Harvest Monday - 19 July 2021

Here's another Harvest Monday update from Eight Gate Farm. While much of the American West has been baking or burning, we here in the Northeast are washing out. On a positive note, we are officially out of the drought, and I haven't watered in many days, but it comes at the expense of keeping up with the other garden chores.

Yet I'm happy to report that the summer crops are finally arriving. I was able to cut the first zucchini. Below is the hybrid "Yellowfin" and the hierloom Cocozelle di Napoli.

Zucchini

I also picked the first shishito peppers.

Mellow Star shishitos

I also got the first flush of bush beans. This is a favorite haricots-vert called "Calima."

Calima filet beans

I've said many times that I'm not a fan of beets (beetroot), but I plant them for The Kitchen Goddess, who loves them. This is a new variety for us called "Eagle," and their ruby-red color is quite attractive.

Eagle beets

I also took a few carrots to see how they're doing.

Mokum carrots

And TKG picked the first ripe red raspberries. These produce modest crops throughout the summer, then really take off in the fall. I've no idea what type they are, nor how long they've been here. All I know is it is extremely foolish to plant raspberries next to a vegetable garden, as you are constantly fighting their relentless march.

For continuing harvests, I cut another palm-sized fennel bulb.

Orazio fennel

TKG dehydrated the fennel greens to add to a soup base mix she likes to have on hand. I thought this was a novel and clever idea, until she reminded me she's been doing this forever. So I had to retract the complement!

Fennel fronds before drying

I cut more broccoli heads, and pulled some more spring onions.

Imperial broccoli and Nabechan green onions

I cut more collards from one plant. They are enhancing our morning smoothies.

Top Bunch 2.0 collard greens

We're still getting a few pea pods.

Avalanche snow peas and Super Sugar Snaps

And salad greens are still producing well. Actually I took all the remaining iceberg lettuces as they were starting to get pointy heads. Not bitter, fortunately.

Salad greens

In Wildlife Notes, meet "Pat" the wild turkey. We don't know its sex (or its pronouns), so Pat is a good generic name. Pat has adopted our back yard as its home base, and does a good job vacuuming up the spilled sunflower seeds from the bird feeder. Pat also likes to drink from the water feature by the front steps, and then leave an enormous "gift." Wild turkeys are alleged to be big consumers of ticks, which if true is great, since ticks and the associated Lyme Disease are the scourge of the Northeast.

Pat, the wild(?) turkey

Daisy, our beloved 18-year-old kitty, is of the indoor variety. But she constantly wants to go outside, and sometimes we let her, under adult supervision. She likes to eat grass, flop down in the sunshine, and once in awhile pretend to chase chipmunks. As you can see from this picture, Daisy is not too concerned with Pat, nor Pat of Daisy.

Pat and Daisy-Cat

That's all for this week. Apologies for going long. Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for continuing to host Harvest Monday.