January Month End Harvest

Meyer lemons 1.5 lb,  Yuzu 0.5 lb

Total 2.0 lb

I'll be making marmalade with these fruits.

Spinach 6 oz, Napa thinnings 7 oz

green onions 3 oz, carrots 5 oz

Total 21 oz (1.3 lb)

These vegetables were harvested 2 days ago, I didn't get around to post it until now.  I'll try to keep a tally on the harvest as Thomas suggested to see how much I can produce and for future reference.  I don't keep records on how much I spent on this hobby, it's WAY WAY WAY too much, I consider the money spent on gardening is money save from paying a shrink and going to health spa. I garden for fun, exercise, and for good food; there's no economic benefits for me at the present time, the only return on investment for me is fresh healthy food.

Join in the Harvest Monday fun at Daphne's Dandelions  and take a look at what others harvested this week.

Overcoming Cabbage Maggots

 

Outside The Tunnel

Inside The Tunnel

Japanese turnip interplant with Chinese Napa Cabbage.

See how they grow since last transplant Nov 9, 2009.

This one begins to bolt, don't know why.

This 21" pot yielded 1.3 lbs of leaves 11 days ago.

Container self sowed cilantro fending for itself without cover.

I am pleased with the performance of the low tunnels, I don't have a remote thermometer to monitor the interior temperature, but the tenants are quite happy with the setup despite having to fight off cabbage maggots and try to stay alive, thumbs up for the disease resistant and cold tolerant seeds, they are keepers and don't try to talk me out of these hybrid seeds, I don't think I can get this far without them. I'm not a die hard heirloom grower, OK I lie, except tomatoes plus few other veggies and fruits, (which I don't remember at this time, having senior moments).

I'm learning to start seeds in a timely manner and plant in succession, hopefully the new year garden will provides a continuous supply of fresh vegetables for the table, I am dreaming a better harvest than last year especially tomatoes.

First New Year Harvest

Three small cabbages l.9 lb

Outer napa cabbage leaves (container grown) 1.3 lb

Spinach leaves 13 oz, Carrots 4 oz

Total 4.2 lb

This is my first trial winter garden harvest, I picked just a tad over 4 lbs of veggies today, now I know spinach, carrots, onions, and all brassicas will definitely overwinter and continue to grow (very slowly) in low tunnel environment, they are watered approximately once every 10 days and few pests will bother them except the darn maggots.

Next winter garden shall have more cold hardy leafy greens, carrots, winter radishes, onions, and turnips; if I LEARN to schedule the planting in a timely manner and bring the veggies to approximately 70% maturity before the hard freeze, I might get lucky and have fresh vegetables from the garden in frigid cold winter, it would be nice to have homegrown vegetables year round.

The cabbage maggot infested bed seems to be doing fine (keeping my fingers crossed), napa cabbages continue to grow, no signs of wilting, maybe the diatomaceous earth and chili powder mixture + lime water treatment helped, I'm contemplating a second application of DECP and lime water, but I'm afraid of too much capsaicin and lime will hurt the plants.

2009 Overview Citrus

I think this is Meyer Lemon (don't remember, lost the label.)

Thomas, if you're reading this, do they look like your lemons?

Yuzu, a very fragrant Japanese citron, these fruits are over ripen,

I have not been to the other house to check on them 

since October of last year. 

Thai Kaffir Lime, the fruits have no culinary value,

but the leaves are used for curries and to season salads and drinks.

Kumquat beginning to change color,  turning into gold

means good luck for the coming Chinese New Year.

I have 5 different varieties of dwarf citrus trees growing in containers --- Meyer lemon, kaffir lime, yuzu, kumquat, and blood orange (no fruits, no picture).  Every October we move them to the sunroom (at another house) to overwinter until spring of the following year, but I like to bring the kumquat tree back to the new house for Chinese New Year, same as one would have a Christmas tree for Christmas.

1-31-2010  

Additional information on how to use kaffir lime from a friend who lives in Thailand and knows much more about it than I.

"Kaffir lime peels are used in Thai curry paste, and some special dishes/desserts ( just few stripes). Sometimes, I squeeze few drops on the Thai spicy salad as the "hidden flavor". The cut halves could be used as the air refresher, one thing is to take care: the kaffir lime oil will stain the plastic container/surface." ---- Tahai

 

2009 Overview Tomatoes

Black Brandywine, this one tasted bland, I will not grow it again.

The heirloom Brandywine (Sudduth strain) is much more flavorful.

Italian Pompeii paste tomato suffered from BER.
I made 2 plantings, limed the soil and added all kinds of minerals
to the water etc. nothing worked, I gave up and pulled the plants.

 

Polish Opalka paste tomato --- big and meaty,

small cavities and few seeds, it's a good sauce tomato.

2009 was not a good year for tomatoes, I planted 4 different varieties of tomato and picked less than 10 vine ripe fruits from the 2 surviving plants -- Black Brandy and Opalka.  I don't know it was the weather or I grew the wrong type of tomatoes for our region, we didn't get to enjoy much of tomato last year.  I started the seeds in mid-February and transplanted them first week of May, they were growing steadily until hot temperature hit, I noticed they were sort of in a hold patter during the summer and did not picked up speed until fall, there were lots of green tomatoes and flowers by the end of September, but only few fruits turned red before the freeze.  I'll have to plant more this year to make up for last year's tomato withdrawal. 

2009 Overview Beans

French bi-color pole beans, Renee's Garden Seeds 2009.

 French Rolande bush filet beans, Renee's Garden Seeds 2009.

Fine texture, good flavor, tender and sweet.

Chinese yardlong beans, Ferry Morse Seeds 2009.
Good in stir-fries and pickle.

Italian Kwintus flat pod pole beans, Cook's Garden Seeds 2009.

