The temperatures have been in the mid 30's every night this past week, so not much growth has been taking place in the garden. This morning we had a heavy frost, but with warmer weather coming this week, it's possible that it was the last frost for the year.
I was able to harvest a couple of vegetables that I really like: Broccoli and Collards!
Although it wasn't much, I did get 8 ounces of broccoli. I doubt I'll get any more as it's beginning to go to seed, but that's a good thing! I've never harvested broccoli seed pods before, so I'm looking forward to this experience. My plants are Waltham 29's. I can already see the seed pods forming, so it shouldn't be too long before they are ready... I hope. At least they're in the area where my tomatoes are going to go, and neither the weather nor the soil temperature is anywhere near ready for tomatoes, so the broccoli can stay for awhile.
My old favorite is the Vates collards. I was able to pick 5 pounds of them, and I didn't even get halfway down the two rows. They too, are starting to bolt, so they don't have much longer to stay. In an attempt to slow down the bolting process, I cut off the tops of the stalks where the flowers would be forming. I don't know if that will work, but I'll find out soon enough.
That's all for this week except for the fact that the beets are still trying to grow roots (but aren't!), the salsify is about two feet tall, and I have Green Beauty Snow Peas (from Michelle in CA) that are about 16 inches high and growing in a half barrel. They look very healthy. Now that I'm thinking about the vegetables, my grapes are also showing buds all over the vines, my 5 heritage red raspberry bushes are now 12 bushes, my blueberries have hundreds of buds all over them, and I have a new blueberry shoot that is 42 inches high and looking good! That came up during the winter, apparently from the root of the other plant. I believe I have 2 volunteer salsify plants that came up in the broccoli rows. I must have thought they were weeds, but now they are shooting up fast! We'll see how they do.
The compost is looking good. I've been needing some green grass clippings to really start the pile cooking. I have another 27 pounds of coffee grounds from Starbucks in Portsmouth, and just tonight I was able to pick up three 30 gallon lawn bags full of fresh, rich, dark green grass clippings from a neighbor. That will all be going into the pile tomorrow.
Now that's REALLY all for this week! Thanks for visiting and feel free to share your comments.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
I was able to harvest a couple of vegetables that I really like: Broccoli and Collards!
That's all for this week except for the fact that the beets are still trying to grow roots (but aren't!), the salsify is about two feet tall, and I have Green Beauty Snow Peas (from Michelle in CA) that are about 16 inches high and growing in a half barrel. They look very healthy. Now that I'm thinking about the vegetables, my grapes are also showing buds all over the vines, my 5 heritage red raspberry bushes are now 12 bushes, my blueberries have hundreds of buds all over them, and I have a new blueberry shoot that is 42 inches high and looking good! That came up during the winter, apparently from the root of the other plant. I believe I have 2 volunteer salsify plants that came up in the broccoli rows. I must have thought they were weeds, but now they are shooting up fast! We'll see how they do.
The compost is looking good. I've been needing some green grass clippings to really start the pile cooking. I have another 27 pounds of coffee grounds from Starbucks in Portsmouth, and just tonight I was able to pick up three 30 gallon lawn bags full of fresh, rich, dark green grass clippings from a neighbor. That will all be going into the pile tomorrow.
Now that's REALLY all for this week! Thanks for visiting and feel free to share your comments.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Ooh the brocolli florets are just right for a nice stir fry and those collard greens would be a nice bounty of greens to appease the winter weary dinner table menu!
ReplyDeleteGreat harvest this week. :D
Very nice harvest! Your broccoli looks delicious!!
ReplyDeleteWhat does one do with 5 pounds of Collards? Do they freeze? Chopping off the tops may well slow down the bolting process. Here in the UK at this time of year we can sometimes get "Brussels Tops" -- the cabbage-like tops of Brussels Sprout plants from which all the sprouts have been harvested. They taste like Brussels Sprouts, but of course they have a different texture.
ReplyDeleteI harvested some Collards from the cold frames for dinner last night. Boy they were good! Do you freeze the collards for storage?
ReplyDeleteHappy Harvest!!
I am trying Waltham 29 for the first time this year. It looks great!
ReplyDeletehttp://groceriesgardenanddinner.blogspot.com/
What a wonderful harvest. I'm not a real big collards fan, but I do love broccoli.
ReplyDeletekitsapFG, the broccoli was delicious! We cooked the collards yesterday, and they were excellent as well. We'll get a few more meals from the amount of collards we cooked. They're great!
ReplyDeleteHolly, Thanks!
Mark Willis, We enjoy them! They're a classic Southern tradition. Yes you can freeze them or even can them. I read yesterday that you can eat the leaves from Brussels sprouts prepared in various ways. I wish I knew that before I put them on the compost pile!
Robin, amazingly, we don't have enough for storage. But that's a good thing. I am in the process of adjusting what I plant to what I am able to use and put up in a reasonable fashion. Last year, I was planting without considering the end result of how much I would harvest at once. When I picked my collards back then and had more than enough for my family and still ended up with 104 pounds more than what I could use at once, it made me stop and think about it. I'll be planting much more in alignment with our consumption rate than ever before. I'll still have extra to share with the shelters and soup kitchens, but I want to stock up on my canned vegetables first. This fall, I'm going to try canning collards.
ali, you won't be disappointed!
Daphne, I've had collards that weren't cooked enough to suit me. I really didn't like them like that. It depends how you prepare them for cooking too. We strip the "stem" out of the leaf so that all we cook is the dark green tender part of the leaf, not the chunky "stem" of the leaf. I don't like those. We also cook ours with a country ham bone until they are soft and not crunchy. Mmmm boy!
As always, thanks for visiting and sharing your comments with me.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Yum!!! Collard. I could make some wicked good raw collard wraps with those. Can't wait to harvest mine!!
ReplyDeletePeace and Raw Health,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth, I went and checked out those collard wraps and they look great! I'm going to try some. Thanks for visiting and sharing a comment.
ReplyDeleteVeggie PAK