Leek Harvest

I started these leeks last spring and left them to grow in a clump for most of the summer.  Last August, I dug the clump up and set them out individually to grow for a winter harvest.


Because of the move, I never did get around to harvesting them this past winter.  And because of the mild winter we experienced, they continued to grow and thrive unprotected.  Normally, they would have been toast by January.  This past week, I decided to dig them up before the weather got too hot and they decided to bolt.


Not a true first harvest for this year but I'll take it.

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.

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.

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.

A Cold Mid-December Harvest

Winter is getting an early start here in New England, at least compared to last year. We were lucky that it got into the high 40's today, despite the fact that it rained all day. The soil thawed enough for me to go out and dig up the remainder of my leeks. These are the leeks that I transplanted out in August. I'm really impressed by how big they've gotten. I will chop and freeze most of it for later use.

Also, I harvested a good amount of Tuscan kale that had been left unprotected in the garden. The haul would have been a lot more if I had picked it before the temperatures reached down into the teens last week.


I also harvested some bok choy in the form of micro-greens. They were great in a Pho soup that I prepared for dinner tonight. I placed them in a bowl with some rice noodles and poured the hot soup broth on top, which scalds them just enough to render them cooked. Delicious!


Admittedly, I had started the extra-dwarf white-stemmed bok choy a few weeks ago with the intention of transplanting them into the hoop house. But with the present conditions being what they are, I don't think that they would have fared too well. Since it only took them about four weeks to reach this size, I think I'll continue to raise some micro Asian greens for the remainder of this winter. Having one grow light in operation doesn't seem to have a noticeable impact on our electricity bill and it will be nice to have some fresh greens in the dead of January.

This week's numbers:

Bok Choy micro greens - 0.30 lb
Leeks - 1.92 lb
Tuscan kale - 1.44 lb

Total this week - 3.66 lb
Total so far this year - 687.46 lb

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

Signs of the Time

I thought I'd just share some random photos from the garden:


I noticed the other day that one of my leeks had sent up a flower stalk. It's pretty enough to be in a vase if you ask me.


I'm trying to find new ways to prepare kale. The garden is overflowing with it right now. I wonder how my people you could possibly feed by planting an acre of kale. It has been a very reliable crop for me and unlike most greens, the leaves stay lush and healthy for a very long time when left unpicked. If there was ever worldwide food crisis, this is what I'd grow.


Radishes are another reliable crop for me. I love the fact that you can plant and harvest them in as little as 28 days. I've also learned that what they lack in popularity they more than make up for in nutritional value.

Finally, the French lavender cutting that Winnie sent me earlier this year has grown into a wonderful healthy plant. The scent is amazing and flows throughout the garden. It's become one of my favorite things.

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

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

Winter Alliums

I'm sure most of you would agree with me that gardening is a hobby that requires a lot of patience and planning. There's also the anticipation that comes naturally with the change in seasons, which is why I usually find myself focused on what the garden would look like 3 to 5 months from now. At the moment, I'm focused on November, December and January. During the past 12 months, I've been able to pick something from the garden each month, even when temperatures failed to get above freezing. Granted, some of those harvests were rather meager. I'm hoping that with a bit more planning this year, I can get some of those cold weather harvests to be more substantial.

Above are some of the leeks I planted in the Spring. They are definitely slow growing. I think I'll top-dress them with a bit of compost and fertilizer to get them growing again.


Last week, I decide to transplant my winter alliums. These scallions were started a few weeks ago. If all goes well, they should be ready by late November or December.


Last spring, I also planted a clump of leeks for transplanting later in the summer. These are my experimental winter leeks. I'm hoping that, if all goes well, they will mature sometime during mid to late winter.


The entire clump lifted easily with a simple turn of the garden fork...

Then I went about sorting through the bunch, trying to pick out only the largest leeks for replanting. (I'm learning to be more cut-throat this time of year.) After a quick trim of the leaves and roots, they were ready for transplanting.


At this point, I'm watering all of my fall/winter seedlings almost every day to protect them from the summer heat and they seem to be responding well to it.

If you're growing a fall/winter garden this year as well, I'd love to hear about it!

On a random note, how creepy is this!!! Makes you think twice about inhaling your food (literally).