Monday, September 19, 2011

Mid-September Harvest

DSC_0033
This week will officially mark the end of our summer growing season. Strangely and unlike years past, I'm actually looking forward to the fall and winter. Growing you own food teaches you many virtues, including patience, and the fact that there's a time for everything. As the colder and darker months approach, the garden will rest and I'll get to take a break from the daily chores associated with it. Maybe I'll even find the time and focus to work on that cookbook I've been neglecting. Maybe.

It's only appropriate that we should celebrate the end of summer by harvesting our one and only pumpkin. I hadn't planned on growing pumpkin this year but Jonathan suggested it during one of our many trips to the plant nursery. This will be the first time we get to carve a pumpkin we grew ourselves.

Also, I couldn't help thinking of the recent cantaloupe recall when I picked the last cantaloupe of the year.

DSC_0053
This might also be the end of our tomatoes and cucumbers. We can't be too heartbroken because we've had a good harvest this year. I also picked most of our Poblano peppers, which are tasting quite hot. The long beans continue to produce even when the bush beans are long gone.

DSC_0019
This is most definitely the last of our slicing tomatoes. The vines are screaming to be pulled up. Anyway, they were delicious in a BLT sandwich I made the other day.

DSC_0049
Finally, I harvested the first of our fall bok choy yesterday and they are looking terrible. The slugs and cabbage worms are really active right now, much more so than last year. The delicate green parts of the leaves were too hole-y to eat, but fortunately for us, the white crunchy bits (my favorite part) are still flawless. Thank goodness for small miracles.

14 comments:

  1. Congrats on that pumpkin, I bet Jonathan is excited!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was imagining Jonathan happy face. Happy that he get his wish and he must be looking forward so much for holleween now. Beautiful harvest!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations on a successful gardening season! We are finally harvesting and preserving herbs, fruits, and the last of our vegetables. It's a wonderful feeling! And that pumpkin is fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A perfect pumpkin, I would have a hard time slicing into it. And those are really good looking end-o-season tomatoes. No winter rest for this gardener, that is prime weed season around here!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful peppers and tomatoes. I agree with you about there being a season for everything, but it is hard to give up BLTs made with home grown tomatoes. My baby bok choy are having the same problems as yours, and there are still cabbage moths flying around in the garden!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those are some pretty good looking end of season tomatoes!

    I bet Jonathan will be so excited to have a pumpkin from your garden carved!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great crops! But I do cringe everytime I hear you Northerners about carving pumpkins....as decoration is the top priority. Here in Australia, many of us see pumpkin almost on the same diet as potatoes. I'm never without pumpkin in the pantry or fridge and cook with it probably 4 or more times a week.
    Do you eat your pumpkin or is it only for decoration?
    Really like reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous pumpkin! The tomatoes are pretty fine looking too. :D

    Our fall greens are always more vulnerable to pest damage than the spring crops. I am battling the giant mutant slugs right now to keep my lettuces, cabbages, and pac choi reasonably intact. I always trim away quite a bit from those crops due to outer damage.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There really is nothing like harvesting something from your garden and knowing that it is absolutely safe to eat. Congrats on that cantaloupe (and everything else, too)!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice pics! The one with tomatoes and peppers would look good in a frame.You did well to get a pumpkin all the way to harvesting. I tried last year, but the frost ruined them all in one night. They just turned to mush. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That harvest looks amazing! That pumpkin is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Super

    I really like the Quality of Images on this blog..

    ReplyDelete