Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Last Big Harvest of the Year

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

22 comments:

  1. Great last harvest! Hope you get well soon. I am envious of your beets. I am still trying to learn how to grow them properly.

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  2. Beautiful veggies, and your lemongrass looks so good! Thanks a lot for sharing this with us.

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  3. So inspiring! I am a friend of Kate's and would love to see your garden in person some day. We are in Haverhill and are trying to do the Urban Farm thing here.

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  4. Great photos and an even better harvest!
    Love the lemongrass,gonna try growing it next season .

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  5. Now that's a harvest to lift the spirits :) Looks terrific!

    Hope you recover soon from your op.

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  6. Your veggies look delicious!!! Enjoy them!

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  7. Beautiful harvest. Hope you recover speedily.

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  8. Wow your lemongrass grows quickly if all that came from five cuttings planted in Spring! Mine hasn't liked the iwnter very much and is looking tired and a bit upset at the moment so perhaps its time to start again. If I can get it to grow anything like as quickly as yours that wont be too bad though.

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  9. What a great harvest Thomas! I thought that maybe you lost your power for a few days from that storm. I hope that you have a speedy recovery and are back to normal soon!

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  10. Those beets look beautiful to me?! Actually, the whole last big harvest looks pretty fine. :D

    I hope you are recovering from your procedure quickly.

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  11. Wow, what a harvest. I can only hope we someday have that much. Love the lemon grass, it's oh so good in so many ways.

    Hope you are doing well!

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  12. Great harvest. The lemon grass will be a great addition to your dishes. We had trouble with our beets this fall too, and our radishes. We'll pull ours soon too, but I don't think we'll get much at all.

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  13. Your carrots and celery are amazing, those aren't easy to grow well! Hope you are feeling better.

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  14. Everything looks so yummy! You really make me want to get a garden planted again next year. What do you make with the leeks? I've always been curious about them.

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  15. Your harvest looks magnificent! When we lived in Missouri, our neighbor had a fantastic garden and would share with us. I miss it so.

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  16. Thomas,
    Everything looks great! A super nice harvest for the end of the season. My son made me a super hand mouse trap box this year. It's just a simple box I put in my cold frames or around my chicken coop. It has traps inside and has really thinned out the mouse population. If your interested I can send you a picture.

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  17. Your harvest looks so beautiful!!! I'm sure you will enjoy a lot of yummy food this winter.

    ~Lynn

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  18. Amazing harvest, especially after that Snowtober storm. I wish you a speedy recovery after surgery, with many fine days ahead to enjoy your stored produce.

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  19. Really well managed garden. It's all pictures are so beautiful and inspiring to make one's own garden .

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  20. These pictures are showing good management of your garden. Really these are result of appreciable hard work. Nice blog.

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  21. These are amazing pictures and motivating to be vegetarian. Good to share some pictures of your well maintained garden.

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  22. What a great harvest! And the amount of lemon grass you cut is impressive. Our lemon grass plants didn't re-emerge this past spring. We're planning on re-planting next spring and covering them all winter in the hopes of keeping them going.

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