What's In Season

I thought I'd do a quick rundown of what we're eating right now.  Last weekend, Jonathan and I went out and picked some snow peas.  He ended up eating two-thirds of the bowl. 

I've grown 'snowbird' for the past three years and it always seems to produce a ton of pods each spring.


The broccoli is about ready as well.


I tend to get smaller crowns in the spring.  The fall ones are usually twice this size.  I've grown 'Bonanza' for the past couple of years and it has proven to be very reliable from germination to harvest.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen this variety for sale lately and my seed stash is running low so this might be the last year I'll be growing it.


My 'Winter Density' lettuce was on the verge of bolting so I picked it.  It has a slight bitter edge now but not too bad.


Finally, 'Hakurei' are my favorite turnips to eat.  They are very mild, sweet and perfect simple steamed with a bit of butter or sauteed.

A December Harvest

I decided to pick my Brussels sprouts today. They've been sitting in the garden for the past eight months, but at this point, I think they're done growing. Today was especially cold and the garden remained frosty for much of the day. I figured that if I didn't pick them today, I never would.

As you can see, I have a lot to learn about growing Brussels sprouts. They look pretty leggy, not anything like the compact robust stalks you see at the supermarket. The ones at the bottom are pretty ratty looking (I guess I should have picked these a long time ago) but the rest are fine.


These sprouts are definitely on the small side, yet large enough to be worth keeping. Maybe next year I'll get it right.


Finally, I picked the last of this year's broccoli. There wasn't much but it'll still be good in a stir-fry alongside other veggies.

The December Garden

I noticed the other day how well my Imperial Star Artichokes were still doing, which is in stark contrast to how they looked this time last year. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I'd side-dressed the plants with compost and organic fertilizer in August after they'd stopped producing.

Temperatures are expected to dip down to 26 degree F later in the weeks so I have a feeling they will fade fast soon after. In any case, I'm hopeful that they will overwinter in the garden this year. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.


Even if they don't overwinter successfully, it's definitely worthwhile to grow artichokes as annuals in our climate. I got an especially good crop of artichokes from my seven plants this year. Aside from the tasty flower buds, the plant's leaves are very decorative in my opinion and would add a lot of eye candy to any garden.


My Rhubarb Chard is hanging in there. The leaves have turned a deep burgundy color. Too bad I'm not a fan of this vegetable.


Even though they don't produce florets in their first year, my purple sprouting broccoli plants seem hardier than my fall broccoli. I'll cover them with fabric grow cover and see if they come back next spring. I have no idea whether or not they'll overwinter successfully in our Zone 6 climate.


Finally, the kale still looks virtually unfazed by the cold weather. You can tell that the nighttime temperatures are approaching freezing when the Red Russian kale takes on a purplish hue.

December Broccoli

This might very well be the last of this year's broccoli. As far as fall veggies are concerned, it's definitely a workhorse. How can you not like a veggie that starts to produce in early fall and doesn't stop until after several hard frosts.


So long broccoli. See you again in June.

A November Harvest

It got up to 70 degrees F yesterday. I was expecting it to be in the 50's. The weather this fall has been so strange. I can't really complain though. It gave me chance to do some additional fall cleanup.

Despite the funky weather, our broccoli plants are still thriving and producing lots of side-shoots. The shoots are slower to bolt this time of year so you can leave them longer on the plant until you have a good amount to harvest.

My last cauliflower plant finally decided to head up. I'm learning that growing cauliflower in the fall in our climate is a lot easier than growing it in the spring. I'm assuming it's because cauliflower is much more prone to bolting prematurely when the weather warms up than say broccoli. I was 7 for 8 this fall. (A critter got to one of the plants.)

Finally, I meant to harvest some more Asian greens this weekend but it totally slipped my mind. Hopefully I won't uncover my beds later on this week to find that they've gone to seed.

Late October Harvest

It's strange how suddenly the weather can change around here. Last week was really the first week where our nighttime lows reached down into the 40's. This week, we're expected to get at least a couple of nights in the mid to high 30's. I have a feeling that our first fall frost is just around the corner. Thankfully, all of our fall veggies can tolerate a bit of frost. Last night, I placed some fabric row cover over our citrus trees and will bring them inside for the winter in the next week or two depending on the weather forecast.

Even though we're trying to clear out what's left in the fridge, I did harvest a few things this week. We still have plenty of leeks in the garden. I'll cover them with some fabric in November and then plastic in December. As long as the soil isn't frozen solid during the day, we should be able to get to them.


Our broccoli is producing lots of side shoots, which will slow down as fall progresses. And this may very well be the last of our fall cauliflower. My remaining two plants don't seem to be heading up.


Finally, we just finished off the frozen spinach from last spring so I decided to start picking some of our fall Red Russian kale. We'll use some of it fresh and the rest we'll freeze. Admittedly, we're not huge fans of kale, especially when it's cooked by itself. But we do enjoy it in a vegetable soup or cooked with other veggies. At the beginning of this year, I debated whether or not to grow kale or Swiss chard (both low of our list of favorite veggies). However, they are such good producers that I ended up talking myself into at least a couple of plants. Next year, chard will definitely get the axe.

