Today's harvest

[larry_stewart]

I may have successfully dried and powdered some of the potatoes I've harvested. I'll probably try and make mashed potatoes this week from the powder to see how good / bad it is. If good, I'll be peeling a lot of potatoes over the next few weeks , before the sprout or go bad.

Well, it was wishful thinking. Rehydrated the potato powder, as I would do with the dried potato flakes, to make mashed potatoes. The consistency was good, but the taste was off. It wasn't bad, just off. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

On a happier note, I harvested all my achochas today, and pulled the vines. I'll probably pickle them again, as I really dont know what else to do with them. They say they can be stuffed, but they really dont have much of a flavor, so the'll just serve as a vessel for the stuffing material. Not worth the effort.

 

[pepperhead212]

Don't forget to make tomolives out of the green cherries left behind!!!

I like that idea, but I rarely have many green cherries left full sized - they just start ripening before they finish growing, unlike larger tomatoes. I don't really get as many green tomatoes as I used to, mainly because it is staying warm so much later in the season, and the plants sort of fizzle out, STS. I used to get the first frost here in mid October, and sometimes by around October 10th I'd have to harvest everything, and I'd have a bunch more green tomatoes and peppers. And I'd make a picalili relish - something I'd give away to a lot of friends and family.

 

[pepperhead212]

I picked more peppers today (imagine that!), after putting all those latest dried peppers in the jars. And I didn't touch the datil or habaneros, and there are a few others, as well! I don't know how they are still producing like they are, with these cold nights, as well as days, we are having here, though early next week is forecast for low 40s, which will have to affect them.
More peppers! And this is only a few of them - the Aruna, Jalapeños, and the mild varieties. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[Meryl]

Chestnuts.

Not ours, my son gathered them in the woodlands nearby.

I need to buy a new chestnut pan (with holes) to roast them on the stove, my old one has gone all rusty.

 

[larry_stewart]

Chestnuts.

Not ours, my son gathered them in the woodlands nearby.

I need to buy a new chestnut pan (with holes) to roast them on the stove, my old one has gone all rusty.

Nice !!
We just started collecting chestnuts ( about 20 or so). The most we ever got in a season was 60.

 

[blissful]

I harvested 2 2-gallon buckets of kale today, washed, steamed, cut, frozen. I have another small section I can harvest tomorrow. I don't know if we'll get much more after that. Today was a very nice 70's day, the bees were flying and the sun was shining.

 

[pepperhead212]

I harvested some of the last tomatoes of the season - all plants that these came from were pulled, except for the two Brandyboy. These, plus 2 Juliets, and 2 sunsugars are the last 6 tomato plants out there. I left those because they still have a bunch of fruits left, and those sunsugar and juliet ripen quickly.
Some of the last tomatoes of the season. All these plants except the Brandyboy, the 4 largest, got pulled. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also pulled all of my eggplants, bitter melons, and some late season cucumbers, that produced very little. Peppers, however, are still producing! They are usually the earliest to succumb to the cold, other than basil.

 

[pepperhead212]

Today, before it got warmer (84° today!), and before the sun started covering the plants, I harvested most of my remaining peppers - the only ones remaining are the smaller ones, which I have way more of than I need! Most of these will get frozen, since this way, they are frozen for the shortest time. I harvested all of the ripe and ripening peppers, as well as larger green ones. With the C. chinense peppers, I harvested ripe, and ripening peppers, but left the full sized ones that might still ripen - Tuesday or Wednesday night will probably be the last night for them, but weather changes!
probably the last harvest of the largest chiles, due to upcoming cold. 10-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last of the Jalapeños, a few ripening, 10-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last ripe and full sized green Aruna peppers, 10-28. Still a large number of much smaller ones. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last ripe and ripening orange Datil and red Aji Dulce peppers, 10-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The last of the Red Savina habanero peppers, and only 2 green ones. 10-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

For as plentiful as my mushrooms were in the spring, have yet to see anything more than a sporadic shiitake here and there. Im hoping with the recent rain and drop in temps, they'll start kicking in. But, yesterday to my surprise, I stumbled across this huge shiitake. I swear it wasn't there the day before. It's amazing how quick these things grow under the right conditions. It was also off of a 3 year log ( haven't gotten anything off my more recent logs yet).

