Harvest Monday - May 28, 2018
It's been a busy time in the garden - our recent sprint from winter to spring to summer has done away with the gradual progression of growth. Instead, we have had one huge leap from virtually nothing to everything growing like gangbusters.
And the heat! I feel like the witch from Wizard of Oz..."I'm melting!" - although compared to Dave's upper 90's highs (35C+), we are not too bad off, apparently.
On the harvest front, things are still rather slow. I harvested from the asparagus beds for about 3 weeks, harvesting rather selectively (i.e. only the thicker stalks) over the past week. Now I'm going to let the plants do their thing and fern out.
This is the first proper year of picking and I don't want to overdo it. Next year I'll pick for an additional week or two and then continue to extend the harvest period each year until it's at around 7-8 weeks. I've been more than happy with the total harvest in this first year. "How much was that?" I hear you ask. Over the 3 week period, we harvested 7.15 kg grams (15.76 lbs) - not too shabby!
This morning a few more goodies were finally (!!) ready to be picked: arugula, baby Chinese greens and radishes.
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| Baby Chinese greens, Red Russian kale & Speedy arugula |
When it comes to the baby Chinese greens, however, I have mixed feelings. One of the issues that I often have with pre-mixed seed packets is that you never know what you will get. In this case, some of the greens have a rather strong bite which makes them not very kid friendly, at least when it comes to my kids. I do like the idea behind the mixed greens but I would rather create the mix myself so that I choose which greens to include (or exclude).
As for the radishes, I haven't tried them yet but I'm hoping the heat hasn't made them too spicy - I'll find out at lunch today 😁
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| Lady Slipper, Easter Egg and French Breakfast radishes |
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Pepitas Pumpkin
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The pepitas haul...not exactly impressive
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To see what everyone else has been harvesting over the past week, head on over to Our Happy Acres where Dave is our host for Harvest Mondays.
Your asparagus has done so well, just think of the amount you'll be harvesting in a few years time. Did you grow the pepitas for the seeds alone or will you eat the flesh too?
ReplyDeleteI really hope that this is a sign of good things to come in the asparagus beds. As for the squash, I will be eating the flesh too, but a taste told me it was rather bland. I don't want to waste it though, so I'm thinking of incorporating it into a rissoto dish that has some wine added for a bit of extra flavour.
DeleteWow on your first season of the asparagus! That is a great haul. And it should just keep on getting better and better in the years to come. Interesting report on the Pepitas too. I did get about a cup from each one of mine last year, but after drying it made for less than that. I'm trying one called Naked Bear this year, we will see how it does! And let me say I was inside enjoying the a/c when our temps hit the 90's yesterday. It's another scorcher today.
ReplyDeleteHa - what did we ever do without a/c? I'm actually rather surprised at how much asparagus we harvested - I had it in my head that we would be harvesting about that much once it hit its full stride. And wow - a cup of pepitas per squash - that would actually be a worthwhile harvest, especially if the vine produced a few squash. I'll be watching for your evaluation on the Naked Bear - I get the naked part, but I'm wondering where the bear comes in :)
DeleteWoohoo! Yay for asparagus. Those few of years of babying your asparagus is really paying off. I'm afraid to try those mixed Asian greens, it seems like they put too many pungent mustards in there. Then again it might be the warm weather. There's such a wide diversity of greens out there, I'm always ordering new varieties.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the mustards - I think that is exactly what is turning me off the mixes. I don't mind a leaf or two, but since I have no idea what I'm sowing, it's luck of the draw as to whether you will get a good proportion of mild to pungent.
DeleteYou may not think that you have harvest much but it far more than we have.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us are off to a slow start this year. I am confident that you will be carting home boxes of produce in no time at all.
DeleteI'm with you on the premixed packets, one of my biggest issues with them is that there's always one or two varieties that grow bigger and faster and crowd out the slower growers. It's easier to grow what you want separately and mix them as you want.
ReplyDeleteYour asparagus harvests are enviable. I'm still amazed that you started them from seed.
I'm sort of amazed at the asparagus too, especially when I think back to those fragile, grass-like seedlings. I was rather doubtful that they would even survive much less produce a substantial harvest.
DeleteIt's amazing your pumpkin lasted that long. I had a couple left in garage that got mushy and had to be thrown out. Everything looks great. Your asparagus is just taking off for sure!
ReplyDeleteSome squash varieties certainly last much longer than others. Butternuts last a good long time too but we tend to use them up more quickly (or cook them up and freeze them so that they are at the ready for a quick soup).
DeleteLucky you! I really miss my asparagus patch. Your greens do look lovely. Arugula I find a bit too strong also but can eat it mixed with other greens. Will have to keep in mind about "Speedy" Nancy
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy :) Speedy really is quite mild compared to "regular" arugula so it's worth giving a go.
DeleteYour asparagus is looking very healthy, and I admire your restraint in only cutting the fattest stalks. I sometimes grow squashes for hull-less seed and found Lady Godiva to have plenty, but the flesh is pretty bland unfortunately. The seeds are lovely eaten raw too
ReplyDeleteIt does require effort to not cut every stalk, that's for sure! Thanks for the hulless seed squash suggestion - I've added Lady Godiva to my seed list :)
DeleteLove fresh asparagus. Also pumpkin seeds. We've had some of those super hot days. Crazy after so many cold days just recently.
ReplyDeleteCrazy is the word for it. Today it is supposed to be prime gardening weather with a high of only 71F - I'm planning on making good use of it!
DeleteA nice beginning harvest. Crazy spring weather so far and now we are cold....finished all our radishes, spinach and perhaps early lettuce as the heat just made it race to seed. I stopped growing much winter squash, but do grow Delicata smaller winter squash and grow the bush variety which takes less space.
ReplyDeleteApologies...I just realized that a bunch of comments were being sent to my "moderation" folder without sending me an email notification - yikes! So hard to believe that our spring was on the cool side after going through the stifling heat of summer!
DeleteWow, I can't believe the keeping time of that pumpkin! All winter long! You already have some impressive harvests! Happy gardening in this more reasonable (for you, too?) June weather. It's been simply lovely here, so I've been neglecting computer time. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe quick transition between the seasons is definitely not the norm around here - well, it hasn't been the norm....maybe now it is, as we had the same thing happen in the fall!
DeleteP.S. Sorry about the late posting/reply - For some reason, I wasn't receiving notifications on comments that were waiting for moderation (see post "Apologies to all" from today)
Impressive asparagus, Margaret. I hadn't heard of this meme -- maybe, I'll join in when I have something to report. As usual, I planted my kitchen garden late and no harvest yet. Oh, except for lettuce. I see that you are going to GWA in Chicago. So am I -- I'm very excited! P. x
ReplyDeleteHarvest Monday is a wonderful meme, Pam - it's been run for many years & it's always so much fun to see what people are harvesting from across North America and beyond! Chicago was wonderful, wasn't it?? Hope you can make it out to Salt Lake City next year!
DeleteP.S. Sorry about the late posting/reply - For some reason, I wasn't receiving notifications on comments that were waiting for moderation (see post "Apologies to all" from today)