Today's Harvest Monday has me feeling like my hard work is finally beginning to pay off. It's the largest harvest I've had at one time--probably in the two seasons I've been attempting this gardening thing. I mean, look at what I harvested around this time
last year! I have to laugh at that post. I really had no idea what I was doing--not that I claim knowledge now either LOL...
Just say, "Heck yeah" to variety! Two new firsts for the season are the Bush Slicer cucumber, and Baby Belle peppers.
Although I'm not a big fan of green peppers (I really like 'em red), I decided to remove a few of them to encourage the plant to continue flowering. The day after I harvested the green peppers, I removed these orange peppers...
Beautiful and
tasty Viva's!
There are a few more that could come off the vine, but since my goal is to do some canning, I'm going to try leaving them on as long as I can--otherwise I'll end up eating them, lol.
What did the Momma Viva Italia tomato say to all the baby Pearson tomatoes when they were lagging behind? Catch up! Har. Har.
Bush beans are nice because of the small plants, but I haven't been able to harvest enough to serve at once to the family yet. I may be switching to vine/runner beans next season. I've read Scarlet Runner beans like a little cooler weather, so I may even try a few of them at the end of the season...
I laid out all the basil leaves and froze for later use (1 of 2 batches)...
I didn't take a picture of it because it wasn't very pretty, but I sautéed the beans and tomatoes with garlic, and served over whole-wheat spaghetti for DH and I. I've been slicing the cucumbers as sides for lunches, and the peppers will go into salads tomorrow night.
This week's harvest total...
Bush Slicer Cucumber: 11 oz
Bush Beans: 3.8 oz
Basil: 2 oz
Baby Belle Peppers: 2 oz
Viva Italia tomatoes: 6.2 oz
Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.
Now that's a beautiful harvest! You've come a long way, baby ;-)
ReplyDeleteI learned my lesson with beans last year. I planted a sq ft of Royal Burgundy and a sq ft of Provider and I rarely got enough for one meal either. So I planted a whole 4'X4' this year. I have had tons of beans! Have not tried vines yet. Maybe next year. Don't have a lot of trellis space though.
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful - it DOES seem like your hard work is paying off. Yum!
ReplyDeleteThe harvest looks great! You may be right about those scarlet runner beans, mine aren't even sprouting for me, but it's been triple digit heat indexes all summer! Maybe I'll wait to try them later like you said!
ReplyDeleteThat's terrific! it looks like a completely respectable harvest, especially the peppers. Good work for you -- and the sauce sounds like a yummy way to use up a handful of beans.
ReplyDeleteHar har, it took me a few seconds to get the joke, I'm slow before all the caffeine kicks in. :)
ReplyDeleteYour harvest is certainly improved from last year. I think you'll find that the garden is always teaching you new things, I've been at it for more years than I care to admit to and I'm learning all the time.
Your beans and basil are so pretty, I love purple veggies and the contrast with the yellow is super.
You've given me hope that maybe I, too, will improve my gardening skills and harvest over time. Your last year's harvest picture looks just like my weekly harvests now! Those orange peppers are really pretty - were they tasty?
ReplyDeletethyme2~ You know, I didn't even taste the orange peppers. I failed at making cauliflower mashed "potatoes," so I ended up slicing them up with other veggies for the boys, and the green peppers for DH and I. The green peppers taste gross... I'll be sure to taste the next orange pepper that's coming off the plant this week and let you know. ;-)
ReplyDelete