What's In Season - Turnips and Cukes

This is my first time growing your average turnip.  Up until now, I've only grown Japanese varieties,  which are smaller and milder.  I'm planning on roasting these for dinner sometime soon.


The cucumbers continue to come in strong despite the beetle issues we've been having.  Like every year, by mid-August all of my cucumber plants end up slowly succumbing to bacterial, which is spread by cucumber beetles.  I guess we'll just have to enjoy them while they last.  Fresh homegrown cucumbers in my opinion are infinitely tastier than the soft/bendy/tasteless (i.e. not fresh!) ones you find at the supermarket.


And what to do with all of those cucumbers?  You make refrigerator dill pickles of course.  I've had so many complements lately from friends who've tried my homemade pickles (which probably explains why they never seem to last longer than a week in the fridge).  Most of them have never made pickles before and didn't realize how easy it is.  Here's the recipe that I stick with (though I usually add an additional teaspoon of salt these days). 

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 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!

An Indian Summer Harvest

I hope my fellow gardeners here in New England are enjoying the warm weather as much as I am. It's not often we experience temperatures in the 80's this time of year. After a long stretch of cold and rain, I'm sure our fall veggies appreciated it as well.

This past week, I picked the first of our fall turnips. This Asian variety called 'Tokyo Market' is milder, sweeter and not as tough as your average supermarket turnip. (Thanks again for the seeds, Mac!)


This batch was the best I've grown so far. My prior attempts at growing Asian turnips produced golf-ball sized roots. This year, I upped the spacing between each plant to 4 inches and got much better results.


Spinach is a great cut-and-come-again veggie in our garden. I snip leaves every few days to use in soups and pasta dishes. The cooler than normal August we experienced this year probably had a lot to do with why our spinach is thriving now.


Another carrot harvest - still no signs of rodent damage. Hopefully, the mice will stay away this winter.

I've yet to master growing fall beets. These are on the smaller side. I just don't think there is enough light in our garden is time of year to encourage the roots to fatten up.


Our leeks this fall are much better than the previous. We have good-sized white stalks that are at least a foot long. Since I've yet to grow a decent crop of onions, leeks are a great alternative this time of year.

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

Fall Harvests

I thought I'd do a quick post on some of the things that I've been harvesting lately:


I started pulling a few of my spring-planted leeks this past weekend. I've only had leeks once before, so at this point, I'm still learning to appreciate the mild and sweet onion flavor of this vegetable.

I've also picked some baby beets, watermelon radishes and daikon radishes. The field mice are particularly active this time of year. Already, I've lost about 50% of my winter carrots and 90% of my beets and radishes. I don't remember it being this bad last year.


Boy I have missed my Japanese turnips. They are so mild and delicious. To me, they taste a lot like cauliflower but are much easier to grow and quicker to mature. I wish I had planted more this fall.

Out of four Napa cabbages planted, I ended up harvesting two. One was dispatched by a cut worm early on and another was devoured by slugs. Also, the broccoli plants are offering plenty of side shoots now that the main heads are gone.


The rhubarb chard is tasting really good now that the weather has grown colder.


Finally, I'm trying to take advantage of all of the herbs in my garden before they disappear for the winter. Fall sage is one of my favorite things. I love making an herb butter with it and some thyme and spreading the mixture all over a chicken I'm about to roast. The basil is gone at the point - The night chill got to it before I had a chance to make pesto.

Total harvest this past week: 6.33 lb

This Week's Harvest

The fall harvest is becoming a bit repetitive these days. I'm already looking forward to next summer, when I can harvest my first cucumber, heirloom tomatoes and french melons. Today, I harvested the last of my turnips and radishes, along with the usual rounds of lettuce and Asian greens. The only thing new this week are a handful of peas. My fall peas have been a bust this year. I don't think I'll bother growing them next fall.

I wish there was something a little more exciting to note this week, aside from the fact that the slugs are doing major damage to the rest of my white stem pak choi. They don't seem worth eating now. I should have harvested all of them last weekend when I had the chance. Slugs seem to be the only major pest this time of year, aside from the random caterpillar. I will have to make a mental note to do something about that next year.

If you'd like to see what other folks are harvested this time of year, or would like show off your own, visited Harvest Mondays and Daphne's Dandelions.

Five Fall Crops Worth Mentioning

Hello everyone, I just uploaded my third piece for Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op. My post this week highlights five fall vegetables that I grew this year - most of which will sound very familiar to those of you who regularly read this blog. If you have the time or the inclination, you can read about it here.

