Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #7

I'm starting to get a little bit of everything from the garden now, except for the beans and okra which I am still waiting on, and of course the pumpkins/melons.

I've been up to my eyeballs in summer squash and have to pick it everyday.  It seems to be a little easier to give it away when you get to them while they're still small and tender!  I've frozen several batches of summer squash/zucchini for soups and Summer Squash Casserole to enjoy this winter.  The casserole is one of my all-time favorite recipes and I'll be sure to post that for you all the next time I make it.  It's really good!

Here's my numbers for this week:

Yellow Squash - 7.24 lb.
Zucchini - 1.42 lb.
Asst. Paste Tomatoes - 4.59 lb.
Asst. Slicing Tomatoes - 4.72 lb.
Asst. Cherry/Plum Tomatoes - 2.36 lb.
Eggplant - 0.66 lb.
Asst. Peppers - 4.65 lb.
Fennel Bulbs - 0.86 lb.
Blackberries - 1.98 lb.
Cucumbers - 0.84 lb.

Total - 29.32 pounds of produce

Year-to-Date - 87.82 pounds

 

Some of this week's colorful harvest, minus all the summer squash which I gave away!

I predict next week's numbers will be pretty substantial.  The garden is really starting to hit its full stride now.  I'm gearing up for canning as we speak and waiting for my 20# propane tank adapter to come in the mail so I can hook up my Coleman camp stove and get down to business.  I'll keep updates on that in the weeks to come as well and share some of my favorite recipes as I go.

Please take some time to leave me a comment and/or link and show us how your garden is doing!  :)

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #6

Wow, the dog days of summer are here--with a vengeance!  This heat along with some frequent showers we've been getting has suddenly turned my garden into an impenetrable jungle.  Well, the squash patch, mostly.

I'm still trying to get over this bronchitis and I'm so far behind on things right now.  At least I am finally getting some sleep though!  I've managed to go outside in the cool of the evening and pull a few weeds here and there, but it's really going to take some work to get things back under control.

I missed yesterday's weigh-in, so I'm going to go ahead and post mine today.

Here's a basketful of summer goodness I brought in the other day...

I've got a little bit of mostly everything ripening now and suddenly I am up to my ears in summer squash and zucchini (although I thought I was being conservative, only planting four mounds).

My suspicions have been confirmed--some of my tomatoes are diseased, although I still have to figure out with what.  It is mostly the Costoluto Genovese.   I noticed they had problems with their fruit last year too, but I blamed it on how badly I had crowded them.  Some of them have been exhibiting small, rotting spots on the fruit that later turn to a fuzzy, pink fungus/mold sometime after being picked.  As an heirloom O/P variety, they seem to be particularly unsuited to our humid West Virginia summers, so I won't be growing them again.  I will still grow the San Marzano.  They are doing great.  Some of my other tomato plants have had some leaf curl on the bottom leaves that has now begun yellowing and dying off.  I'll have to take some pics and seek the advice of my knowledgeable friends over on TEG.

I did get to enjoy my first mouthwatering tomato sandwich of the season today.  Although it's hard for me to claim a favorite tomato, those Black Krims are certainly in my top 3.  Such a good looking and flavorful tomato!

Here's my numbers for the week:

Blackberries - 0.70 lb.
Strawberries – 2.06 lb.
Yellow squash – 3.22 lb.
Zucchini – 3.37 lb.
Garlic – 0.20 lb.
Pole Beans – 0.07 lb.
Asst. Tomatoes – 8.72 lb.

Total:  18.34 pounds of produce

I've decided to quit using the link-up tool since this thing never really took off.  It was a bit time consuming anyway.  But you are still welcome to leave a link to your weekly harvest in the comments section.  I'll be glad to drop by and see how things went!  :)

Linking this post to:

Go check 'em out!  :)

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #5

A few recent soaking rains and some comfortably warm sunshine have really brought on a surge of growth in my garden this week.  I'm always amazed at how quickly a squash vine can cover ground.  It's nice to see things greening up and thriving finally after such a rough start to the season.

My harvest is just beginning to steadily trickle in now and before long I will be consumed with canning.  I had my pressure canner inspected last Monday and we are all set to go. 