 

[dragnlaw]

A meal in itself Larry! Beautiful!

 

[pepperhead212]

I harvested the last of my tomatoes today, since there is a freeze watch here tonight - only supposed to get to 34° in my area, but many areas are forecast for well below freezing. There should definitely be bad frost, so I pulled all the tomatoes, except for the very small ones. Only a few had ripened since the last harvest, but there are many more full sized ones. Maybe I will make some pickled cherry tomatoes with a few of them.
Last of the tomatoes, assuming that it freezes tonight, as predicted. 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I harvested the rest of my peppers, and I was shocked at how many more full sized peppers there were on that one Datil plant! Only a few more jalapeños, and that was on 6 or 7 plants. The Maui Purples weren't harvested last time, so they have been ripening for quite a while. Tonight it might freeze, but it will definitely frost, and I doubt the peppers will live.
A few more jalapeños, all the ripe Maui Purples, and the orange Hanoi Markets, 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I only got one more Aji Dulce, but I didn't even count the Datil!
More Datil peppers, from just the one plant. Harvested all of them, due to the freeze forecast tonight. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[larry_stewart]

Finally stopped raining so I was able to gather the seed potatoes we picked a few days ago, and pick the last of the peppers. ( The garlics I planted a few weeks ago are starting to pop their heads out of the ground ). **The potatoes aren't small, the pepper are big. The red one is about 7 - 8 inches long and almost 2 inches wide.

 

[larry_stewart]

Sweet potatoes , peanuts and ginger. Other than leafy greens and rutabagas, the garden 2023 is a wrap! ( Guess I didnt take any pics of peanuts, so I included a pic of Kevin in its place).

 

[blissful]

@larry_stewart Kevin, how cute is he!?! What an adorable cat.
The ginger is lovely.

 

[larry_stewart]

Kevin, how cute is he!?! What an adorable cat.
The ginger is lovely.

Wish I had a few more months of optimal weather to get the ginger to grow bigger, but still a decent amount . Grow it from store bought ginger. Started it in late January, and picked it the other day. The leaves of the plant have a mild ginger flavor too, and can be used when cooking ( although I dont do that ).

 

[blissful]

@larry_stewart well done on the ginger! Maybe the leaves hold the ginger flavor enough when dry to use in herbal tea? I've never heard of ginger leaves used for anything.....mr google says, yes you can use them for tea! If you don't drink herbal tea, then I don't know what you could use them for.

 

[Meryl]

Sweet potatoes , peanuts and ginger. Other than leafy greens and rutabagas, the garden 2023 is a wrap! ( Guess I didnt take any pics of peanuts, so I included a pic of Kevin in its place).

The little cat is gorgeous!

 

[larry_stewart]

The outside garden is still kicking out veggies. Today I harvested my rutabagas, just to find out that there was a rogue turnip seed amongst the others ( or just a different genetic make up). The big one has white flesh as opposed to the others which have yellow flesh. The white one its the only one that plumped up. All seeds taken from the same packet. Either way, it will get eaten. Also parsley, lettuce, kale and arugula still alive and producing.

 

[blissful]

OMG @larry_stewart Kevin weighs more than the turnip or less than the turnip? lol
Our greens are frozen off and we bought some first time last week. Excellent to have greens going into December!

 

[larry_stewart]

OMG @larry_stewart Kevin weighs more than the turnip or less than the turnip? lol
Our greens are frozen off and we bought some first time last week. Excellent to have greens going into December!

It's getting close. The nights kinda get to the greens, but they perk back up once the sun rises. I usually put row covers or something on them to protect them, but I've been a little lazy the year. Maybe lll get to it on Wednesday. Usually the kale , arugula and parsley, if covered, can be harvested through the winter and into the spring until I dig them up to plant something else. The chard ( if covered ) dies back, but will reemerge from the roots early spring. The leaves are a little tough, but I usually make a few Indian dishes with initial spring leaves, then dig them up to make room for something else ( they, along with the other greens go to seed after the winter.). But for me, it's one of my first harvests of the year. Also, the row covers make a nice greenhouse shelter for the outside cats.