Roots

This was a mini harvest weekend, and here are the fruits of my labors:

Clockwise from top left: onions, potatoes, beans and peas, garlic.

It all started Saturday evening when I got home from work. On a whim (I tend to work on whims), I decided to get out the spading fork and dig the spuds. After all, the CPB had done their work and the plants were all shriveled twigs. I figured I might as well dig the things up - the odds of them continuing to grow were likely very slim. I planted about 11 pounds of potatoes this spring, and the harvest was about half a bushel. Did I get back my investment? Not this year.

Sunday morning I tackled the garlic and onions. The onions did very well this year, which surprised me. Here's a bushel basket full of onion braids, and I still have one more bed to harvest!

But one can't leave one's onions in a basket...they must be hung to dry. Not having a root celler, or a drying shed, I have to make do with whatever space I can find.

The bundles of garlic have been laid out to dry as well. Some did very well, while others were hardly worth the effort. German white seems to be the strong favorite, with nice large bulbs. Several of the best will be put aside for planting this fall (who knows...I might still be here next year).

Harvest Updates

Two evenings ago I was dumping food scraps into the compost pile when I noticed a fair number of pea pods on the pea vines. I thought I'd pick a few for the dog's dinner, and ended up with a shirt full of peas! When I got them all shelled, I had well over a quart of 'em. Who'd have thought we'd have a pea harvest in mid-August!

Meanwhile, the beans continue to produce, and the zucchini are rolling in. This weekend I should tackle the potatoes - completely naked now thanks to the CPB. There's no point leaving them in the ground now to keep growing. Without any leaves, I can't imagine there's much food source for the tubers.

I'll need to pull garlic, too. The plants are all looking quite brown and deceased - much like the potatoes, actually.

The apples are ripening nicely on the Jonagold and Haralson. Several have dropped to the ground and have been nibbled on by who knows what. I've seen crows fleeing the yard with green apples in their beaks, but I suspect most of the damage is from rodents of one stripe or another. Still, I expect to have several apples this year, if all goes well.

I heard a NYS apple report on the radio this morning. The statewide harvest is down quite a bit (we did get those frosts after the trees blossomed), but they said the apples that did grow should be of exceptional quality. We shall see. I'll have to make my pilgrimage to the orchards early this year! It seems that like many things this season, the apples are ripening about two weeks earlier than normal. Hm...a trend across the entire plant spectrum this year it seems.

Giants from the Garden

Sure...it looks like any normal pile of beans...


...but let's put 'em in perspective:

And it's not like they are old beans - noooo - these are the first beans of the season. I need to check my planting map and see which ones these are. Could they be the Cherokee Trail of Tears?


The same could be said for the zucchinis:



And it's not like I overlooked them! There were no zukes on these particular plants when I checked them a week ago! Hmm...I wonder what I'll do with Jumbo there. Just finished up the first batch of stuffed zucchicni, and I finally tossed all of last year's shredded zucchini from the freezer. Maybe I'll just make loaves of bread this week - use it up right away and freeze the bread.

Brrrr!

Chilly night last night. The thermometer at work told us of a low of 44*F. That was here, where it is sheltered. At home, where things are much more open, it was probably even lower. I don't feel so silly now for lying there in bed last night wondering if I should've covered the tomatoes, beans, and squash! At this rate we just might have frost in August!

Crop Updates - an Evening in the Garden

My heart has simply not been in the garden this year. The weeds and pests have taken over, and I can't seem to get myself to care. It's the whole job thing - will I find a new one (and be moving), or will I be on unemployment come winter? With the former, I won't be able to reap the benefits of my veg garden, with the latter, a garden's worth of produce will surely be welcome if there is no income! I waver between the two. Some days I'm out there weeding and mowing, but most days I just don't seem to care. It's been a strange year.

I finally gave up on the peas. The freezer is full and the plants were slowing down. The pods that remain I'll let dry and then harvest for seed.

Still, other things should be ripening, so it was time to tour the beds and see what was what.

The garlic will be ready for harvesting pretty soon. The tops are turning brown, which is usually the indicator. I pulled up this one to check size - not too bad. I'll give the rest another week or two.


Ah - the Haralsons are starting to redden! I'm very excited about the apples this year. Only Haralsons and Jonagolds, but there are several fruits on these two trees.

