The first Harvest of 2012

This is the very first thing I have harvested this year. Correnta Spinach

 I'm getting used to the floating row cover and my veggies are doing well shaded under it.  The black PVC hoops are the perfect height.  And with the amazing amount of butterflies I am glad that my cabbages and such are protected. Anything that doesn't need to pollinate to grow can go under it.

And here is my second harvest of the year.  It is the first time I've grown baby bok choy. And you can see that the stalks are pretty skinny but it was starting to bolt.  Maybe now that I'm not having to baby a lot of the stuff under my grow lights I can dedicate a little time to studying up on how to do a better job at growing these. 

Today I weeded between my tomatoes with my parrot on my shoulder.   Once he decided to climb on my head it was time to send him inside with my children. We got 3/4 of an inch of rain on Friday in just a few hours which is rare around here in the high desert so I didn't get the rows tilled that are full of weeds and haven't been planted.  I did put some nitrogen on the corn patch.  I'll till before it rains again next week and then plant the corn - popcorn - and if it doesn't grow, I will not plant corn again. If you live nearby please tell me who to buy sweet corn from this summer.

Harvest Monday - September 12th

You can click on this to see it larger

There are Red Beefsteak tomatoes up front, next is the sugar pie pumpkin and pumpkemons (the little multi-color pumpkins) and Pink Brandywine tomato on the far right (those are my favorite slicing tomato -yum!) and also one crook neck yellow squash, some genovese basil, 11 quarts of tomato juice, a bunch more green beans (way more than I expected this year), two very small but firm columbia cabbage (they took the entire summer to grow), more than my fair share of lemon cucumbers (if you want some email or text but you have to live close enough to pick them up or let me drop them off), and the basket in the back is full of early girl tomatoes and a few roma tomatoes. 

Check out Daphne's Dandelions for even more great harvests from around the world.  Did you see all the links at the end of today's post?  Click on those and you'll see some great gardens.

Pumpkins

I decided to pick the pumpkins before the pest control guy arrived just incase. Good news - I walked up to the garden and only got hit by a few grasshoppers rather than hundreds. I really want to freeze a little pumpkin this year.  Gluten free cake tastes so much better when it includes more flavorful items such as pumpkin and the spices that make it so delicious. As you can see I have 6 more Spirit Bush Pumpkins than I did the other day and one new Pump-Ke-Mon pumpkin (picked 3 more today).  And yes, I made that banner on the mantle.  I love Adobe Illustrator because it enhances my ability to make all sorts of crafts.  Of course, if you have a handy tool that makes making those rosettes easier I'd love to know.  Wow! That took a while.  

canning Green Beans - part C

I love this little spatula for removing the air bubbles from the green beans.  Just run it around the sides and press inward.  

It also has these handy little notches on the other end so that you can measure the head room at the top of the jar.  Green beans need an inch.

Wipe the tops of the jars with a wet cloth to clean any residue off.  This helps get a secure fit. And this handy little lid lifter - because you don't want to try and chase these lids around in a pot of hot water.  This lid lifter helps keep things sanitary and it's a serious time saver.

Tighten the lids down but don't over do.  The air needs a little room to escape. Grab the finished 

Place the prepared jars in your pressure canner.

 Just like this.  My canner fits 7 quarts or 20 pints.  It's a Presto.  

 Close it up and bring it to a boil.  Let the steady stream of steam escape for 10 minutes. Then bring it up to pressure.  I live at 5,000 feet so the canner books says 13 lbs and the Ball canning book says 15 lbs.  It's better to be safe than sorry.  15 lbs it is.  When it reaches the right pressure then start your timer.  25 minutes for quarts.

More soon...

Canning Green Beans - part A

This year I had the largest first picking of green beans ever! I picked 9 lbs and it covered 1/3 of my dining room table.  My children were anxious to help snap them - it only happens after the first pick.  And I was surprised they both stuck with me until it was done.  It actually went by really fast with their help.

Here is a close up of the green beans in my water bath canning pot.  

Yes, my little garden actually produced enough green beans to fill this pot.

The next step is to wash them in several changes of water.  I'm not sure how many several is so I say 3 or 4.  Sorry no photo.  Then cut them if you want.  My sister makes dill beans and doesn't cut them up.  

 Boil them for 5 minutes.  And I'll share some more tomorrow...

Garden Harvest

This is a small harvest from the 5th.  I picked two small onions because I needed room for the larger onions to grow.  Finally harvested my first squash - that's my fault - I planted 2 and late because of the soggy wet spring.  And two kohlrabi which will sit in my fridge until I get the guts to throw them away.  

On Sunday I picked two bell peppers and one onion for fajitas since my mom and niece were here.  It was a great way to end Fast Sunday.  My mom even noticed that the bell peppers were a prettier green color than she'd ever seen in the store.  She was right.  And much more delicious!

Garlic Harvest

This is what I got from one row of 15 feet.  At two to three inches apart I should have harvested 60 bulbs.  I harvested 75 with only a handful of little ones.  This is my best garlic harvest in the 3 years that I've been growing garlic.  The nice thing is buying it once and then using cloves from what you grow to replant.  This makes it the most affordable plant in my garden.  No need for starting indoors, etc.  And nothing likes to eat it.  Just be careful to not over water because I've heard they can get some kind of rot and split.

Green Beans

I love green beans but this year they are off to a slow start.  I thought I'd take a few photos however because they are pretty. I have 5 rows of Jade bush beans. This year I actually had my health in June so I thinned them to the 3 inches apart.  Much better.  The stems are so much stronger.  They are super tender and meaty.  I don't like the beans that end up being almost hallow.  You have to get to the bulk seed shop early to get these because they go fast. 

I also found out when planting these that you have to be careful when putting the soil on top of the seeds.  Make sure the soil isn't wet and clumpy.  Freshly tilled soil works best.  Just toss it on top of the seeds and make sure they are covered an inch to inch and a half.  Don't step on the soil or even press down on it.  The lighter it is the better.  Successful sprouting will happen if you leave the soil loose and friable. 

You can see they are all kinds of tall and short.  I had to replant the far left row.  Oh and I don't know if you can see the drip line on the far right.  I ripped out the spinach and planted two more rows of beans there.  They are already up since taking the photo and blogging about it. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

Usually I pick them small and freeze them - then saute with minced garlic.  My daughter does not like them that way at all. And they don't always turn out great.  So we tried canning them last year.  Ahhh, much better.  We ALL liked them better that way. I'm really hoping for more than 6 quarts this year.