I am really pleased with myself for getting the garden thoroughly mulched this year.  The weeds are not winning the war this time around.  I've been a bit under the weather since last Tuesday with a ragweed allergy that has made its way into my chest, causing me much coughing and loss of sleep, but fortunately I've not had to worry about the weeds getting ahead of me. 

Hopefully I will be over this miserable cough soon and back to normal.  I had planned to finish my new hive stand this past weekend, but I really didn't have the energy to mess with it.  It's half done now, with the posts leveled and set.  It's going to be really sturdy and will keep the ants out of my bee boxes.  I can't wait to show it to you.  (And I can't wait to bring my girls back home!)

Here's a quick peek at how the garden is growing this week:

My kitchen herb/flower garden is filling out.  I've managed to keep most of it weeded.  The large clump of grass in the middle is lemongrass.  It smells so yummy, like Fruit Loops!

The heirloom "greasy" pole beans are starting to make their way up the tee-pees.  The one on the right has started blooming very early compared to all the others -- possibly a new strain worth saving seed from.

Overview of most of the garden, looking to the north.

I'll have some crookneck squash to harvest and enjoy this week!

Overview of the garden, looking toward the south.  I have a lot more squash and melons than what you can see on the right.  They didn't all fit in the picture.

My Costoluto Genovese tomatoes and most of the other varieties I planted are loaded and will be ripening soon.

The Giant Marconi peppers are filling out.  Now I'm just waiting on them to turn red.

This year's attempt at no-dig potatoes.  You can watch a video on the method I used here.

Here's all of my onions after curing and prepping them for storage.

My weigh-in numbers for this week are as follows:

Red onions - 10.44 lbs.
Yellow onions - 22.84 lbs.
Ozark Beauty everbearing strawberries - 1.75 lbs. (about a pint)
Thornless blackberries - 1.41 lb.
Santa Fe hot peppers - 1.23 lb.
2 Genovese Costoluto tomatoes - 1.33 lbs.
(Plus a handful of Supersweet 100 cherry tomatoes that didn't make it inside to be weighed.  ;)

This week's total harvest weigh-in - 39 lbs.

I've decided to record all of my measurements in pounds just to keep it uniform and so I can keep a running total.

Ok, your turn!
(Special thanks to Meg at Sparing Change for telling me about InLinkz free linky tool!)

This Weigh-In will be open until midnight EST on Sunday, July 24th. All that is required is that your post be current and relevant to edible gardening that you have invested your own time and sweat equity in. Be sure to link to your specific gardening post and NOT your blog's main page. Please provide a link within your post to the current Weigh-In so that others can join in. You are welcome to grab the Harvest Weigh-In banner above and use it to link back here. This is a family friendly site and I reserve the right to remove any links that are inappropriate, irrelevant or otherwise deemed spam.

***Weighing in is optional; you are still welcome to link up a post about your garden!

If you don't have anything to weigh-in for this week, that's OK!***

Check back with us every Monday for the next week's Harvest Weigh-In! Take some time to visit other gardeners' blog posts below that may be of interest to you. Happy gardening!

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #4

I apologize for getting this week's weigh-in out so late in the evening.  We just barely made it!  I've had a really busy day.  I'll tell you more about our new additions tomorrow... ;)

Things are finally starting to pick up in the garden.  I haven't weighed my onions yet because they are still in the process of drying, but I know I've got plenty for the whole year through.  I am going to use the smaller ones in my canning, store the nice big ones, and dehydrate any others that might not store well.

Here's the haul: 

Onions everywhere!  I was beginning to run out of places to put them.

I like to lay mine out in a single layer on top of wire for good circulation.  I don't cut off the tops or roots until they are completely dry because this seems to help prevent rotting by not injuring the bulb until it is completely sealed off.  I save up citrus bags to store them in, hanging them up in a dry, room temperature place that gets good air circulation, like under the stairwell in the basement.

I got my first tomatoes of the season today!  Nothing to brag about really, just two juicy Sweet 100 Cherry tomatoes.  I had grabbed the salt shaker and ate them before I thought to weigh them.  It wouldn't have amounted to much anyway.

