Harvest Monday - July 14, 2014


What’s new this week on Harvest Monday?  Peppers!

Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers
 
My husband and I love pickled hot banana peppers and that is what these are destined for.  It will be my first time making them so I’m really looking forward it.  I'm harvesting the peppers at the yellow stage so that they keep producing well over the entire summer.  If I let them hang on until they turn red, I’ll end up getting fewer peppers overall.

The last of the strawberries were harvested this past week.  They were really small compared to the initial flushes, but still delicious.


Strawberries
 
The sugar snaps are coming in strong.  I have noticed that the pole sugar snaps are not flowering very much at this point – the heat is probably getting to them.  In the upcoming week, I will stop harvesting the pole sugar snaps and leave the remaining pea pods on the vine so that I can save some seed for next year.  I will continue to harvest the Cascadia peas for fresh eating.

I harvested a few tasty rapini side shoots.  They were pretty small, but just enough for a nice accompaniment at lunch.  The existing plants are being replaced by new seedlings this week.

Rapini Side Shoots & Sugar Snaps
 
I also harvested several bunches of collards.  I'm sowing new starts this week as the existing plants are getting too tall for the netting that I am using.  I don’t want to remove the netting as it has been invaluable in keeping the brassicas free from cabbage worms this year (so far!), and I don’t have the ability to increase the height of the netting right now either.  Next year, I must remember to place the collards at the end of the bed so that I can simply cover each individual collard stalk as it gets taller, while still being able to use the hoops for the rest of the bed.

Collards
 
Before we get to the harvest totals, how about a sneak peak of what will be on the table by next Harvest Monday:

"Sure Thing" Summer Squash
 
They are only a couple of days away from harvest.  My luck in the past has been so-so when it comes to hand pollinating squash - looks like it worked this time!

My harvest totals this week were:

Collards – 1,549 grams (3.41 lbs)
Cucumbers – 948 grams (2.09 lbs)
Peas – 1,883 grams (4.15 lbs)
Peppers (Hot) – 412 grams (0.91 lbs)
Rapini – 98 grams (0.22 lbs)
Strawberries – 86 grams (0.19 lbs)

Total For Week – 4,976 grams (10.97 lbs)

Total To Date – 28.33 kg (62.45 lbs)

To see what everyone else has been harvesting over the past week, head on over to Daphne’s Dandelions, our host for Harvest Mondays.
 
Till next time...

Comments

  1. The Hunagrian was peppers are beautiful. So far all I have is maybe a couple of jalapenos. Your collard greens are perfect, not a hole in them (unless that leaf is hidden under the pile :). I used to cover the brassicas and that worked well on the cabbage caterpillars, but I have gotten lazy lately. Brassicas are ideal because they don't flower and don't need pollination, but you have to be careful what you plant them with.

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    1. Oh - there were some with a few holes - can't be proudly displaying those, though! The netting did a great job of keeping the cabbage butterfly out - I haven't seen even one cabbage worm this year. But I do get a bit of slug damage - I sprinkled diatomaceous earth on the bed twice since this spring and that seems to have kept them at bay.

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  2. Lovely harvests. I have trouble with the hand pollination too. I sometimes get out too late in the morning and then the flowers are closed. But I did pollinate three yesterday and one today, so maybe I'll get more squash.

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    1. That's exactly it - more often than not, I just completely forget to do it first thing in the morning. I'm getting the netting off this week, so hopefully, the few pollinators there are will do a better job.

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  3. Those peppers are gorgeous! My peppers are barely starting to set, it will be weeks before I can harvest anything except perhaps for some Padrons which are harvested as babies. What is is with zucchini, it's either feast or famine!

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    1. Thanks Michelle! This is my second try at peppers after much disappointment years ago with tiny plants & virtually no peppers, so I'm pretty happy. The sweet peppers are lagging way behind, however.

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  4. Fantastic harvest! Those peppers look very yummy and I bet they'll be great pickled. YAY for first zucchini.

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    1. You can say that again - so looking forward to them!

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  5. I've never had pickled peppers, may have to add that to the "to make" list. I covered most of my broccoli this year and it made a huge difference with the cabbage worms. The plants also grew bigger and produced bigger heads than the same type of broccoli planted at the same time, but not covered. Next year I need to get enough cover for all the brassicas. I never grow collards. I keep telling myself I should like them, but every time I try them my taste buds say otherwise. How do you use yours?

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    1. I also had a huge cabbage (and lettuce) harvest this year compared to last - I thought it was the amendments I added, but covering the beds may very well have made a big difference too. My favourite way of using collards is by using them in a Portuguese soup called "Caldo Verde" which I absolutely love. And the great thing is that I can freeze them without blanching (after they are washed & finely shredded) and just toss them right in when I'm making the soup.

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  6. Lovely collard greens! I've got some started for a fall crop. I don't know about you, but I think sometimes the smaller strawberries taste better than the big ones. Yours look yummy regardless!

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    1. I think you're right about the strawberries - it's as if the sugar was concentrated in the smaller ones.

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  7. Your hot peppers are nice. I don't grow them as we don't like hot peppers. Lucky you to still be getting strawberries and sugar peas! Mine seem to be done. Your sugar peas look different than mine. What kind did you plant? Nancy

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    1. I grew 3 varieties this year - "Sugar Snap" (I think this is the original snap pea), "Super Sugar Snap" and "Cascadia". I think my strawberries are basically done - and I already miss them.

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  8. Nice harvest! My Hungarians are a bit behind yours. I grow them to make pickles as well. I canned them one but the process just made them mushy. New I just make fresh refrigerator pickles out of them. They still last for a couple months in the fridge and stay crispy.

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    1. Interesting - I think I make both regular and refrigerator pickles this summer to see which one we like best - thanks Thomas!

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  9. Those Hungarian peppers are beautiful! Have never grown Hungarian variety before, will have to make a note to try one of these days.
    I try growing collard greens twice but it was too buggy for me and I was too lazy to cover them up.

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    1. Last year the cabbage worms did a number on my collards. This is my first year netting the bed & it was a bit of a hassle in the beginning; but now that I'm used to it, it's not bad at all. And if you like hot peppers, you should definitely give the Hungarian ones a try - the plants are just pumping out the peppers - it's pretty awesome!

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