected them to get bigger before that happened. Maybe it's a consequence of being direct-seeded rather than started indoors. Truthfully, I've reached my limit in both space and patience for indoor-starting. So I will take what I get.

Lastly, more radishes and lettuce/mesclun:

The radishes are winding down, and even starting to bolt in some cases. The greens are still going strong, so many more salads are in the forecast.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! And special thanks to Dave at Our Happy Acres for hosting Harvest Monday. Please click back to read all the posts from around the world.

Harvest Monday - 6 June 2016

Hello again from Eight Gate Farm. Here is another contribution to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres. Continuing the gardening-unfriendly weather, Saturday was sunny and warm, so I set out all peppers and eggplants, and seeded winter squash. Then Sunday was back to cool and rainy. It's a wonder anything is growing. That said, there were some limited harvests anyway.

We started the week with more radishes and lettuce/mesclun mix:

The tatsoi planted on April 15 has been growing slowly. This particular bed is getting less and less sunlight over the years as trees are shading it. However one plant decided it was time to bolt anyway, so I picked it. It was just enough to augment a delicious stir-fry that night.

The Kitchen Goddess made another batch of chive flower & tarragon vinegar; just in time, too, since we were running out. It has such a lovely floral/herbal fragrance, and is so pretty to look at.

And ending the week, more lettuce and a big haul of radishes.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your harvests.