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.

The Season For Kale

Ok, I officially take back what I said about kale. While it's definitely not one of my favorite vegetables, I can honestly say that I'm starting to develop a taste for it, especially since we've had several hard frosts now and the fall veggies are fading fast. Our kale will probably be the last thing to bite the dust this winter.

Above is a Portuguese kale, the seeds of which were kindly given to me by Michelle. (Thanks again, Michelle!) I wonder if it will taste much like Red Russian.


My spring sown Tuscan kale last year grew like gangbusters and was virtually ignored all summer long, which is why I decided to grow it as a fall crop this year. Well things didn't really pan out all too well. Out of the four varieties I plants, this one did the least well. Tuscan kale is not as winter hardy as other varieties so I doubt that we'll get much of a harvest.


This more traditional-looking variety is 'Vates'. (Thanks again Dan for the seeds!) I have a feeling that it will fair the best this winter. The love the crinkly leaves on this variety.


Finally, the mice seem to be ignoring my Red Russian kale so far this year. That will probably change as the seasons progress. I've grown Red Russian for the past two winters as it has proven to be extremely resilient if given some protection in the form of plastic or fabric row cover. I may not cover it at all this year just to see how much it can take. The most recent batch I harvested was really good in an Italian Wedding soup that I made last week. I can see how this variety is a favorite of many gardeners.

Will you be harvesting kale this winter?

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.

Fall Garden Tour

Now that summer is coming to an end, here's a preview of this year's fall garden. All in all, I was good about getting our fall crops started on time. In a few weeks we'll have to break out the row cover at night, but nonetheless, I'm hoping that we'll be able to harvest continually from the garden until at least early December.

In no particular order, here is what we'll be eating (hopefully) during the next few months:


The fall beets (lower right) are slowly sizing up while the fast growing Tokyo Market turnips should be ready in a couple of weeks.


The spinach is practically ready for us to harvest. The winter carrots (right) on the other hand will be pulled in December and January, that is if the voles don't get to them first.

Red russian kale in the background and gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in the foreground. I have another bed of gai lan that should be ready in a week or two.


Here's a bed of Asian greens.


I am growing a ton of leeks this year and they are looking really good. They are much fatter than last year's crop.

I have two Jade Cross Brussel sprout plants that survived the groundhog attacks earlier this year. Can we defeat the cabbage worms and actually get a harvest this year?


My fall carrots should be ready in another month or so.


The Bonanza broccoli is doing well and should be ready soon. On the other hand, I'm worried that our cauliflower won't head up in time.


This will most likely be my last year of growing Napa cabbage. It's impossible to keep the slugs away from this plant. Also, our fall crop has bolted prematurely due to the sudden change in temperatures. I think I'll stick to other Asian greens that are easier and faster to grow.


I don't expect much from our fall snow peas but that won't stop me from trying to grow them.


Finally, I have several varieties of winter lettuce this year. These will have to be harvested by early December their quality quickly diminishes after that point.

In addition to this, I sowed some mache, claytonia and French Breakfast radishes the other day. What's growing in your fall garden?

Out of Time - Fall Cauliflower

I guess this just wasn't my year for cauliflower. My spring-planted crop never formed proper heads. I'm guessing that the extraordinarily hot summer we experienced this year had something to do with that. Then this past weekend, I noticed that my one and only fall cauliflower had started to form one. Unfortunately, it's now too late in the season for the head to fully mature. Better luck next year I suppose.


I broke off the small head to get a closer look at it. The curds looks so interesting even at this stage. Anyway, I've been really impressed by how cold-tolerant my fall-planted brassicas have been. Even as the temperature reaches down into the 20's, they still look pretty unscathed. Next year, I will be sure to start my fall cauliflower extra early and transplant them into the hoop house for good measure.


On a final note, I'm glad to note that this little head didn't go to waste. I gave it a good toss and the dogs decided that it was good enough to eat. Then again, labs will pretty much eat anything.

Early December Harvest

It's been a while since I've done a harvest post. I returned home from Florida Friday night and was struck by how cold it was. I can't believe 2010 is coming to a close already. They say that having a gardening and watching things grow make you more aware of the passage of time. If that's the case then I must have been dreaming for most of this year. I hope things will slow down a bit next year. (My early 30's are just flying by!) In any case, I was glad to find Saturday morning that there were still some things to pick from the unprotected garden, including these leeks, radishes and broccoli shoots.


This will undoubtedly be the end of this year's fall broccoli. I have to say that this year's crop was a great success. Next year, I'd like to try growing some inside the hoop house. (Christmas broccoli would sure be something!) I even found a green cabbage worm on one of them. Who knew that they could tolerate freezing temperatures so well.