We've had a lot of rain and heat lately and the vines of my squash and other melons have really taken off.  I spotted some baby Eight-Ball Zucchini and baby Yellow Crookneck Squash today.  I can't wait to grill up some of those babies!

We had another big storm this afternoon, with pounding rain and high winds.  This one came in from the north and blew everything over to the opposite direction from what it did last week.  It even blew over the tops of my beets! 

I hope my peppers won't take it too hard.  I've got some huge Giant Red Marconi peppers that are very close to harvest and they are really top-heavy.  I think I'm going to have to cage them.

**********

OK, your turn!

This Weigh-In will be open until midnight EST on Sunday, July 17th. All that is required is that your post be current and relevant to edible gardening that you have invested your own time and sweat equity in. Be sure to link to your specific gardening post and NOT your blog's main page. Please provide a link within your post to the current Weigh-In so that others can join in. You are welcome to grab the Harvest Weigh-In banner above and use it to link back here. This is a family friendly site and I reserve the right to remove any links that are inappropriate, irrelevant or otherwise deemed spam.

***Weighing in is optional; you are still welcome to link up a post about your garden! If you don't have anything to weigh-in for this week, that's OK!***

Depending on how this week's weigh-in goes, I'll have to decide whether or not to keep this going once my free trial of Linky Tools is up.  I hope you will want to participate!  It's really easy to join in.

Take some time to visit other gardeners' blog posts below that may be of interest to you. Happy gardening!

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #3

This week I actually have something to weigh-in!  I harvested all of my onions this week and they are currently hanging in the shed to cure.  I won't be able to weigh them all until the tops have been removed, but the few I've already used this week amounted to 0.29 lbs. of red onion, 0.40 lbs. of yellow onion and also 0.47 lbs. of fennel which I used to make a crockpot full of yummy rabbit stew.  I'll post that recipe later this week when I get time.  :)

My peppers are coming along nicely and I'll have a few of those to harvest later in the week.  The tomatoes are starting to turn that pale color just before they turn red...so anytime now!  I have some renegade chickens that I'll have to deal with before they terrorize my garden.  I haven't been able to get anyone to buy them, so it looks like they may be headed for freezer camp.

So how has your garden done this week?

This Weigh-In will be open until midnight EST on Sunday, July 10th. All that is required is that your post be current and relevant to edible gardening that you have invested your own time and sweat equity in. Be sure to link to your specific gardening post and NOT your blog's main page. Please provide a link within your post to the current Weigh-In so that others can join in. You are welcome to grab the Harvest Weigh-In banner above and use it to link back here. This is a family friendly site and I reserve the right to remove any links that are inappropriate, irrelevant or otherwise deemed spam.


***Weighing in is optional; you are still welcome to link up a post about your garden! If you don't have anything to weigh-in for this week, that's OK!***

Check back with us every Monday for the next week's Harvest Weigh-In! Take some time to visit other gardeners' blog posts below that may be of interest to you. Happy gardening!

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #2

So is it just me or has this been the weirdest year for gardening, weather-wise?  The past two days have barely gotten up to 65 degrees and I was forced to break out my thermal pajamas.  It's nearly July!  Mid-eighties are our norm this time of year.

It seems that we're going to be shooting back up to the 90's again this week with lots of severe thunderstorms in the forecast.  Lots of rain.  Perfect conditions for various plant diseases to pop up.  I'll be keeping a close eye on my cucurbits.  And I'm really glad that I forced myself to not crowd the tomatoes this year.  Good air circulation should keep a lot of those tomato problems at bay.

I should be getting my first ripe tomatoes here pretty soon.  Our friend digitS' from TEG showed us this week an interesting photo story of how long it takes a Big Beef tomato to grow from a bud to a ripe tomato.  It's not just my imagination (compounded by the mouthwatering anticipation) -- it really does take forever!

So far all I have been able to harvest from my garden is about five gallons of strawberries, a few green onions for supper here and there and maybe a handful of blackberries.  (These thornless ones I have come on very gradually.  It's a real effort to beat the birds and the kiddo to them!)

So onto this week's weigh-in...

