Mid Summer Harvest

We spent almost two weeks in California visiting our two week old grandson and his family. Although a few folk looked after our animals and were encouraged to pick veggies from our gardens, we were overwhelmed by what we still had to pick. Summer squash outdid themselves this cool, moist summer and there were over 100 pounds waiting. Four of the Italian zucchini were hiding and grew so large that we're letting them fully ripen so we can harvest their seeds.

Summer Squash Row Harvest

Squash and Cuke Harvest from the Bean Tunnel

Italian Zucchini Growing Through the Fence

Early Tomatoes 

Greenhouse Harvest Included Guinea Fowl and Hen Eggs

Purple Pole Beans and Sweet Hungarian Peppers with Cupcake

Of course we can't eat or preserve all this food so we donate most of it to a homeless shelter, 127 pounds this week. When tomato production peaks in a week or two we'll process them into sauce, ketchup, soup stock and bags of sun dried slices. 

Pears Showing Surface Cracking

 Pears and early apples are disappointing. We missed peak ripeness period of our early apple tree and most of the fruit had fallen and was not suitable for cider. We will make a few pies with these but we have applesauce left over from earlier years so we don't need to make more. We will make pear cider in a few weeks when they mature and hope cracking doesn't hurt the taste.

Overripe Apples on the Ground

Winter Squash Harvest #2

A few days ago we had a light frost that ended the growing season for butternut squash. It did not affect sweet and hot peppers so they are still growing strong, as are the swiss chard, basil, parsley, leeks, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

First Light Frost on 4 October Damaged Tender Butternut Squash Vines

Final Butternut Squash Harvest: 111 Pounds for a 2015 Total of 790 Pounds

We added 111 pounds to the butternut squash harvest, now totaling 790 pounds, our best ever. Other winter squash didn't do so well, Most of the plants died mid-season even though they included genes from many different varieties: only 85 pounds, so far. We do have some volunteer pumpkins and spaghetti squash in the greenhouse and one late pumpkin vine growing in the lower garden that will add about thirty pounds more.

Gifted Seeds from A Friend Produced a Variety of Winter Squash

A Few of the Volunteer Pumpkins 

Butternut Squash Harvest: Part 1

Our favorite vegetable during the winter is butternut squash. Some keep a whole twelve months in our basement, no refrigeration, caning or processing needed. We usually peel them, remove the seeds, cut them into one inch square pieces, and steam them until they are easily mashed. The seeds make a great snack when tossed with spices and roasted, or they, along with the peels make interesting food for chickens. 

First 2015 Harvest of Butternut Squash: 679 Pounds!

This year I grew more than usual, planting them outside the fence along the length of the upper garden and one row inside the lower garden next to the sweet corn. We encourage the vines to climb on fences, corn stalks and other plants so that the fruit grows cleanly. We also urge the vines to spread into the lawn because there squash fruit don't get as muddy as those that mature on top of grass mulch. The vines started dying a few weeks ago so today I harvested those who were mature, totaling 679 pounds. There are probably another 150 pounds of less mature fruit, that are pale and have green stripes running down necks. Most of these younger ones still have vines with green leaves so should continue maturing to a rich, more orange color. There is no hint of frost in the 10-day forecast so it's worth given them a chance to lock in more sugars.

Bean and Pepper Harvest

We grow pole or runner beans because they climb up on fences, poles or other structures created to keep them up in the air. We like the colorful flowers of Scarlet Runner Beans but their seeds are pretty tough and take many hours of simmering to soften. So we also plant a white-colored bean that cooks more quickly.

Scarlet Runner Beans with Flowers, Immature Beans and Tan Dry Pods

Woodchucks and rabbits seem to ignore the tough stems near the ground and the tender tendrils, flowers and developing beans are out of their reach. Some birds like cutting off tender pods or teasing out mature seeds - but not enough to diminish harvests too much.
The pods of bush beans often lie directly on the soil and deteriorate it they remain wet for very long. Because we mulch quite heavily, the soil is usually moist that leads to the pods and the seeds inside molding before they dry. Slugs and snails also attack fruit near the ground much more than those high up in the air. 

Second Harvest of Dry Scarlet Runners: 4.5 Pounds of Shelled Beans.

We eat quite a few meals of the tender green beans but most we let mature and dry. When their pods become brown, we periodically pick and shell them, letting the fancy beans dry completely in shallow baskets store against the ceiling above the wood stove. We like to harvest the dry beans every two weeks, or so, to prevent a flock of birds from stealing them. When a single bird figures out that there are nutritious beans inside the innocuous pods, it takes only hour or days for them to shred them all. We're lucky that most years they don't figure it out.

Third Harvest of Scarlet Runners: Six Pounds of Dry Beans

Sweet peppers mature much faster than hot peppers. Of the five types of sweet peppers, we like the large orange and red types the most because they are meaty and sweet. The purple ones are thin and even when mature, taste very much like mild immature green peppers. Small bright yellow ones son't have much taste and this year they are spongy. Other years these small yellow peppers were our favorite because they mature very early and continue producing into October when other varieties crashed. And critters seem to leave them alone. Many of our larger peppers are nibbled by rabbits, mice and voles, often making holes to access the seeds inside the fruit. Daily harvesting catches damaged fruit so to minimize waste we simply trim away nibble marks and eat them in the next salad or stir fry.

Variety of Peppers, Tomatoes, Squash and Eggplant Waiting to Be Eaten. When the Stove Is Not Being Used for Heat, It Makes a Great Table!