Growing Your Own: What did you grow / raise / harvest?

[Myssterry]

My strawberry basket is doing well, but the site won't let me post a picture.  Maybe I will try again later.

 

 

   

[AwkwardAxolotl]

My landlord has rules about what can be done to the yard, but I have a nice little indoor garden going, mostly herbs, a couple of medicinal plants like aloe, and a cherry tomato plant that put out its first flowers this week. And soon it will be time to harvest the raspberries and blueberries that grow wild around here.

[Muledeer]

@Mz Terry That is spectacular strawberry basket.  I've never seen a strawberry plant with red flowers.  How do they taste?

I picked apricots off a tree last weekend & they were large and sweet.  Finished up the lettuce harvest today.  I planted some "rescue" pepper plants in the lettuce bed, and replanted some lettuce and radish seed for a late season harvest.  Also picked my first cherry tomato yesterday.   Garlic scapes are ready to pluck, and there are large heads of cabbage and broccoli ready to pick.  I've been eating breakfast skillets with garden veggies like green onion, garlic scapes. hot peppers, and a leftover turnip.  Speaking of turnips, there are a couple the size of softballs!  

[Myssterry]

@Muledeer  The taste is very good, and the fruit plump and soft without going mushy.  All yout produce sounds great.  I had to Google what breakfast skillets were.

[Mocha Jo]

It has been so wet here, and not particularly hot, and the only vegetable I have been eating from the garden has been the kale. It is really happy! Unfortunately it is in imminent danger of being overrun by the winter squash plants. The beans for drying are growing, the peas are very unhappy, the tomatoes have some blossoms, but no fruit yet, and my cucumbers haven't really taken off. We will see what happens. I am tempted to just harvest the kale heavily and freeze it for Portuguese kale soup for this winter. Even the chickens and rabbit are tired of kale, lol.

[daveb]

1 hour ago, Mocha Jo said:

rabbit are tired of kale,

I guess that's really saying something!  

[Muledeer]

3 hours ago, Mocha Jo said:

It has been so wet here, and not particularly hot, and the only vegetable I have been eating from the garden has been the kale. It is really happy!  I am tempted to just harvest the kale heavily and freeze it for Portuguese kale soup for this winter. Even the chickens and rabbit are tired of kale, lol.

Have you tried making kale chips?  I haven't either, but I want to try them.  I found some cayenne pepper infused olive oil at a farmers market and I want to try making kale chips with it.  I just googled a few recipes and they look super easy to make: wash/dry the kale, remove the stems,  massage a minimal amount of the oil into the kale leaves, place single-file on baking sheet with parchment paper, bake at 300 for 15 min, rotate in oven, bake another ten minutes....and that's it.  I'm sure I will find a way to screw it up.

I also use kale leaf stems as an herb when making a vegetable stir fry or sauteing summer squash.  Other than that I really don't know how to use it because I dislike its flavor.  I just sent an entire mustard green plant to the compost bin because I despise its flavor.  

[Green Mandala]

I love kale chips and curried kale. My kale had over-wintered and gets very tender and sweet after a good frost. It's gone now. Went to seed. My favorite is the Red Russian Kale. I grow all organic so sometimes, aphids are a big problem on the kale. Right now, I have the end of Sugar Snap Peas, the beginning of zucchini, winter squash, cucumbers, green pole beans, the end of a variety of leaf lettuces, the end of Swiss chard, the beginning of tomatoes, a very sad start on hot peppers, and loads of a variety of herbs.

 

I grow my food in three 4x4 raised beds and the herbs are in standing boxes that I just got this year and really love because they are at my arm height. Perfect for harvesting.

 

I have flowers too, Annuals and perennials and of course, the rogue sunflowers from the seed the birds spit out of the feeder.

[Autumn Sunrise]

Our winter/spring bulbs are coming up all over the place - lots of daffodils, and the first iris flower opened today. There should be masses of daffodils when they start flowering - hopefully enough to pick for vases in the house  The hellebores are growing well and I found the first flower bud this morning.  We have lots of wild ducks around the property, and I'm hoping to be seeing strings of tiny hatchlings scurrying in lines between mum and dad in a month or so. Last year we had pretty high survival rate, and they were so interesting to watch as they grew larger and more independent, so . . . fingers crossed for this year 

[SilverFlower]

I live in the tropics (Hawaii) where gardening is not so much about coaxing things to grow as it is about hacking back the jungle so it doesn't take over your house.

 

My yard has bananas, guavas, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, breadfruit, coconuts, cacao, kukui nuts, moringa, figs, squash, and avocados.  My neighbors have papayas, taro, pineapples, and egg-laying chickens so we trade sometimes.

