These are the 7.5 pounds of fresh collards that I picked to add to our family's Thanksgiving dinner.
The third picking of snap beans to be used for Thanksgiving dinner weighed in at 2 pounds. When combined with the previous two pickings, there was plenty to go around.
I picked 1.25 pounds of leeks to make potato and leek soup this week.
Two pounds of butter beans picked and shelled this week added to the previous two harvests helped add to the bounty.
This week's harvest combined with the previous ones brings the total harvest weight for this calendar year so far to be 1,408 pounds. That's the equivalent of 0.938 pounds per square foot from a 1,500 square foot garden.
There's six weeks left in the calendar year. I still have a 20 foot row of swiss chard that hasn't been picked yet, and a 26 foot row that is growing back fast from the first harvest where I just cut them all off at two inches high. Then there are 96 row feet of Brussels sprouts, and 76 row feet of broccoli that haven't been picked. Both of those are growing pretty slow though, so I doubt if they will make it into this year's total weight. But even if they don't, they will go into next year's total weight as they will be harvested during that calendar year. I will have one more harvest of snap beans, and one more harvest of butter beans before I pull them out in order to plant the rest of the cool weather crops this year. I also have just a few butternut squash ripening on the vines. They haven't done particularly well this year or last. They may face elimination from the garden next year. The buttercrunch lettuce is growing back from the first harvest, so there will be a second harvest of that, but it's lightweight so maybe I'll get 3/4 pound from that. I have 56 row feet of collards that haven't been harvested yet, and a 28 foot row that is growing back just fine after the first harvest. I have a container with chantenay carrots that are scheduled to be harvested this week. I have a 20 foot row of sugar pumpkins that are racing for maturity against the first killing frost. Our first frost was to have been on the 23rd, but that morning it was 56 degrees.
I have salsify (oyster plant) growing in two cut-off barrels, but that won't be ready until spring.
BEETS.
I have beets growing in cut-off barrels in commercially prepared potting soil that grow the same way in the ground. According to schedule, they are ready to harvest. However, as you can see, I have yet to find any developed root bulbs. I had the same problem when I planted them in the garden. No "beets". These are pics of two of the beets after growing for 68 days in one of the half-barrels. They were supposed to be ready for harvest in 58 days. It looks just like the ones from the garden last year, but the seeds were from a different supplier. This is certainly a recurring and perplexing problem. I reluctantly have to say, "It beets me!" I had my soil tested last year, and all the minerals were within range except that I had to add lime. That was it.
That about does it for this weeks harvest and "state of the garden" address.
Thanks for visiting and if you have any suggestions for that beet problem, please share them with me! I have the same problem trying to grow radishes. Radishes! Can you believe that?
Have a great gardening day!
Veggie PAK
VP, your garden production is just amazing! There are times when I wished that we lived in a warmer zone...don't tell "The Italian" though.
ReplyDeleteI think that you are taking a beeting....ha! Although, we all want everything to grow perfectly, there are some veggies that give each and every one of us trouble.
Robin, I seem to have problems trying to grow any root crops. I'm going to have my soil analyzed again this coming spring and I think I'll have my well water tested too. The "above ground" crops do fine. It sure is puzzling. Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteWonderful harvest this week - so jealous of the fresh green beans at this time of year. Ours are all freezer harvests at this point in the season. On the beets, you should know that the days to maturity is based on averages and is for spring planting when the sun strength and duration is increating with each day rather than decreasing which is the case with a fall planting. You have to add at least two weeks - often more for fall crops to the average days to maturity. I think you just need to be patient and those beets will size up for you - just not on the time table you were expecting.
ReplyDeletekitsapFG, I planted beets in the spring with the same results, but you might have something there for these. The beet greens developed better and faster than those that were in the ground, so you might have the answer for this crop. Rather than do anything with them right now, I think I'll follow your advice and wait awhile and see what they'll do. I'm not in any rush to use the barrels for anything else, so I'll give it a try. Good info! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteGreat harvest as usual, love those leeks, I wish I have some of those for soup right now. When did you plant them?
ReplyDeleteMac, the leeks were planted as sprouts on September 14th. They are slow growers! I have some that I started from seed and it looks like they won't be ready for years! I don't think I'll do leeks from seed again.
ReplyDeleteWow, those leeks look amazing. I love potato and leek soup. We had the same problem with some of our beets too. Some will grow a beet and others nada. It's perplexing indeed. We eat beet greens though do you? So if no beet grows, we will eat the greens which is great sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper.
ReplyDeletemeemsnyc, Thanks! I made potato and leek soup last year and it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I spoke to my Mom (she's 86 years young!) about the beet issue. She said that her mother always hoed around root crops in their garden on the farm in order to keep the soil loose. We figure it was to more easily allow the root to expand, instead of having the hard soil gird it and prevent it from expanding its diameter. After completing my call to Mom, I went out and loosened the soil around the beet plants. It kind of surprised me that even though they are in barrels, the soil WAS hard between the plants.
Just to share a personal note, if you look at my profile picture, that's the farm in Elizaville, N.Y. I took that picture this past July. That's where I started gardening (weeding!) when I was a little kid. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see the white house on the left. It was built in the mid 1700's according to records. My Mom was born in there! She did her homework by the light of a kerosene lamp, and there was no indoor plumbing, even when the farm was sold around 1970.
I wish we still had it, because I would absolutely live there! Thanks for visiting and allowing me to share that with you.
Wonderful harvest. My mom was born in a farm house too. Sadly though when we went back she showed us the place. Why sadly? The place is a road. When the farm was sold it was subdivided and the access to the area was through were the house was. So sad. It was interesting seeing the pine tree grove though. It is planted on a grid. My uncle planted them as Christmas trees to sell for his college education. I guess one patch never got cut and they are still there.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, It is sad when we go back and the changes that have been made seem to violate what we remember in our hearts. Our old house in Hudson was torn down to make way for a high-rise apartment house. Now they're talking about tearing down that building and building a bigger one! I guess home is carried in our hearts.
ReplyDeleteWow look at the size of your collards! I cannot wait to figure out what I am doing wrong! Fantastic blog you have here--cannot beleive I didnt find it sooner. Im very excited to read more! And thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeletexoxoxo, I'm glad you like my garden! I use an organic fertilizer around my plants, and also spread some blood meal between the plants in the rows on a monthly basis. Other than a lot of compost, that's all I do for mine except water, pick, cook and eat!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and I hope you come back often!
Have a great gardening day!
Veggie PAK