This is THE bean for our family.

Italian round pod pole beans Santa Ana, Ferry Morse Seeds 2009.

Meaty, good flavor, freezes well, good producer.

 

Purple Royal Burgundy Beans, Ferry Morse Seeds 2009.

  

Soy Beans, Kitazawa Seeds 2009.

I grew it next to garlic, BIG MISTAKE, they don't mix!

Only 1/3 of the seeds germinated.

 

Soy beans (edamame in Japanese, mao dou in Chinese).

Roasted soy beans.

Toss soy beans with olive oil and roast at 400F for about 15-20 min,

remove from heat and sprinkle beans with fleur de sel or any sea salt.

Shelled fava beans, Kitazawa Seeds 2009.

I'm not into shelling beans, but I don't mind this one because

I have not been able to buy them fresh at where we live.

Creamy fava bean soup, same as making fresh pea soup.

 

Stir-fry spicy beans with pressed tofu (vegan).

Last year I grew 11 kinds of beans, yes yes yes, I was into beans because the previous year (2008) I lost all my beans to rust and powdery mildew diseases, I decided to make up for the loss and went nuts over them.  There are 3 bean pictures missing from this post, I forgot to take pictures of the yellow beans "Yellow Pencil Pod" and the 2 runner beans IWK and Painted Lady.

Hummingbirds love the red runner bean flowers, I grew them to attract birds and bees, this year I will try to grow some closer to the house in front of a window and to see if I can capture some hummie pictures and to keep the kitties entertain.  The Yellow Pencil Pod is a wax bean, I don't care for its texture for fresh eating, but it made the best pickled beans, the pods remain firm and crunchy in the brine.

Of all the beans I planted last year Kwintus and Rolande are my favorites, they shall be my garden beans every year.  Rolande is best when use fresh, I shall make 2 plantings of it for summer-fall.  Kwintus is an all purpose bean, I've used it in salads, casseroles, stir-fries, stews, soups, etc. It tasted good no matter how I cook it, and it freezes well also. This is THE BEAN for our family, I shall grow more of it this year and try to save some seeds for later (if I can keep my hands off of them long enough), maybe I should grow some in a container and set it aside to remind myself that the beans are reserved for seeds.

2009 Overview Peppers

Cherry Bomb, Jimmy Nardello, Fresno, Thai Devil.

Cherry Bomb Hot Peppers, do they look like cherries?

 

Cherry Bomb hot peppers, grown in container.

Thick flesh, medium heat, good for pickles and hot sauce.

  

 Mexican Fresno Chili Peppers.

Slightly thinner wall than jalapeno, medium heat.

I use this for cooking and for making hot pepper sauces. 

Mexican Fresno Chili Peppers, grows well in containers.

Watch out for tomato hornworms, they love this pepper.

 

 Vietnamese Ho Chi Ming hot peppers, Fedco Seeds 2009.

On a scale of 1-5, this is probably a 3.75

I will not grow this pepper again, it is HOT

but TASTELESS and lacks FRAGRANCE.

Thai Devil hot peppers, seeds from Thailand.

Thai people love this pepper, it is supposed to be a small,

flavorful, and THE hottest Thai pepper, thus the name "Devil",

but it has mutated into jalapeno size and heat level

when grown in our desert climate, go figure!

 

Italian sweet peppers Jimmy Nardello.

Italian Jimmy Nardello sweet frying peppers,

thin wall, wrinkle skin, very prolific plant.

Good for tempura or add color to any dish.

Sun pickled hot peppers.
Peppers, Kosher salt, fresh dill, fresh garlic, water.

Loosely cover jar with a plate and let it sit in the sun
for about a week to 10 days, the naturally fermented
peppers will turn sour, if you want more bite add 1 tbsp
of vinegar to the brine at the beginning.

Chinese hot sauce, made with a mixture of

Fresno and Cherry Bomb chili peppers.

I grow peppers in container, it seems they produce more fruits, more aromatic, and taste better. The peppers that are grown in ground have more leaves and less fruits, less aromatic and bland; another word, they like to be "stressed", so I give them less space, less water, less food, and less TLC --- my recipe for happy peppers and happy gardener.

2009 Overview Eggplants

Rosa Bianca Italian eggplant, Botanical Interest Seeds 2008

Mild, creamy and sweet,

I have been growing Rosa the last 2 years,

once in raised bed and once in EB, they did fine in both places.

Ping Tung Chinese (Taiwan) eggplants.

Mild, sweet, and creamy.  This eggplant produces more fruits
when grown in EB compare to those grown in raised bed.
I think it is because of consistent supply of moisture and nutrients.

Thai green eggplant, Thailand seeds from Tahai.

thin flesh and seedy, best pick at about the size of a marble.

Chinese Ping Tung and Thai Green Eggplants.

Stir fry spicy Thai eggplant with rice,

Recipe from Tahai (in Chinese).

Seasoned lean ground pork, Thai eggplants,

Thai Holy Basil, hot chili peppers.

Carrots

Danvers Half Long, Heirloom Seeds 2009
Love at first bite --- sweet, despite their immature size.


I randomly pulled some carrots from the low tunnel raised bed
to check for root maggots, so far so good, no damage.

This is the first time I manage to grow carrots, several attempts in the past have failed, I didn't know what I was doing; the mistakes range from seeds got washed away from overhead watering, seeds won't germinate because they were sowed at the wrong time of the year, the weather was too hot or too cold, blah blah blah.  I had a V8 moment when I saw Granny's carrot seed mat and her cover board to protect the seeds until they germinate, duhhhhh~~~~~of course I copy copy copy.  That's how I got them to germinate and grow, thank you AG.

What is your favorite carrot?  Have you grown any carrot that's not color orange?  I'm looking for  varieties of color, taste, and small size carrots for my small garden.