Stuffed Kabocha Squash

Baked squash stuffed with couscous.

Couscous -- kabocha squash, onions, green beans, red peppers.

Harvest Monday - October 25, 2010

Winter Melons -- 6 here, 5 at the old house, 

the smallest is 10.5 lbs, and the largest is 23.7 lbs.

I gave some away and ate some, total of 17 harvested this season.

Most of the melons will be used in soups and stews, 

some will be preserved and dried. 

Chayote, Swiss Chard, Kohlrabi

Celio Cauliflower, wonder it would be ready for Christmas dinner.

White Daikon, shoulder pushes up from the soil.

Roselle flower bud starts out white, then baby yellow.

And then it turns into pink, I'm not sure I'll see it bloom,

our night temps are in the 30s and possibly frost tonight.

The plant is 9' tall, I have to pull the stem down to take this picture.

Self-sowed Thai Basil, maybe I'll pot them up later, low priority job.

Total for the week:

Romano beans (final) 1.5 lb

Napa cabbage 0.86 lb

Chard 1.39 lb

Kohlrabi 0.86 lb

Chayote 7.0 lb

Winter melons (final) 171.0 lb

Total 182.61 lbs.

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions, head over there to see more garden harvests.

Harvest Monday - October 18, 2010

Chayote and shoots, Romano Beans.

Some fruits and veggies growing in the garden now

Chayote still hanging in there despite night temps in the 40s.

Napa Cabbage is happy.

Savoy Cabbage also happy growing in Earthbox.

I won't get any Brussels Sprouts this year, started them too late,

and I've no idea what's eating up the leaves, 

I couldn't find worms or eggs on the leaves.

Swiss Chard is happy, I already harvested twice from this batch.

Green daikon is happy in Smartpot, the root pushes up

and out of the soil instead of growing deep into the soil.

Oh yeah!  Ginger root, I see pickled ginger,

saute ginger beef and ginger chicken soup etc. in the future.

Meyer Lemons are ripening, some will be used for marmalade,

some will be preserved in salt for cooking and drinks.

This week's harvest:

Chayote  1.84 lb

Chayote shoots   0.40 lb

Romano beans   0.74 lb

Total for the week:  2.98 lb

Visit Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday for more garden harvests and inspirations.

Okinawan Sweet Potato

Baked and Mashed

Raw

Grown in container.

Click here to read more about Okinawan sweet potato.

Harvest Monday - October 11, 2010

Swiss Chard, Jujubes, Beans, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Chayote Shoots.

Sun drying jujubes (2008 photo)

Fresh picked jujubes (2008 photo)

Digging up Okinawan Sweet Potatoes was the most difficult harvest I've encountered, it took hours and hours of work (3 mornings and 2 evenings to be exact) to harvest 10 lbs of spuds.  The roots were thick and densely weaved together, most of the soil in the half barrels have been "consumed", I couldn't use a fork to lift the sweet potatoes, the containers were so heavy they cannot be turned over, and there was no way I can get to them without damaging the skins due to the way the spuds were grown.  Take a look at how Okinawan Sweet Potatoes grow in a container:   

 Growing between the wall of the container and screen liner.

Growing into and around each other.

Growing vertically and horizontally.

Growing through the bottom of the lining screen.   I scraped off the top part of the screen so you can see how dense and thick the roots were.

The horizontal big red swollen roots will become another spud if left to grow. 

I didn't bothered to take pictures of the fresh jujubes (Chinese red dates) harvested this year due to out of town travels, but I found couple photos from 2008 to show you what they looked like before they were sundried.  Fresh jujube is crunchy sweet, it can be eaten fresh or dry, Asians use this fruit to make jam, desserts, tea, and they can be used in baking, soups and stews etc. 

More about jujube click here.

Harvest for the last two weeks:

Jujubes  11.7 lb

Okinawan Sweet Potatoes 10 lb

Beans 1.2 lb

carrots 5 oz

Swiss Chard 1.25 lb

Chayote shoots 6.4 oz

Lettuce 9 oz

onions 7 oz

Total harvest  23.41 lb

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions head over there to see more harvests from other gardeners.

Pagosa Springs, CO

Pagosa Springs Visitor Information Center.

Main Street (Hwy 160) East to West view.

San Juan River Walk

Autumn Has Arrived

Leaves are changing color,

Treasure Falls, Wolf Creek Pass, CO

Hues of yellow, red, and bronze
Wolf Creek Pass Outlook

In another month or two the San Juan mountains will be covered with snow
signaling the start of ski season.