What are you harvesting? Spring-Summer, 2015

[applestar]

Sooo.... What are you harvesting now?

It's going to be an interesting mix since weather/garden wise, it must be summer in the south, transitioning here in my area, and late-spring planting time in the north.

Here are today's harvest from my garden

Strawberries and cherries

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A few asparagus can still be picked -- expecting more tomorrow, lettuce, arugula, (turnip and radish thinnings) and (weeded lambs quarters), (intentionally sown spinach tree -- magenta hearted lambs quarters) for greens, broccoli, snow peas in three colors, snap peas just starting to fill out:

...not pictured but I picked a garlic scape to try it out -- but I should wait a little longer for them to start curling. I ended up picking more strawberries that I missed.

[jal_ut]

The asparagus is about done. I have green onions from Walking onions I planted last fall. For some reason the early radish seeds did not make it. Bugs? Frost?

[imafan26]

Lots of tomatoes, even though the birds are still going for them.
Only one zucchini- I expected more
Peppers planted in February and March are starting to produce peppers now.
kale
calamondin
herbs
eggplant- every 10 days or so
gourds are all done.
A few strawberrries
Brown turkey figs
green onions
chayote

[sweetiepie]

I just have chives. Those things make it through all kinds of weather.

[MichaelC]

A few early fruits from a precocious English cucumber - took them early (Persian size) because they were sitting on the ground. Plus one lone cherry that whatever disease my trees have seems to have missed.

[catgrass]

Cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Squash have been taken over by the SVB, but I will replant.

[imafan26]

Mango (Pirie) , lychee, and tomatoes.

[applestar]

Todays's meager•modest harvest including a mutant strawberry

[applestar]

...BTW those are new leek scapes not garlic. That's why they are so straight and short. But I wondered if garlic scapes can be eaten -- delicious even -- why not leek scapes. And I have excess of seeds so I don't need to save any this year.

-- I roasted them with the asparagus for breakfast this morning and OH YUM! Yes!
>> I coated with EVOO and sprinkled with SeaSalt, 375°F for 10 min, then crumbled saltine crackers over them and a little pat of butter and 5 more min. All done in a toaster oven ....the "whiskers" are dehydrated and crunchy

[erins327]

I'm thankful to even have this after our Memorial Day floods that I thought took my garden away!

[applestar]

That is plenty for a backyard garden harvest. It's fun when you can get enough just-picked fresh produce for a meal or two from the daily or every-other-day harvest.

What a difference in the weather and garden season though! Here,with the cool temps and daily rain, the various lettuces have made a come back and grew enough for another harvest in matter of days! I'm also picking the flowering tips of bolted asian greens and overwintered kale. Snowpeas and snap peas plus the red ripe strawberries won away from the robins and catbirds have been my breakfast snack while strolling the garden. I sowed a couple of rows of pre-germinated okra today -- Burgundy from a commercial source, and saved seeds received in trade labelled "Red and Purple Dwarf". Hopefully, the weather will warm up enough for them to sprout.

[gumbo2176]

Cucumbers, okra, some tomatoes that aren't split from all the rain we've gotten, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, several varieties of peppers from mild to hot and an assortment of herbs used when needed.

Just put in more green beans, this time bush variety along with some soybean seeds for edamame and have 2 full rows ready to plant once I decide what to put in them. I'd love to plant summer squash, but the dreaded SVB's destroy my plants in short order so they are a no-go. I'll put in a little patch of Swiss Chard for some greens and I'm waiting for my Japanese Yard Longs to do what they do best. I got them in the ground late as the seeds were backordered and arrived about 4 weeks later than normal.

I'll have figs coming out my ears in another 4-6 weeks as my tree is loaded with them right now. OK, that's about it for now.

[Krasus3]

Mostly lettuce, Easter egg radishes, strawberries, and asparagus here.

[Rairdog]

Finally hit my 2 quarts every couple days mark with a 10x8 patch. Keeps Missy and the neighbor kids happy. Mmmm strawberry marinaded deer lion.

[sweetiepie]

Oh, love the strawberries, this is the first year I have gotten strawberries to survive a winter. Hoping to have that too.

[lexusnexus]

The only two things from my garden this year have been radishes and Swiss chard. The radishes (Cherry Bell and French Breakfast) were sweet and juicy. Nothing like those bought at the markets. Same with the chard, very buttery. This is my first garden in a number of years, and the first on this property. It was converted from a hunk of lawn.