[Muledeer]

Tonight I harvested about half of the Rhubarb crop.  I made stewed rhubarb out of all of it, and served it over a toasted Kellog's pop tart and it was delicious.  It took a little titrating to get the ratio of rhubarb to pop tart right, and it was tasty.  The Dog, however, would have nothing to do with the stewed rhubarb, even though she is very much a veggie hound.   I also harvested the last of the lettuce, and created a green salad out of broccoli. onion, radish, garlic, and carrot, with ranch dressing and a frozen Stauffer's potato dish.  

 

Things have changed here in the last 36 hours.  The cows have returned across the river and I must accelerate my electric fence project in order to protect my surroundings.   It has rained.  The gophers ( actually they are called Uinta Ground Squirrels) are challenging my greenhouse and garden barriers.  Ahh, the drama of gardening in the midst of Mother Nature at 8,300 feet .

[Mocha Jo]

Wow, @SilverFlower- I am jealous! All that deliciousness in your yard!

@muledeer pop tarts?? Lol I haven't had one since my kids were little- have they improved? What made you think of putting rhubarb on them? And, yes, the only good use for mustard greens is the compost pile. I may have to get adventurous and try kale chips.

 

[Muledeer]

24 minutes ago, Mocha Jo said:

 

@muledeer pop tarts?? Lol I haven't had one since my kids were little- have they improved? What made you think of putting rhubarb on them? And, yes, the only good use for mustard greens is the compost pile. I may have to get adventurous and try kale chips.

 

Well, since I don't bake anything, I figured an unfrosted strawberry pop tart topped with rhubarb would be the closest thing to a strawberry rhubarb pie that I could make, and the only way I know of to use the rhubarb. It was so good that I will be having rhubarb leftovers again tonight.  I still haven't tried making the kale chips.  But I did score some fresh raspberries and blueberries as well as some fresh sweet corn at the farmers market today.

[Mocha Jo]

Lol! Not sure pop tarts qualify as pie substitute, but you may have invented a new culinary favorite.

[Green Mandala]

On 7/18/2017 at 9:27 PM, Muledeer said:

I made stewed rhubarb out of all of it, and served it over a toasted Kellog's pop tart and it was delicious.  It took a little titrating to get the ratio of rhubarb to pop tart right, and it was tasty. 

Wow, what a combination. I love stewed rhubarb with a bit of honey and freshly whipped cream on top. Oh, my.

[Ageless Goddess]

On 7/18/2017 at 9:27 PM, Muledeer said:

Tonight I harvested about half of the Rhubarb crop.  I made stewed rhubarb out of all of it, and served it over a toasted Kellog's pop tart and it was delicious.  It took a little titrating to get the ratio of rhubarb to pop tart right, and it was tasty.  The Dog, however, would have nothing to do with the stewed rhubarb, even though she is very much a veggie hound.   I also harvested the last of the lettuce, and created a green salad out of broccoli. onion, radish, garlic, and carrot, with ranch dressing and a frozen Stauffer's potato dish.  

 

Things have changed here in the last 36 hours.  The cows have returned across the river and I must accelerate my electric fence project in order to protect my surroundings.   It has rained.  The gophers ( actually they are called Uinta Ground Squirrels) are challenging my greenhouse and garden barriers.  Ahh, the drama of gardening in the midst of Mother Nature at 8,300 feet .

I love Rhubarb too, I think I'll make a rhubarb & strawberry cream pie or a galette (open face rustic pie) with whipped cream atop. Sounds wonderful to live in peaceful surroundings with an elevation at 8,300 feet. All the critters are preparing for an all they can eat buffet in the greenhouse") Your salad sounds like my kind of meal in the heat I'm experiencing at this point in time. Good luck with your fencing project.

[Muledeer]

The Uinta Ground Squirrel.

These animals are currently waging war on my garlic garden.  I thought I had successfully built a barrier, digging down at least a foot, and installing plastic fencing boards so they could not penetrate the garden.  It had worked until yesterday, when I noticed fresh diggings in the garlic patch.  Last year, I had to harvest all the garlic a month early in order to have any garlic for myself.  Reminds me of  the movie "caddyshack".  I excavated the place where they entered and blocked his furrow with a brick and some rocks.  The garlic will be ready to harvest on one more week so whatever I can do to save the crop is worth the effort.  I planted about 100 Siberian garlic cloves last fall and they have been thriving!  I might have found a vegetable that I can grow as a crop at this high elevation, if the damned squirrels would leave it alone.  

I would rather not kill them.  I used this species as target practice when I was a kid, and hunting them with a 22 rifle was both encouraged and a great form of recreation.  I have since matured  and I believe there should be a way to live with and amongst them instead of against them.  I watched one feeding on my lawn this morning, with binoculars, amongst the many different birds having breakfast, and it gave me a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment.  But they are horribly destructive, especially to gardens and lawns.

