Harvest Monday - August 18, 2014

I harvested about 2/3 of the Rossa di Milano onions this past week.  The stems had fallen and, even though I would have preferred to leave them in the ground for about a week or so afterwards (as I often see recommended), we were in for a couple of rainy days so I thought it best to get them out of the ground after only a few days.  I included a couple of the very small onions in the tally as I used these in the kitchen this week, but the rest will be tallied after they are cured & ready for storage.

 

Rossa di Milano Storage Onions
 

Also new this week were three different varieties of squash.  The most impressive by far was the Zucchetta Tromboncino.  I harvested it when it was about 20” long and then sliced it up & tossed it into a grill pan on the bbq.  It was amazing!  The flavour was wonderful, as was the texture – firm yet tender.  We just loved it.

 

Zucchetta Tromboncino
 

Also harvested were two yellow summer squashes (Early Prolific) and one zucchini (Dark Green) – both being the first harvest from these plants.

 

Summer Squash - Dark Green (left) and Early Prolific (right)
 

So far I am not overly impressed with either of these varieties, certainly as far as production or earliness goes.  However, my squash plants are, once again, not thriving.  They are all still tiny, with only one plant (Sure Thing) being of modest size.  No surprise that this particular plant is the one that has produced the most so far.  Once I figure out how to grow a decent sized squash plant in my garden, then I will be in a better position to judge between different varieties.

The one positive that has come out of our unusually cool summer has been the continuous lettuce supply.  I pick lettuce on a cut and come again basis and this second seeding is doing very well, providing us with lots of tender leaves.

 

Lettuce - Pinares (left) and Sierra MI (right)
 

I had a large harvest of the Golden of Bacau beans.  So far, I have been able to keep ahead of the bacterial brown spot.  Only a small portion of the beans have been tossed, primarily those that were near the bottom of the vines.

 

Golden of Bacau Romano Beans
 

The tomatoes have really started to roll in – I harvested over 18 lbs this week!  I’m thinking that this coming week I will make my first attempt at canning some sauce and/or tomatoes.

 

Gypsy Tomato Harvest
 

I waited a bit too long to harvest a couple of the Gypsy tomatoes which is evident by the cracking that you can see on the tomato at the bottom.

The last four tomato varieties finally started to ripen this past week:  Costoluto Genovese, Cherokee Purple, Mountain Merit and Speckled Roman.

Clockwise from the top:
Costoluto Genovese, Mountain Merit,
Cherokee Purple (also in the middle) and Speckled Roman
 

One of the Costoluto's was fused - these just fascinate me.

 

Fused Costoluto Genovese
 

This week I also harvested a few leaves from the Tyee spinach plants.  The spinach has not been thriving but I’m seeing it pick up just a bit after I removed the pea vines that were leaning over this section of the bed and blocking most of the light.

 

Tyee Spinach
 

I also harvested some Mei Qing Choi and had my first taste.  They were delicious – I am quite taken with this variety.

 

Mei Qing Choi Chinese Cabbage
 

Also harvested this week but not photographed were several cucumbers, which are coming in slow but steady.

My harvest totals this week were:

Beans – 1,615 grams (3.56 lbs)

Chinese Cabbage – 350 grams (0.77 lbs)
Cucumbers – 1,614 grams (3.56 lbs)
Lettuce – 198 grams (0.44 lbs)
Onions – 170 grams (0.37 lbs)
Spinach – 112 grams (0.25 lbs)
Squash – 2,166 grams (4.78 lbs)
Tomatoes – 8,506 grams (18.75 lbs)

Total for Week – 14.73 kg (32.48 lbs)

Total to Date – 68.94 kg (151.97 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…☺