This Weigh-In will be open until midnight on Sunday, July 3rd. All that is required is that your post be current and relevant to edible gardening that you have invested your own time and sweat equity in. Be sure to link to your specific gardening post and NOT your blog's main page. Please provide a link within your post to the current Weigh-In so that others can join in (this page.)  You are welcome to grab the Harvest Weigh-In banner above and use it to link back here. This is a family friendly site and I reserve the right to remove any links that are inappropriate, irrelevant or otherwise deemed spam.

***Weighing in is optional; you are still welcome to link up a post about your garden!
If you don't have anything to weigh-in for this week, that's OK!***

Check back with us every Monday for the next week's Harvest Weigh-In! Take some time to visit other gardeners' blog posts below that may be of interest to you. Happy gardening!

Weekly Harvest Weigh-In #1

I often joke with my husband that while he may be the breadwinner in our household, I'm the veggie winner.  And eggs and poultry too, but really that is more of a joint effort...

After talking with some of my gardening friends on The Easy Garden, I've decided that this summer I am going to start faithfully weighing and logging what I grow.  My garden produces abundantly and goes a long way toward feeding my family throughout the whole year.  I already track all of my egg and meat bird production and I am very curious to see just how much my effort in the garden is really paying off.

If you love to grow your own fruit and veggies, I'm going to encourage you to do the same!  I will be hosting a weekly Harvest Weigh-In here at One Sunny Acre where you can share with us your garden's progress and how much you have harvested throughout the week.  Whether you choose to keep a spreadsheet on the computer or simply jot it down in a small notebook, I invite you to come by every Monday and link up here to a blog post you have written for that week's harvest.

If you don't have a blog already, it's easy to get one started.  I use Blogger.  Or if you prefer, you may also choose to weigh-in by simply posting a comment below.

Any recent blog post about your own edible gardening efforts will qualify for the Harvest Weigh-In.  Show us your garden's progress.  Show us pictures of your fresh produce.  Show us those colorful canning jars all in a row.  Show us your herb garden.  If you grow it to feed your family, be it fruit or veggie, you can link it up here.

I have a food scale that I already use frequently for cooking, so I will be tracking my harvest in pounds.  I plan to also compare my harvest's value with the current going rate for similar product at the grocery store (although we all know a garden-fresh tomato is far superior to a sorry ol' store bought slicer.)  ;)  My intention is to determine how much money I save by growing my own.

You can't get any fresher or more local than what you grow in your own backyard!  Homegrown produce is richer nutritionally as well, since it is picked and eaten at the peak of ripeness.  You can't beat the glorious flavor of a sun-ripened heirloom tomato.  I love my garden.  I live in my garden.  When it's cold and snowing, I dream about my garden...

Here's a few highlights from this week's garden.  It took awhile to get it all in this year, once the rain finally stopped, but things are starting to catch up!

I planted about 300 or so onions this spring.  Although they went in a month behind schedule, they are bulbing up nicely.

My kitchen herb garden is beginning to fill in.  I tried to plant every herb I could think of!  My lovage and cumin failed to germinate.  I'll have to try starting those again in flats.

For the first time EVER, I have mulched all of my transplants BEFORE the weeds showed up!

These Costoluto Genovese tomatoes are almost full size.  They are a beautiful, fluted, heirloom paste tomato.

These are Santa Fe hot peppers, the first of my pepper plants to set fruit.

I can't wait to start munchin' on these lil' babies straight from the garden.  These are Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes.

Some women collect Fiesta Ware... I collect manure.  How much is enough?
My husband says you can just call him "Dung Beetle Boy".  Ha.

OK, your turn!  This Weigh-In will be open until midnight on Sunday, June 26th.  All that is required is that your post be current and relevant to edible gardening that you have invested your own time and sweat equity in.  Be sure to link to your specific gardening post and NOT your blog's main page.  Please provide a link within your post to the current Weigh-In so that others can join in.  You are welcome to grab the Harvest Weigh-In banner above and use it to link back here.  This is a family friendly site and I reserve the right to remove any links that are inappropriate, irrelevant or otherwise deemed spam.

***Weighing in is optional; you are still welcome to link up a post about your garden!  If you don't have anything to weigh-in for this week, that's OK!***

Check back with us every Monday for the next week's Harvest Weigh-In!  Take some time to visit other gardeners' blog posts below that may be of interest to you.  Happy gardening!