Random Happenings...and Non-Happenings

Looks awful doesn't it? For some reason, I can't seem to find the motivation to start the fall cleanup. And it's not helping that the garden is covered in mud right now. It's always hard getting started but ultimately, I do enjoy tidying things up and putting the garden to rest for the winter.

The only things blooming in our garden right now are the Asian greens that have bolted prematurely. In this case, it's the Napa cabbages. The honey bees seem to appreciate them so I think I'll wait to pull them.


The wild arugula seeds that I sowed last fall never took so I'm happy to see that it did this time around. The leaves are very pungent so a little bit goes a long way in a salad or sandwich.


Broccoli side shoots - one of my favorite things in the fall garden. I love a veggie plant that keeps on giving.

My two Brussels Sprout plants - I'd cut off the tops but I'm wondering now whether I should remove more of the leaves to coax the plant into putting more of its energy into maturing the sprouts.


The four chrysanthemum tea plants that I transplanted into the garden in 2010 have since taken over their bed.

It won't be long now before they begin to bloom. And if we can avoid a hard frost anytime soon, we might just get a decent crop of flowers this year.

A Mid-October Harvest

Is it really mid-October already? In a lot of ways, it feels more like Spring as we've had so much precipitation lately that the garden is now covered with mud and standing water. This generally only happens in early March when the ground is still frozen and the water has nowhere to go. The soil in my growing beds resembles a saturated sponge. Hopefully, our veggies won't rot from the excess moisture.

Another great week for harvesting carrots and turnips - these have been very tasty roasted.


I harvested half of my cauliflower crop this week - 4 heads. They're not huge but are still the best I've grown so far.


I love cauliflower simply steamed and finished with a bit of butter. When you have veggies this fresh, it doesn't really make sense to add too much seasoning.


The broccoli is starting to produce a generous amount of side shoots. I like to harvest the young leaves as well as they are very tender.


Salad greens - I didn't grow a mix this fall like I did in past years. This time around, I just walked around the garden and just sniped what looked good - several varieties of lettuce, beet greens, baby spinach, basil, parsley and some Red Russian kale.


Yesterday, I found this little guy tucked away in the melon patch. I didn't have much hope that it would be any good but I picked it anyway.


To my surprise, it was ripe when I cut into it. Aside from having somewhat of a hollow heart, it was actually quite good. In fact, I dare to say that it was one of the sweetest and crunchiest melons I picked all year long. It was indeed an unexpected delight.


I also picked too lovely heads of tatsoi. The slugs have had a field day with my Asian greens this fall but these two have made it through relatively unscathed.


Finally, these Poblanos are undoubtedly the last peppers of the year. They're too small to roast and peel but will be tasting sliced and cooked in a stir-fry.

The fall growing season is just flying by. I can't wait to see what you all are harvesting this week!

Early Fall Harvest

We had an amazing harvest this past week. Our fall garden is at its peak right now and there is so much to choose from. We'll see how long this will last as our first light frost should arrive soon.

All of our broccoli plants matured this past week. We picked 15 good-sized heads and have been eating broccoli almost everyday. As you can see, a couple of the heads were beginning to flower.


Next year, I'm planning on growing even more broccoli. It's one brassica that produces reliably in our garden and is fairly easy to grow. I like to allow the individual buds to get fairly large (unlike supermarket broccoli) until they are on the verge of flowering. Personally, I think the texture and taste is better at this stage.


In addition to the broccoli, we also harvested some carrots and Chinese broccoli (gai lan).


I'm really happy with my 'Napoli' carrots this fall. Last year, the field mice did away with our entire crop. Growing them in taller raised beds seems to deter them.


I really like Chinese broccoli, which is grown primarily for its tender stalk. Ours are as thick as silver dollars this year. (Thanks again for the seeds Mac!) I stir-fry them peeled and sliced on a bias. Also, they stay crispy when cooked.


I also picked most of our remaining peppers and chilies and was amazed by how healthy the plants still look.


I'm planning on fresh pickling the pepperoncini (right) and most of the Hungarian Wax peppers.


I'd like to make hot sauce from the jalapenos (if someone has a recipe, please pass along!) and chili paste from the Thai chilies.


The poblanos will be roasted, peeled and frozen for winter use.

The last 'Sunshine' watermelon of the year weighed in at 10 pounds, which is average for this particular variety.


I waited until the tendril closest to the melon had died back, which seemed to work this time. The flesh was perfectly yellow and very sweet.


I tried to salvage as many green tomatoes as I could from the now dead vines. Hopefully they'll still ripen indoors.


Finally, I pruned back my Kaffir lime tree this past weekend. The leaves are now frozen and will be used to flavor curries and soups.