Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Cold October Harvest

Late September Harvest
Boy, was it cold today - only reaching into the 50's F. And according to the forecast, it doesn't appear as though we'll be seeing warmer temperatures anytime soon. That being said, my tomato plants worked extra hard to produce a decent harvest this week, particularly the Amish Paste. I ended up making another batch of tomato sauce this weekend.

broccoli harvest
I was also able to pick a good amount of broccoli. So tasty, I wish I had grown more.

Early October Harvest
Yes...more tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and the biggest artichoke of this year.

Herbs and greens
I don't normally talk about the herbs that I harvest each week. Along with some lettuce, here I picked several types of Italian basil, Thai basil, oregano and mint. The oregano and Italian basil went in the tomato sauce while the Thai basil and mint ended up in a Vietnamese noodle salad I made for dinner.

napa cabbage
Finally, I picked my first head of Napa cabbage this week. This one was practically free of any slug damage. I wish I could say the same about the other two I have growing. Sluggo really works well...that is, if you can remember to reapply it every week or two.

This week's numbers:

Broccoli - 1.27 lb
Calabash ('Opo') Squash - 1.95 lb
Artichokes - 0.85 lb
Peppers - 0.70 lb
Napa Cabbage - 1.03 lb
Tomatoes - 25.22 lb
Tomatillos - 1.69 lb
Greens & herbs - 0.46 lb

Total Harvest this week - 33.17 lb
Total for this year so far - 655.07 lb

18 comments:

  1. Hi Thomas,
    Nice harvest of Napa cabbage. Did you plant it in spring or summer? My first attempt growing them in autumn did not got the desired produce. The germination was almost 100% but they all bolted. So I am trying my luck growing them in spring now.

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  2. I am so loving your artichokes! Very cool!

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  3. From those tomato pictures it doesn't look like a cold October.
    I can't wait to start my artichoke seeds next year!

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  4. I like this time of the year when we can still harvest the last summer crops and the first autumn crops are coming in as well! The Napa cabbage looks awesome! That reminds me that I really need to grow some asian greens on my balcony...very nice broccoli!

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  5. Nice harvest! I'm afraid we're done with any real warmth for the year here. It's very sad, but makes the gardening easier.

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  6. Everything looks great, Thomas. :)

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  7. Oh, what a nice harvest! Your fall crops look wonderful. I didn't get many fall crops planted this year. I guess I will have to envy yours!

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  8. Dude....you're like the king of harvests..hehe. Wow, absolutely amazing....Love the napa cabbage photo, and can't wait to try the seeds you sent me.

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  9. Wonderful harvests! Your cabbage looks great. I'll have to try Sluggo when I grow chinese cabbage next spring.

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  10. Very nice harvest. I am so jealous of your artichoke! Beautiful pictures too!

    -Mary

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  11. As always your harvest amazes me. What a wonderful variety.

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  12. you are one of the few that can render me speechless LOL - those photos!!!

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  13. The napa cabbage is a thing of beauty! Growing really beautiful heads of chinese cabbages is truly a bit of an art and you seeem to have it down. Well done!

    The whole harvest looks outstanding as usual but the artichokes and the napa cabbage clearly steal the show from my perspective.

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  14. Thanks for you comments everyone!

    Malay girl - I planted the Napa cabbage in early August. Ironically, most of my spring Napa cabbages bolted last spring. My fall ones are doing much better now that the weather has grown cool.

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  15. What a beautiful head of Napa cabbage. Impressive that it grew that well in just two months! The rest of your harvest looks impeccable, as usual.

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  16. We gre Amish Paste last year and enjoyed it so grew it again along with Amish Gold which was also one of our favorites.

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  17. what a gorgeous Napa cabbage. I am so sad not to have any this year. The bok choy is good, but it isn't Chinese cabbage.

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  18. Hi Thomas - good harvest!
    It's odd how our crops grow at different times of the year. Over here my bok choi and chinese cabbage got eaten in July, our artichokes came and went in August, but the brocolli won't be ready until February!

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