As always, thanks for the support. I can't tell you how much I've learned from all of you!

"Five Fall Crops Worth Mentioning"- as posted on Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op on September 27, 2009

Posted by Thomas, from A Growing Tradition

When our family moved to our new home in late July, I was a bit disappointed that we had missed out on being able to grow many of the traditional summer crops that seem to dominate seed catalogs these days. While other gardeners were tending to their tomato, cucumber and melon plants, I was breaking ground, raising fence and sowing my fall garden. Looking back, I was glad for the experience. Here in New England, many of us are so focused on getting our summer crops to mature in September (and rightly so) that we often overlook the extended bounty that a traditional fall garden can produce. I experimented with many different types of fall crops this year. And while I've had my fair share of failures along the way, I've learned that all of the planning and effort that goes into growing a proper fall garden is well worth it.

There are many things I look for in a good fall vegetable - quick maturity dates and cold hardiness to name a couple. Instead of listing them all, I thought I'd highlight five crops that I believe exemplify many of these characteristics. In no particular order:

1. The Obvious - Cut and Come Again Lettuce

30 Days to harvest - Fall lettuce/salad mix is the ideal gift that keeps on giving. I can appreciate a crop that will allow me to harvest from it over and over again until a mighty November frost intervenes (longer if you give it some protection). Cooler weather offers two added benefits - 1) you don't have to worry about your lettuce bolting unexpectedly and 2) certain greens (such as arugula) that would normally be too sharp for my taste during the summer months develop a milder flavor. Finally, I consider a fall harvest of salad greens to be the perfect break between the succulent vine-ripened crops of summer and the hardier root vegetables of winter.

2. The Esteemed - Hakurei Turnips

40 days to harvest - I cannot speak highly enough about this vegetable. Those of you who dislike conventional turnips might appreciate this mild and crisp variety from Japan. Prized by top chefs around the world, Hakurei turnips can be enjoyed raw in a salad or lightly cooked. When steamed and tossed with a bit of butter, these turnips taste like the best cauliflower I have ever had (but much easier and faster to grow). Hakurei turnips are best harvested golf ball-sized and produce tasty greens as well. Sow seeds every couple of weeks from mid-August to mid-September to ensure a steady crop throughout most of the fall.

3. The Humble - Radishes

30 days to harvest - I will admit that radishes are not high on my list of favorite things to eat. However, what they lack in taste, they more than make up for in color, which can range anywhere from brilliant to radiant. This humble vegetable grows easily in cool weather and small-type varieties are very quick to mature. Harvest small-type radishes young as they tend to get hot and pithy the larger they get. I enjoy them raw in a salad or pickled.

4. The Tender and Sweet - Chinese Broccoli

45-50 days to harvest - Most Asian greens thrive in cooler weather, and out of these, many are exceptionally cold hardy. The disadvantage of growing Asian greens is that most are susceptible to the same pests that plague other brassicas. Therefore, protection in the form of row covers is generally needed. The advantage is that they usually have relatively short maturity dates. One variety that performed very well for me this year was a flowering-type brassica known as Green Lance, more commonly referred to as Chinese broccoli. The stalk, leaves and flower buds of this plant are all edible. In particular, the stalk (like asparagus) is very tender and sweet. I will continue to grow this vegetable in place of fall broccoli as it is faster to mature, more productive, and in my experience, much less vulnerable to pests.

5. The Nutritional Powerhouse - Spinach

40 days to harvest - There are several varieties of spinach that are exceptionally winter hardy. While other fall greens slowly succumb to frost, spinach will remain surprisingly resilient with a bit of added protection in the form of a cold frame or row covers. The variety that I am growing currently is called "Space". Spinach, like lettuce and most Asian greens, can be harvested during most stages of development, making them a particularly reliable fall crop regardless of how quickly the weather turns cold. And if that is not enough to make you want to grow spinach, its nutritional value should.

I hope you consider growing some of these vegetables in your fall garden. One final peace of advice - please bear in mind that precise sowing dates are much more crucial when planning a fall garden (sow too late and you will end up eating mostly baby greens). You can mitigate this somewhat by utilizing row covers. To be on the safe side, add a couple of weeks to the maturity date listed on the seed packet to help ensure a harvest. If you have any fall crops you particularly love that I have not mentioned here, or have any fall gardening tips that you would like others to know, please share!