What are you harvesting -Spring 2014

[hendi_alex]

We now are in full swing of what I consider the summer garden. For us most evening meals consist of about 70%-80% home grown. We never get tired of such meals, and always are sad to see them go in the late fall. Winter time, we probably drop down to about 20% home grown, but with this year's use of the freezer, perhaps can move that up to closer to 40%. We try to have at least something from our yard/garden every day of the year. So far in the winter that has amounted to frozen tomatoes, fresh greens, garlic, and frozen blueberries.

[applestar]

Repeat of yesterday... Basically doubled.... More mulberries!

I have an old woven nylon shower curtain that gets used for various garden duties. Right now, it's a mulberry harvesting sheet. I spread it under the tree and grab the nearest branch and shake vigorously. Pick up a few that missed the curtain and fell in the grass, move the sheet and repeat. I can only reach about five branches from the ground. If I want to be more serious about harvesting, I have to cover three times the area with floating covers, etc. and stand on a picnic bench to reach higher branches.

As it is, today's harvest was about 2X yesterday's. It's a good thing because the kids ate nearly all of yesterday's. Any berries that don't get eaten are frozen akin zip bags and when we have a bagful, we start making fruit smoothies.

I put a good 1/2 cup or more in a big salad made with freshly harvested lettuce, Swiss chard, green onions, shelled fresh peas, plus store bought lotus roots, caramel peanuts, and sliced leftover teriyaki chicken. Dressing was salty plum vinegar, apple cider vinegar, EVOO, and a touch of roasted sesame oil.

[hendi_alex]

We love mulberries. We had two small but producing trees through this spring. But our Illinois ever-bearing died down to the graft union. Will buy two new trees next season. Will try some of the more exotic large fruited.

[lakngulf]

Peel, chop with ring cutter in sauce pan, bring to a simmer for a minute or two, set pan in ice bath, freeze in rectangular pyrex dishes. Run hot water on bottom of container and pry out block of tomatoes. Wrap in plastic and place several in a gallon freezer bag. Last year we used similarly prepared tomatoes in soups and sauces and the were oh so much better than any from cans! I also prepare and freeze marinara which holds up very well and makes for a quick meal. This year we are buying a small dedicated freezer to extend the season mostly for tomatoes, but also for greens, corn, okra, blueberries, and perhaps a bit more.

I freeze tomatoes two ways:
I peel, de-core and cut regular size tomatoes into quarters, put in gallon zip lock, seal and freeze. Use these for any recipe calling for tomatoes, but especially homemade chili. Still trying to duplicate Wendys' chili

I peel, de-core and cut tomatoes into smaller units, slice about half as much okra, cook until boiling, cool, and freeze in zip locks. This stock I use for vegetable soup in the winter time. The veggie soup includes several items frozen from the garden: tomatoes/okra, sweet corn, bell pepper, sometimes green beans. It also includes venison from deer killed on the property. So 85% is harvested within quarter mile of my house.

I am convinced that the "freshly frozen" tomatoes adds more flavor to items and any other ingredient.

[rainbowgardener]

Harvested all the spinach which was bolting, used some and froze a bunch. I left a few plants to see if they would re-seed themselves.

Harvested a bunch of broccoli, likewise used some and froze some. There is still a bit more to come and some side heads, but I've started pulling the first plants to make room for tomatoes and peppers.

Harvested and froze a bunch of cilantro and celery.

Harvested and dried parsley, dill, chamomile.

Eating lots of swiss chard. Eating a few baby carrots to thin them.

Harvested garlic scapes and made garlic scape pasta carbonara (adding onions, spinach, broccoli from the garden to the recipe).

Plan to make home made mint chocolate chip ice cream today with the mint that is going crazy....

[imafan26]

With a few official days in Spring left I am harvesting tomatoes: Beefsteak and a volunteer cherry tomatoes. Chayote, chayote shoots, taro, cucumber, zucchini, herbs, peppers, strawberries, kale, beans, bitter melon leaves, calamondin, and herbs.

[lakngulf]

Having a great harvest of yellow squash, zucchini squash, and these Rattlesnake Beans. Easy pickin'

[Cola82]

My broccoli romanesco looked like it was flowering so we harvested it for dinner last night. The boyfriend roasted it and we had it with mashed potatoes and sliced tomatoes. It was ridiculously good.

[heidihouse]

I think this counts as the very end of spring in Canada still! I've been harvesting arugula (amazing on burgers), cos lettuce (super!), all the herbs (basil, parley, cilantro, chervil, chives like crazy, etc.), radishes (terrible this year), a few little strawberries.

For the past few weeks I'm out in the garden every single day getting a handful of lettuce, parsley, and chives for either the sandwich in my daughter's lunch, or our dinner salad. Even though it's not much, the harvesting feeling is unbeatable.

[JayPoc]

Pulled and shelled the rest of my peas, picked a couple of cabbages, and am now getting into zucchini and yellow squash.







The bigger of the two cabbages was 4 pounds after all the outer leaves were removed...

[grrlgeek]

This is where all the "work" to get here just fades from memory.

Lots of greens and lettuce in the front yard where it's sheltered from the afternoon sun. Took out all the Dragoon heads and I still have a few Red Sails growing to full size. Tomatoes are coming and coming and we picked the first cucumbers! I think they grew overnight! Made veggie sammiches 100% from our garden. Hubby said that sammies and salads are all he wants in his lunches this week.

Carrots are still small, but still sweet. It's a tradeoff. Onions are bulbing! Pulled the garlic because the box was in the way. I think it might have gotten bigger, but this was a small test planting and I have been pulling them young for a while now. We want to try a large planting of Music this fall.

Snuck out a few little potatoes and the first peppers (cayenne and an pepperoncini that started to turn red.) Many more kinds coming very soon. A few sad strawberries that the birds pecked first. Thai basil, basil, and cilantro growing faster than I can use it. Made some ice cubes out of all 3. Lots will go to seed but that was planned. Planted more seeds for fresh eating later in summer.

Harvested the first Early Wonder Tall Top beets. Chiogga, Bull's Blood, Baby, and Crapaudine are coming soon, hopefully before it gets any hotter. I boiled then chilled them and put them in a salad. I don't know what I am going to do when I run out and have to go back to canned. Lots of leaves now to pilfer too,

I never imagined how much I would enjoy this!

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