[pepperhead212]

My greens and kohlrabi are all I have harvested this season (besides herbs), but a few are starting to bolt - mizuna, yu choy, and the lettuces. The bok choy, komatsuna, zen hybrid, and cabbage show no signs of bolting, as well as the chard, which is always fairly heat resistant.

[Francis Barnswallow]

What are you harvesting? Spring-Summer, 2015

The best tomato harvest ever (5 years gardening). I was giving them away to my neighbors because my family could not eat them fast enough.

[lexusnexus]

MichaelC, what is "Persian Size"? And Raredog, those strawberries look wonderful. I hope they tasted as good as they look!

[applestar]

More strawberries.... Like this almost every day

...and mulberries... raspberries are just starting

[6sparkpug6]

Apple- How do you prevent slugs and other creatures from getting your strawberries?

[applestar]

Well if you go a few years back, you'll see my slug count threads when I was catching HUNDREDS. I suppose that did help. I'm also promoting balanced natural biosphere. So I try to encourage natural predators -- meaning I don't generally use broad spectrum chemicals or even organic control that kills indiscriminately.

So far, I've identified the following Garden Patrol responsible for slug control in my garden -- birds (grackles and bluejays), moles, frogs and toads, firefly larvae, centipedes, ground beetles, predarorial mites, predatorial nematodes....

I've also read that higher population density of earthworms and biodiverse garden help, and I definitely have those going in my garden:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/w ... slugs.html

...all this is to say that I'm seeing less slugs than before... (knock on wood )

Most of the strawberries are inside fenced enclosures to keep out rabbits and groundHOGS. Also, most of my strawberries are currently wild strawberries, and they are EVERYWHERE -- meaning birds and beasts do NOT need to get them from my protected garden beds. I use birdscares over particularly precious clumps and over the large fruited Seascape strawberries, but I'm finding those scattered around, too. Not sure if I planted all of them myself....

In tended beds, I have been using Douglas fir shaving mulch. And the few slugs that I have found trying to crawl on it seemed to be having difficulties. So that seems to be helping, too.

[skiingjeff]

Still picking some broccoli and kohlrabi from my spring plantings. They are really hanging in there even with the 80 degree weather

The snow peas are starting to bloom and produce as well as the summer squash so we'll be picking them in a couple days! Just love it

[imafan26]

Still harvesting tomatoes. Peppers Carmen, Banana, and Cubanelles. Spearmint, calamondin and rosemary.
if flowers count, glads, roses, agapanthus and parrot beak heliconia. I don't want to cut my orchid spray so I am not cutting them to admire them.

[MichaelC]

I've currently got sugar snap peas going strong suddenly, planted in the ground in mid April. A bit late in the season for my climate, but my family really wanted them, and at least they'll get some before it gets too hot. I've got pole beans growing on the same trellis to hedge my bets.

[MichaelC]

MichaelC, what is "Persian Size"?

Sorry, I just noticed your question. I meant that I picked them at the size of Persian cucumbers or so, 4-5". That one plant had an unexpected early flush of four fruits, now it's just flowering and growing big like the rest or my cucumbers.

[digitS']

Just like Sweetiepie, my 2015 harvest began with chives. There has been a never slowing greens harvest since, first under plastic, then from the open garden. The onions from sets did well. The lettuce will be finished soon. We will see if some late-sown Asian greens, escarole, and orach can join the earlier parade. Kale. I've already got lots of Scotch kale .

Record-breaking heat caused the spinach to come on with a rush. I don't know if there will be any in another week.

The peas will be ready any day but the heat means that the vines are very short this year. Most recently, there have been high winds and that stress probably also encourages a rush to maturity. I'm hoping the beets won't just quit ... 'bout my favorite veggie .

Steve

[imafan26]

The snails harvested my beans for me, they ate the plants and the beans so there is nothing left.

[skiingjeff]

The snails harvested my beans for me, they ate the plants and the beans so there is nothing left.

Not nice Sorry about your bean plants.

[applestar]

I can't remember, do you have really big snails in Hawaii @imafan?

I don't know how folks with those huge yellow banana slugs and walnut sized snails manage. Our slugs and snails here in NJ are relatively small, though they do plenty of damage as well.

Today, a pesky catbird was hanging around the blackberries, so I went over to see -- I was pretty sure blackberries weren't ready to pick yet, though so I was curious. It turned out that the shrub Ameranchier had ripened.

I thanked the catbird and picked all the ripe berries that were not affected by the cedar apple rust. My Allegheny serviceberry tree is even more susceptible and none of the fruits are worth picking. But once the amelanchier start ripening, it signals the beginning of the wild blueberries, too, and I picked 1/2 a dozen or so. Cultivated bigger blueberries will take a little longer yet.

