Monday, September 14, 2015

Harvest Monday, 13 September 2015

I harvested broccoli not once, but twice this week. The first was all the side shoots from the spring planted broccoli. The second was the first of the summer planted broccoli to produce.

The amaranth was big enough again to harvest. It is trying to put out flowers at this point, but I keep cutting the plants back when I see the first buds. You might also notice in this and the rest of the above photos have cucumbers and tiny zucchini in the baskets. I'm surprised to be getting cucumbers still. They are still tasting good too. The plants are almost all dead. I think one plant has survived the wilt so far.

I had another tub of the prolific chard.

But the big news is the first of the squash to be picked. Last year I lost some squash because I let it sit out on the wet ground for too long. This year I've been more proactive in testing if the squash is ready.

This year I've been trialing two new squashes for me. The Thai Rai Kaw Tok is the green one in the photo and the very aggressive vines overtook one of my butternuts. Also they have set three more squash, but it remains to be seen if they will ripen in time. The Upper Ground Sweet Potato squash has set its first squash, but I don't think it has time to ripen. We will see. One of my butternuts really went crazy and set a lot early on (seven) and won't produce anymore. But the other two squashes have some immature ones on the vine still. Right now I'm at 40 pounds. Last year broke 100 pounds for the first year ever. I don't think I'll get near that number, but if I'm lucky I'll get close to 75. But only if they hurry up and size up and ripen. Trailing new squash never gets me the best return, unless of course I find a really productive one. And so far in my garden, nothing beats Waltham butternut. And luckily for me it is one of my favorite for taste too.

The Thai Rai Kaw Tok is interesting. It doesn't look so much bigger than the butternuts, but it is twice the weight of the largest of them. It weighed in at just over 7 pounds. It is also not orange yet though it has an orange patch on the bottom and orange spots. It also has an interesting bloom on the surface. Dave has grown these in the past and says they get orange after a couple of months in storage. I'm glad I read his description as I wouldn't have even checked if they were ripe enough to pick. I don't usually pick my winter squash green.

  • Broccoli, 2.94 lbs
  • Cucumbers, 2.00 lbs
  • Greens, 2.39 lbs
  • Summer Squash, 1.18 lbs
  • Winter Squash, 40.44 lbs
  • Weekly total, 48.93 lbs
  • Yearly total, 489.01 lbs, $1030.81

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful broccoli, I am envious. Butternut squash is my favorite, I am looking forward to learning the comparison between your butternut and your Thai Rai Kaw Tok.

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  2. The ol' reliable butternuts look great. I hope you meet your goal. My squash was very slow this year; no way I will get great results like you.

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  3. Nice broccoli. Do you eat the leaves too? I love butternut and was hoping to grow some this year. The deer had other plans. I will have to rely on farmers markets for mine this year.

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    1. Yes I eat the leaves and peel and eat the stems.

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  4. Lovely butternut! I tried Waltham Butternut for the first time this year but had some problems (unrelated to the variety) so only have a single squash. Ah well, will try again next year. The amaranth looks terrific - most of my greens are looking pretty weak at this time.

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  5. We had a packet of butternut squash seeds to try but they don't seem to have produced anything. I think it has been too cold this summer.

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  6. Gorgeous butternuts! Would love to hear how the green squash taste and texture in comparison. So far I haven't really found anything that I really love as much as butternuts and delicata.

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  7. That is some beautiful broccoli and lucky you still getting cucumbers - this was the first year I've ever gotten both of my kids to actually eat (and like!) cucumbers and it would be nice if we had been able to get a few more.

    I can't wait to harvest the butternuts; I think one of them is almost ready. Do you use the fingernail test to check if it is ready or are there some other tell tale signs?

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    1. I use the fingernail test. It always seems to work. Though late in the season I'll pick slightly unripe ones and I've found that they are fine to eat after a few weeks. Not good for storage though.

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  8. Nice harvest. Are you eating amaranth as a salad green, or in some other preparation?

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  9. Nice looking squash. I had no luck with mine. I think I may have planted them to late. Hopefully I will get some pumpkins this year.

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  10. That Thai squash is so pretty, but it sounds like it's too aggressive for my small garden. Beautiful harvests!

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  11. Wow, broccoli already!! I'm still weeks away from my fall harvest! Your awesome!

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  12. Tell me your tried and true best way to test the butternut squash.

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    1. I use the fingernail test. If you can't puncture it easily with your fingernail, its ready to pick.

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  13. Interesting about that last squash! I am envious of your cucumbers you are still getting! Nice harvest again! Nancy

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  14. Lovely squashes, and beautiful close-up photo. I'm hoping mine will ripen soon. The weather turned cool but has warmed up a bit again overall so fingers crossed. I have covered them over with small row covers in the past so might need to do that again this year.

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  15. Your butternut squash look wonderful. The squash at our downtown farmers' market is huge - I'm still not sure if I can cook all of it.

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  16. Your squash harvest looks great so far Daphne. I have been giving serious though also to trying Dave's Thai squash. The flesh looks so delish in his pictures and he has been very happy with its storage and taste. I am anxious to see how if performs for you and what you think of it.

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  17. You have beaten me with the first harvest of Thai squash! Mine last year were just as weighty, and did turn orange in storage. They have been good keepers too, and I have one left from last year I plan to cook up soon.

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