As you can see, these runner beans are still refusing to grow up.

The pole beans are just not robust this year, either. Only now are they FINALLY starting to fill in, but even so, they are Spartan. Reasons? I have a few possibilities: these are the same beds in which I planted beans last year; I didn't use any innoculant this year; we had a cold snap early in the season; we had a lot of rain in June, and very little rain in July; and the soil is generally pretty poor. Take your pick.

But, the beans are blooming and that's a happy thing. The hummingbirds are content - between the beans and the bee balm, there is finally food for them in my yard.

The first two blossoms here are runner beans (scarlet and painted lady); the others include Cherokee Trail of Tears, Rattlesnake, and Blue Coco, among others.

Beans are starting to form. I imagine in a week or so I will start picking and freezing.

Look! A tomato!

The zucchinis are doing well - lots of blossoms and some fruits already, which something seems to be enjoying.

I picked these last night and after some judicious trimming, they became stuffed zucchinis. Rice, sausage and tomato sauce.

After a slow start, the cukes are now loaded with blossoms!

I admit, I have been a poor gardener this year. Not knowing if I was staying or leaving, my heart just hasn't been in my garden. So, I did not patrol for pests, and here is why one wants to keep on top of CPB infestations:

The leaves were completely gone from the spuds and the plants were brown and dead. Still, I was hopeful that there might be some potatoes underground, even if small, so I dug in with my hands.

Voila! Not a whole lot, but better than none at all. These are, I believe, purple majesty potatoes.

Scrubbed up, they are a beautiful purple-black color. It almost looks like a pan full of very large black olives!

The inside, as you can see, is a beautiful deep purple.

And look! Purple smashed potatoes! I know, some folks will turn their noses up at this, but I think they are lovely. And they taste just wonderful.

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Sunflowers Galore

I was on my way to Marcellus for a job interview yesterday when I passed this field of sunflowers somewhere west of Utica, along Route 365.

There was a field on each side of the road. How could I not stop and photograph them?

Meanwhile, back in the home garden, the peas are finishing up. I have discovered that peas ripen rather predictably: first you get a handful, then for a couple days a bowlful. The next two days you get a fairly good harvest, followed by one day that is a whopper. After this, the harvest slows, with a couple smallish batches, then maybe a bowlful.

Now you can miss a day without worrying you've let too many get giant-sized. Soon you think, "Do I really need to harvest any more? Maybe I can leave the rest and save them as seed for next year. Think of the money I'll save!"

All told, it's over in about a week and a half.

It's a happy thing to have filled the freezer with peas for winter, but it's equally a happy thing to not have to blanch anything more for a while - especially when the weather is so hot and humid.

It's Sea Peason...um...Pea Season!

I harvested the first peas a few days ago, but last night (actually, that would be two nights ago, now), in the 90-degree heat, I picked the first real batch - almost a half bushel. Most were snow type peas - the kinds with the edible pods. These include the sweet golden peas (new this year - found in a market in Inida - that's what all the descriptions in the catalogues say),

and the Schweitzer Reisen, which are HUGE.

The humidity is a killer, though - I had rivers of sweat running down my face while picking. Things were made even worse in the house later that evening as I blanched the produce for freezing. It took HOURS for the fans to pull out the heat and humidity and bring in the cooler air from the wee hours.

Still, it is great to have the summer harvest officially underway.

The spinach bolted...before it ever reached edible status.

Most of the greens fed the slugs. I think I had them too close to the peas this year, for they never really thrived and the peas over-topped them. The cool, shady, damp microclimate was perfect for slugs and snails.

It seems like most of the carrots never sprouted. One batch is doing okay (needs thinning), but the others are so Spartan that thinning is not required. Most of what you see are weeds. When the weather breaks, I need to go out with the cobrahead and do some weeding.

Some of the beets are up...they need some thinning, too. I've never had luck with the beets, so maybe this year will be a first.

And the spuds, well, the CPB are lovin' them!

Hooray! The pole beans are finally starting to climb! I knew all they needed was a little heat, although this heatwave is a bit excessive. Feast or famine, that's the weather in these modern times.

The runner beans are blooming, but are barely 6" tall. Maybe they are really crawler beans.

Only one bed of squash is thriving. The rest of the pumpkins and cukes are struggling, and I don't think the melons are even remotely in evidence.