Harvest Monday - 28 June 2021

 Welcome to another Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm! Today marks the start of what passes for a heat wave in our region, temperatures above 90 degrees F. for at least three days. Most other parts of the country would find that laughingly cool, but not us! I will make sure to do all my gardening chores in the very early morning to avoid becoming overheated.

Leading off with the “first harvests” of the year, we got a nice picking of snow peas. This variety, Avalanche, has short vines that produce a lot of tendrils. These are edible, but so far I have not sampled them. I just like pea pods!

Avalanche snow peas

I cut the first iceberg lettuce. I’ve written before that I don’t know why iceberg gets a bad rap. Personally, I love its crispness and juiciness.

Iceberg lettuce

We enjoyed it the same day as a Wedge Salad, with bacon and bleu cheese crumbles. The tomatoes came from the market, of course, but they are surprisingly tasty for store-bought ones. It was served with a hoppy, gluten-free beer; very pleasant on a hot summer day.

Wedge Salad for lunch

I cut the first head of broccoli. This variety, “Blue Wind,” is always the reliable, first-producing one for us.

Blue Wind broccoli

For continuing harvests, we picked snap peas several times this week.

Super Sugar Snap pea pods

And more spring onions. I’ve stated in the past that I just don’t seem to be able to grow large onions, and this extends to the scallion/green onion/spring onion varieties. No matter, we enjoy what we get.

Nabechan green onions

The turnips were all bolting, so I pulled them out. They produced useless roots, but a large quantity of greens, so I’m satisfied. They filled 4 gallon-size storage bags. I immediately replanted more seeds. I’m not sure how they’ll do in summer, but no harm trying.

Shogoin turnip greens

The Kitchen Goddess made a delicious chicken stir-fry using the broccoli, snow peas, and green onions. It was all I could do to not take a second helping!

Chicken stir-fry

Lastly, in Wildlife Notes, I was watering our peach tree when I spied this Common Snapping Turtle. I’m not sure what this aquatic species was doing here. We are several hundred meters from any permanent water, and while they do roam in search of sandy soil to build nests, this guy looks to be way too small to be breeding. Adults get scary big, and are fierce out of water. I let it be regardless.

Snapping turtle

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for continuing to host Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 21 June 2021

 Welcome to another Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm in southern New Hampshire, USA. So far, we in the New England region have escaped the fierce heat wave affecting much of the country. In fact, it’s been quite pleasant, though the thermometer fell to 47 F. (8.3 C.) one night.

Leading off with the “first harvests” of the year, we got a nice picking of pea pods. This variety, Super Sugar Snap, produces tall, disease-resistant vines, with wonderful pods. I think, though, we will not get a huge harvest of them this year, as germination was not up to standards. I’ll use fresh seed next year.

Super Sugar Snap

We also took a few of the biggest green onions/scallions. The variety is a hybrid called “Nabechan,” which I got from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s listed as 60 days from transplant, which was accurate for the ones picked, but overall the others are still quite skinny.

Nabechan scallions

We also got a picking of cilantro which volunteered in the lettuce patch. We love cilantro, but I understand that it’s a genetic thing, and to some people, it tastes like soap.

Cilantro (coriander leaves)

For continuing harvests, we took the last of the Asian greens. I’m sorry to see them go, but they don’t like heat.

Brisk Green bok choy

We also got a generous picking of turnip greens. This variety, “Shogoin,” seems to bolt a lot quicker than any turnips I’ve grown before. But the greens are quite nice.

Turnip greens

And a good cutting of salad greens.

Also, the last of the garlic scapes.

Garlic scapes

I took a trip down to the cellar and brought up the last three butternut squash, one very large “Sugaretti” spaghetti squash (4.5 lbs), and some canned goods like tomato sauce and maple syrup. I have no idea why The Kitchen Goddess labeled one batch of sauce “Big Daddy.” Was she referring to me?

Winter squash plus canned goods from the stores

From the “Wonders of Nature” file, I cut this apple branch, and revealed these mysterious figures. Spooky! My MIL thinks that sliced the rounds would make interesting coasters. Might be a fun project.

Weird apple wood

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for continuing to host Harvest Monday.

Harvest Monday - 14 June 2021

Here’s a Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm. The past week began with a “heat wave,” which ended with a strong downpour, then the temperatures moderated for the rest of the week. Overall, this had a positive effect on growth and harvests.

For “first harvests” of the season, we got several cuttings of salad greens. I grow two different mixes, both from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. One is called “European Mesclun Mix,” and looks to consist mostly of brassicas. The other is “Rocky Top Mix,” which looks like mostly loose-leaf lettuces. They both get thrown together in our salads. It is very nice to not have to buy salad from the store.

Salad mix

We also got several cuttings of turnip greens. These will go into our morning smoothies. The variety is called “Shogoin,” which produces white roots, but we are mainly going to harvest the greens.

Turnip greens

We also got the first cuttings of garlic scapes. This “byproduct” of hardneck garlic growing has many culinary uses. We had some briefly cooked on the charcoal grill, and they were delicious.

Garlic scapes

For continuing harvests, we took the last of the “Asian Delight” bok choy, now starting to bolt. I love dishes prepared with Asian greens.

Asian Delight

Also, several more “Brisk Green” bok choy.

Brisk Green

We had company over for dinner, and The Kitchen Goddess picked flowers from our garden to make a fragrant centerpiece. This came out really pretty, I thought. There are roses, peonies, and yellow and white yarrow. I like everything about peonies except their short blooming period.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and thanks once again to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for continuing to host Harvest Monday.