Harvest Monday - 30 July 2018

It's finally summer here...from a harvest perspective that is.

The first "Taxi" tomato - a non-acidic variety but very flavorable.

The first "Sugar Plum" grape tomatoes.

The first shishito peppers, always a cause for celebration here.

Mellow Star

The first cucumbers. I'm trialing a different one this year. It's called "Dar," which I bought at the Baker Creek store last fall. It's short-vined, and is described as a "new Polish variety." I was waiting for them to get longer, but they got fat instead. Maybe because they were picked too late, the skin was a little tough, but peeled and sliced, they have an unusual, savory flavor. We liked them a lot. Though they are said to be a pickler/slicer, I think they are too juicy for pickling.

Dar cucumber

The first yellow zucchini. I think its odd shape is due to not being fully pollinated.

Yellowfin zucchini

The first yellow wax beans.

Carson wax beans

The Kitchen Goddess could not be restrained from poking around in the potato bed, so these got dug up. "Kennebec" is the only variety I've grown, and we think it has superior flavor, but maybe we're only comparing it to store-bought.

new Kennebec potatoes; one with googly-eyes

This is the entire harvest of Red Tropea onions. I had to do it because voles once again raided this bed, destroying all but this. Grrr!

Rossa Lunga di Tropea, except one's not rossa! Bet it tastes the same though.

The first Arcadia broccoli.

For a sampling of continuing harvests, here's a picking of filet beans. I got one more harvest like this, then pulled the plants. Instead of waiting for their second flush, which is usually disappointing, I'm replanting instead. But I'm not sure there will be enough time in the season. We'll see!

Calima filet beans

Raspberries and blueberries are giving us small pickings at a time, but it's amazing how it adds up.

And another pair of lovely artichokes.

Imperial Star

Here's last week's garlic harvest, all cleaned up. On the left is "Italian Purple Striped." It was very disappointing, as only 3 of the 6 came up, and those are ugly. It will not make the cut this fall. Too many others to choose from! Then it's Turkish Red, Katterman, Music, and the softneck Marengo.

Lastly, some stuff from the community garden plot shared by TKG and her mom. Cucumbers, purple potatoes, carrots, fennel, kale, a leek, beets, and celery.

And three more "Fourth of July" tomatoes that I still have not tried!!

Thanks for wading through this! I hope your summer's going well, and giving you lots of nice harvests. I look forward to reading about them, courtesy of Our Happy Acres and Harvest Monday.