The red Prelude raspberries are gathering momentum, and a few wild strawberries in heavy shade are starting to come in. I missed out on the ripe currants this morning, though. By the time I looked, there were no ripe, ready to pick currants, so I think the birds got to them first.

[applestar]

Raspberries and peas now ...some young volunteer kale before quality goes down with the heat and bugs.

These were from the morning harvest. The kids ate practically all the berries, then I went out in late afternoon and picked about the same amount of raspberries again.

(It was interesting because there were berries in the morning that were *almost* ready but not quite. I thought they weren't going to be ready until tomorrow morning, but it was like they just needed the day.)

...I think I want to plant some mid-late June bearer strawberries next spring so the strawberry season can continue. Day neutral Sea Scape is still producing sporadically here and there. I'll pot up some of their runners to build a new row-type strawberry bed that I can cover for bird protection.

[catgrass]

The tomatoes and beans are done. Have starts for the fall. Still picking a few cucumbers if the rain doesn't kill them. Eggplant just starting to make! Still have jalapenoes and bell peppers making.

[jsturm]

My best sugar snap peas, ever. Only a dozen plants but I've gotten a few meals so far:

Green beans are a sad story. Didn't fence them in this year and bunnies have just about destroyed them. My first batch could be the last.

Spinach is done but kale is in. Just waiting on tomatoes and cucumbers.

[applestar]

The pea vines look so pretty against the white wall.
Be sure to put a string across the front of them or something because if there is strong wind, the vines will flop over and kink.

Don't give up on the beans, just keep sowing more! I'm ready to sow my next batch of bush wax beans.

[UrbanFarmerJon]

Just got my first 7 radishes or should I say my oldest planted and picked them!

[imafan26]

Peppers cubanelle and Carmen went into my sloppy joes. Texas granex onion, and more tomatoes.

[MichaelC]

The sugar snap peas are still going strong, I've taken the last of the nectarines, and a couple surprise cucumbers from the early flush that I overlooked the first time.

jsturm, your peas look just like mine!

[Taiji]

This was a pleasant surprise. My potato plants got zapped by freezing 3 times and leaves were eaten and all the plants looked diseased. I finally stopped watering them and gave up. Thought I would discard the diseased vines and get the bed ready to plant something else. Dug up one plant and found these. I was like, what?!

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Funny thing was, the plants never bloomed. Any potatoes I've done in the past have bloomed first. Never thought I could get mature potatoes this early. Now, am wondering if I leave the rest of them in the ground if they'll be ok til fall or if the new tubers will start growing again. It's still 4 months til frost.

[digitS']

They look like an early-maturing, red potato variety, Taiji. Wouldn't you like a big bowl of potato salad for every summer barbecue and picnic?

In my garden, the broccoli plants are small and forming heads quickly. Peas are small, too. I've got broccoli and snap peas for now but there is too much heat!

For the first time in nearly 40 years, I am harvesting garlic . Oh, and I have just now begun to pull some of the sweet onions to use as green onions. Sowing seed in flats of soil in the cold, February greenhouse was a long time ago . Bunching onions are next but the sweet onions are in a bit of a hurry.


Steve

[imafan26]

Looks yummy.

It is interesting. A lot of you were writing about late frosts in June. I know planting dates are different in different parts of the world, but you are also harvesting in June a lot of things which I cannot grow until October. I do have strawberries, onions and garlic maturing now, but peas are not a summer crop for me, they can only be planted in the cooler months. I have had my kale plants for about 5 months now. Peppers that I started from seed in February and March are producing peppers now. I think I have decided it really isn't worth the effort to grow bell peppers. There are so few peppers yielded by each plant and I get a more resilient and productive plants with Carmen, Banana, and Cubanelle peppers. I have one yellow bell now. The one I tried to put in the ground did not fare any better than the one in the pot. In fact the one in the pot is bigger, but still has only one pepper on it right now.
Since some of you are still getting frosts what zones are still in Spring and what zones in summer?
We do grow lettuce now, but a lot of the lettuce is having problems with tip burn at this time of the year. At this time of the year the red and loose leaf lettuce can grow but the romaine would struggle. Tropical spinach will grow but not the kinds of spinach you are used to.

I have only a small window where I can grow snow peas and beans at the same time. Right now is not a good time to try to grow North American spinach. I can grow tomatoes, and cucumbers all year. Eggplant and peppers start better in summer but some of the plants will live for a few years.