Welcome to another Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm. On Friday night, the much-weakened Tropical Storm Fay passed through. We were supposed to get 1 - 2 inches of badly needed rain, but we only got a fraction. At least the winds weren't punishing.
For "first harvests" this week, all the garlic was pulled. I had planted 10 cloves each of 4 hardneck varieties. They grew strongly during the spring, but lately had started dying back. This is very early for us, but it did not seem like the bulbs would get any bigger. I'm beginning to believe I didn't water them enough. So no prizewinning bulbs for the Deerfield Fair this year; then again, no fair this year for obvious reasons. I'll show and discuss the bulbs once they're cured and cleaned.
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| Entire garlic harvest |
We took some carrots to see how they were doing. They're looking good, and tasting even better!
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| Yaya carrots |
We also took the first saladette-sized turnip.
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| White Egg turnip |
And from the community garden plot The Kitchen Goddess shares with her mother, came this fennel bulb. I can't take credit for this, but I did start the seeds for them at least.
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| Orazio fennel |
For ongoing harvests, we continue to take a few zucchini every day or so.
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| Yellowfin and Cocozelle di Napoli zucchini |
And 2 to 4 cucumbers each day.
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| National Picking cucumbers |
Yes, we are already giving away zucchini and cucumbers.
The Blue Wind broccoli gives a few side shoots.
The first planting of spring onions is winding down.
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| White Lisbon (ignore dirty fingernails) |
Another nice basket of chard.
A few more shishito peppers.
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| Mellow Star shishitos |
Blueberries are ramping up.
And the Iceberg lettuce is winding down. Little micro slugs have found it, so the heads have to be picked through--yuck!
Conspicuously absent is pea pods. The hot weather looks to have shut the vines down. Maybe they'll resume if the weather cools, but it seems unlikely at this stage.
Thanks for reading, and apologies for running long. Thanks as always to Dave at
HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.
Too bad about the garlic, but it does look like you will be supplied for a while! No fairs going on here either, and our local fall food fest has been cancelled as well. That is a real money maker for the non-profits, which is a bummer. As for slugs - yuck is right! They did a number on my napa cabbages, which seem to be easier to get into than regular cabbage which only had minor damage.
ReplyDeleteI think we'll be okay for garlic--quantity over size I guess.
DeleteDon't mind the dirty nails. I usually keep my hands out of the photos because of dirt and definite garden hands. I've had trouble with garlic when our rain is scant here in Southern California. When planted we never know how much we'll get and my sandy soil, though well-amended doesn't seem to retain as much water as the garlic like. May you have a late frost.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. I'll try to do better with the watering next year.
DeleteGosh what a bountiful harvest! Everything looks so lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
ReplyDelete