The Last Big Harvest of the Year

I meant to write this post earlier in the week. Unfortunately, I'm still recuperating from some surgery I had performed on Monday and haven't had the will or strength to do so. Before the snow storm hit, I spent a day cleaning up the garden and harvesting a ton of veggies. These will keep well in the fridge as the garden becomes a less hospitable place to store food.

I would consider this to be the last great harvest of the year. I still have some odd and ends left out there but for the most part, this accounts for the bulk of this year's fall garden. When it comes to growing fall beets, I still have a lot to learn. They took much longer to grow then my spring-sown beets and produced only small roots that were a bit gnarled. Still, they'll be good peeled and steamed.


The mice were beginning to show interest in the carrot bed so I went ahead and pulled every single last one. Last fall, I lost my entire fall crop to them. This time around, I was feeling less than charitable so up they all went. Most of them could have spent more time in the garden but young carrots are better than no carrots.


I also picked enough celery to last us all winter. These were HUGE. We don't eat celery raw so what won't be cooked within the next couple of weeks will be chopped and frozen for later use.


A bowl of Chinese broccoli, wild arugula and Winter Density lettuce. Out of all of the lettuces I planted this fall, Winter Density is the only variety that hasn't turned bitter from the cold.


More leeks - the bulk of these will be chopped and frozen as well.


Tatsoi, broccoli shoots and Yukon Gold potatoes. The potatoes were from my two buckets. Unfortunately, they were riddled with holes and had to be tossed.


Finally, I waited as long as I could to harvest my lemon grass. I grew these from five cuttings I'd purchased and rooted from the Asian market last spring. These turned out much better than I had anticipated and will store will in the freezer. I use lemongrass to flavor grilled meats, soups and curries.