[Guest Deus Ex Infinity]

Potatoes, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Peas, Cucumbers, Red Currants. That was back at my parent's home though. I don't have a garden or balcony here to grow or harvest anything right now *sighs looking at her tiny city appartment*

[Muledeer]

For the first time this summer, I went fishing in the Bear River tonight.  I floated a worm into a known fishing hole, and, from the first cast I caught a dinner-sized Cutthroat Trout.  From the second cast, I caught a Brook Trout, but it was a smaller fish and was only hooked in the corner of its jaw, so I returned him(?) to the river.  The trout I kept for supper was stuffed with freshly grown herbs, garlic, and butter and cooked on the outdoor grill, along with a freshly picked green Anaheim chili pepper.  Also ate cabbage from the greenhouse and corn and fresh tomatoes from the garden.  It made for a very satisfactory evening to prepare a meal consisting entirely of food I have grown or caught or gathered.      Elsa got the fish skeleton, skin, and head, as well as the leftover cabbage and she was happy about that 

[SilverFlower]

No offense to our friend, Muledeer, but the venison here is delicious. I loaned my gardener some money to buy a car and I am letting him pay me back in venison, wild boar meat, fresh fish, eggs, etc.   Yummy protein as locally grown and organic as it gets.

[Skycaptain]

I had my first tomato of the year yesterday, nomnom 

[Muledeer]

11 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I had my first tomato of the year yesterday, nomnom 

I had my first tomatoes one week ago.  I have cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and three types of larger slicing / cooking tomatoes.  It looks like it will be a good year for tomatoes.  I picked my first zuchini squash yesterday...what do you call them in the UK? I think it starts with a "C".  Harvested all of my garlic last weekend - wow, what a crop!  

[Skycaptain]

we call zucchini Courgettes

 

My year is mixed, some are looking good, peas and broad beans i'll harvest this weekend, but kitties dug up the sugar snaps and used that area as a latrine

[Mocha Jo]

Oh, no, bad kitty!

i have green tomatoes, but still nothing ripe, but I harvested my first cucumber and ate it for lunch! Yay- I almost didn't find it buried under the exuberant vines. I did spy one acorn squash started in the mess of vines, and there are lots of blossoms, so I am hopeful for a winter squash harvest.

[daveb]

3 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

but kitties dug up the sugar snaps and used that area as a latrine

I guess they can't spell....

[Muledeer]

15 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

we call zucchini Courgettes

 

My year is mixed, some are looking good, peas and broad beans i'll harvest this weekend, but kitties dug up the sugar snaps and used that area as a latrine

For some reason I read that word as "cougarettes" and I think of a baby cougar.

11 hours ago, daveb said:

I guess they can't spell....

You mean they can't tell the difference between the place for peas or the place to pee?  It all sounds the same to a cat.

[Autumn Sunrise]

The animals at our place clearly can't tell the difference between the grass they're supposed to eat and the veg I'm growing for the family. The raised bed furthest from the house (they're not stupid ) has been repeatedly attacked, by ducks, I think. They seem to like the Chinese greens best - pity about that, so do I  I've been reduced to protecting them (plants, not ducks) with cloches made from large plastic milk bottles with the bottoms cut off, but that only works while they're fairly small. 

 

Sadly, the peas I tried to grow were a total failure  - not the ducks' fault, they just died. It's not the first time, so I think I might give up on peas. At least the broad beans seem to be doing well 

[Muledeer]

I grew corn for the first time this year.  It grew, and made cobs, but I didn't know when to harvest it.  So I left it on the stalk and the kernels shriveled and lost their sugar.  Not sure if I will try it again next year or just buy it at farmers markets.  Some vegetables are just easier to purchase rather than trying to grow them all.  

 

My greenhouse veggies are still thriving.  Tons of broccoli and hot peppers, leafy greens, zucchini and root vegetables.  I can't possible eat everything that grows so I give my extra food away to people like my chiropractor, barber, butcher, and dogsitter.  It is just amazing that all that food grows in less than 100 square feet of an "ideal" growing environment.

 

[Muledeer]

Just had a vegetable feast from my garden:  Grilled scalloped squash and Anaheim Green Peppers.  Steamed beet greens.  A raw plate pf broccoli, zucchini, and tomatoes.  Grilled Cod, herbed with fresh Siberian tarragon and Thai basil.  And Elsa gladly ate the leftovers!  Earlier today I had corned beef hash seasoned with fresh hot peppers and green onions.  I wish I could eat like this year round, but if that were the case it probably wouldn't seem special.  

[Skycaptain]

I just brought in the last of my tomatoes and black beans. Things haven't been as productive as I would have hoped, mainly because of the cool August