I also picked a big bunch of Japanese turnips, which will keep in the fridge for a long time. Amazingly, the voles haven't bothered them a bit - unlike my carrots, lettuce and radishes. I'm looking forward to growing an early spring crop of these.

Finally, December just wouldn't be the same without the odd bunch of radishes. One benefit to growing a late crop is that they are very mild this time of year. These will taste good in a salad.

Oh - and I shouldn't forget to mention the celery. My two remaining plants were started in early February and have been in the garden since April. They seem to tolerate the cold weather pretty well inside the hoop house.

This week's totals:

Leeks - 1.25 lb
Broccoli - 0.42 lb
Radishes - 0.97 lb
Turnips - 1.38 lb
Celery - 0.65 lb

Total harvest this week - 4.57 lb
Total harvest so far this year - 683.80 lb

A Mid-November Harvest

What a great weekend we just had - perfect weather for raking leaves and working in the garden. I finally got around to planting my hard-neck garlic for next year. In the end, I planted about 60 cloves, most of which came from this year's harvest. Next weekend, I might plant some supermarket soft-necks just for fun.

This week's harvest comprised of a good mix of cold-weather veggies. The chard above was planted over a year ago. The stalk is at least two inches thick. I'm amazed by how well it's held up. I started pulling a few of my winter scallions as well, which I should have done weeks ago. Hopefully, they won't become too ragged-looking as winter progresses.


The broccoli is still going strong despite the fact that temperatures got down into the upper 20's F the other week. I decided against pulling the plants as I'm curious to see how much longer they will continue to produce.


The carrots are tasting very sweet these days. We love munching on them raw.

Unfortunately, I had to pull most of them prematurely this week. The mice are going crazy and the carrots have become their food of choice. I was harvesting carrots well into January last year but have a feeling that the rest of this year's lot will be gone before month's end. What an absolute shame.


Finally, the Japanese turnips and French Breakfast radishes are still coming in. Jonathan loves dipping them (along with carrots) into some ranch dressing as a snack. I couldn't be a prouder parent!

This week's numbers:

Asian greens - 0.50 lb
Radishes - 0.50 lb
Leeks - 2.72 lb
Carrots - 1.65 lb
Broccoli - 0.43 lb
Swiss chard - 0.74 lb
Scallions - 0.75 lb
Lemongrass - 1.15 lb

Total harvest this week - 8.44 lb
Total harvest so far this year - 687.57 lb

A Halloween Day Harvest

Ohhhh...the carnage. The other week Marc and I hosted a Pumpkin carving party. I love the folklore surrounding this tradition and in my opinion, Halloween in New England just wouldn't be the same without one or two jack-o'-lanterns.

The weather today was drastically different from the rather balmy Halloween we had last year and this upcoming week is shaping up to be a pretty cold one. I have a feeling that winter will arrive early this year.


Yesterday I pulled up two of my Tuscan kale plants. This is one veggie we have plenty of currently. I have five more in addition to a half bed of Red Russian Kale. I'm looking forward to tasting it as it should be sweeter now that we've a few light frosts already.


I also picked the first French Breakfast radishes of the season. I like harvesting them on the smaller side as they tend to be a bit too sharp for my taste when they are left to grow larger.


These leeks were surprising large compared to the ones I picked the other week. They are about an inch and a half in diameter are destined for my soup pot.


Finally, I wonder how much longer our broccoli plants will last. It will be interesting to see how cold-tolerate they truly are.

This week's numbers:

Swiss chard - 0.80 lb
Kale - 4.97 lb
Radishes - 0.25 lb
Leeks - 1.63 lb
Turnips - 0.49 lb
Broccoli - 0.45 lb

Total for this week - 8.59 lb
Total so far this year - 679.13 lb

A Cold October 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.


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


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


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.


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

Rain, Grasshoppers and Vermont

I can't decide whether it feels more like summer or fall. One thing's for sure, we've had a lot more rain recently. The cherry tomatoes are splitting like crazy and attracting all sorts of insects. I should probably rip them out this weekend.

This might sound strange but this is the first time I've ever seen a grasshopper in my garden. Raised Roman Catholic and having seen the movie "The Ten Commandments" a dozen times, I can't help but wonder if this is somehow an ominous sign of things to come. (Will next year be the summer of hungry grasshoppers?) But this is probably just the paranoid gardener inside of me talking.


In unrelated news, the fall turnips are starting to fatten up. I think some of these will be ready in a week or so. Or maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I return from Vermont. I'm traveling up to Burlington this morning for work. This will be the first time I'm visiting northern Vermont. Hopefully, I'll get to see plenty of farmland, fall foliage and some of the things "the healthiest city" in America has to offer. If you has any suggestions on where I should go, let me know!