Its really starting to feel like winter’s coming now, I’m craving soups and the nighttime temps are due to sink to single figures (Celsius that is) by the end of this week. With that in mind I’m pretty pleased with this weeks harvest. As usual I harvested silverbeet and oregano, this I used in a silverbeet and ricotta canneloni – my kind of comfort food.
Other usual suspects, harvest wise, included parsley…and more parsley…..
These lots were turned into soup and pasta puttanesca and the lot in the basket below went into a veg stock, along with the rest of the baskets ingredients.
Adding some colour to this weeks bounty were more tamarillos – I reckon I’ll have about 3 more weeks of harvesting tamarillos left. Incidentally how do other people growing fruit account for it on their spreadsheets? Tamarillos are $1.50 each at Woolworths (which is where I get my veg prices from) but given I will probably harvest close to 300 fruit it will distort things if I account for them at $1.50 each. I think I will cap income from them at $50 (which is what I did with passionfruit earlier in the year) but I would interested to know how others see it.
Although its the end of May I do still have one tomato plant left in the ground but the tomatoes its producing are pretty sad and sorry individuals. I should really pull it but then I’d be admitting it really is almost winter.
Norma at Garden to Wok has inspired me to do more cooking with tofu, so this week I made a lovely (although the rest of the family didn’t agree) lemongrass and turmeric tofu. The below lemongrass went into it, the thai basil and the pak choi went into the noodles that I served with it.
To prove we really are headed into winter my last harvest of the week was a very seasonal one – my first ever orange. It is a Washington Navel and I picked it too early but I still loved every mouthful.
For more harvests from around the world head over to Daphne’s and feast your eyes on some more delicious veg.
We reckon that things are warming up when we get to 10C ! Nothing much being harvested in my garden at present, but lots of potential.
All things are relative I guess but I do think that 10 is relatively cold!
If they are costed per fruit and you want to give a true ‘value’ then I’d put the actual cost down.
I really need to work out what it is the purpose of keeping the tally in the first instance don’t I? I have kept an approximate record of number harvested so I guess I can adjust the value depending on what I am using the figures for.
Wow your first orange Liz-most impressed!! Just reached a warm 13C here at 10.30am so off into the garden to work today!!
Errrr 13C just isn’t that warm, it was 18 here today and it felt arctic.
Wow, congrats on that orange! I’ll bet it did taste good. What a great problem to have with those tamarillos! The only similar thing I have is Oriental persimmons, which cost about $1.50 or $2 here. That’s how I have been pricing them, but so far I have only had a handful. Is there anywhere you could buy them in larger quantities and get a price for them like that?
Its funny, there are a lot of fruit here which if you have a decent sized tree then the crop would be worth quite a lot (using retail prices as a guide anyway). Lemons for instance are often about $1.00 each and a decent tree would produce 100s of them in the course of a year. Then there are other fruits like apples where the retail prices are a lot lower compared to how many fruit you’d get from an average garden tree.
the chard is just beautiful!
Never seen tamarillos in our markets so not going to be much help to you there. The garden harvests are still providing you with abundance despite the arrival of fall/impending winter.
Our climate is nice and mild so we do tend to be able to harvest reasonably well throughout the year….although I might not be thinking that in a few weeks when the last of the summer/autumn crops disappear.
I always use the prices at my farmers market (provided they sell what I’m growing). Fruit is weird though since you can get huge amounts which you probably wouldn’t buy in those quantities. And certainly not at those prices. Though for strawberries, I’ve certainly bought tons of them in season. I used to get two quarts a week during the season as my daughter and I would eat that much. When the apples come in, if they come in quantities, I’ll probably use the bulk price. I’ve been buying large bags of apples to make applesauce for years. If they come from my trees then I’ll use the bulk price for one tree and not for the other. The other is a Honey Crisp and they never ever sell that one in bulk. The apple is too hard to grow around here. And it always costs more than the others.
I do like the idea of finding a wholesale price for them at the very least. I’m using the supermarkets online prices as its easy but the farmers market probably would be a fairer comparison – I wonder if they have tamarillos there.
I think I would cost them at normal prices, especially if you are eating them all! Artichokes here are $1.50 each. Mine were very small so I costed them at 2-3 for $1.50 depending on size, estimating how much equaled the bigger ones at the market. For me it’s not how much I would have spent at the market but how much things are actually worth. I would never buy artichokes at the store at that price!
You’re probably right, I guess I have to think about why I’m keeping the tally in the first place and then account for them accordingly.
As long as you are using or storing the fruit- keep the cost in the tally. 🙂 Citrus is a good sign that the cool weather is coming!
Yes but I’m just not ready for cold just yet…..
Have to try tamarillo if I come across it, but maybe difficult to locate a source here.
They are South American so you’d think there would be some in the states. A Columbian friend of mine reckons they use them for everything including juice there so you would think someone would import them.
You should do more photography, I love the way you find different ways to photograph what you grow. I love the red Tamarillos against the texture and colour of the fabric.
Thanks Leanne, I go through periods when I get really ‘into’ photography and then I’ll move onto something else but I do tend to come back to it. I’m enjoying the challenge of having to photograph the same thing every week – it kinds forces the imagination a little.
I’ve never seen tamarillos before. They look really beautiful! The thai basil is pretty too! Mine are still teeny tiny. Great harvest!
And they taste great.
Congrats on your first orange! I bet it was so good and juicy!!
Thanks – I it was juicy and I’have to say I’m really looking forward to the others which are still on the tree.
I’d keep adding it up! If you’re harvesting it, track it 🙂 I’m with Dave…Is there anywhere that you could buy it in bigger quantities to price it out differently…or maybe a website for comparison?
I’ll see if I can find out the wholesale price at least – good suggestion. It’s a problem with exotic fruit – not that many places stock it so those that do tend to price it a lot higher than the crop costs to produce.
That orange silverbeet looks absolutely amazing and I’m pretty sure it tastes great too!
As a fan of silverbeet – of all colours I can definitely confirm it tastes great.
Lovely photo of the orange-stemmed chard (silverbeet). So exciting that you are growing oranges too. My navel oranges start ripening in January, and they get sweeter as the season goes on. I’m still harvesting the last of them here in May. I’ll be finished with the harvest by early June. So let those honeys sit on the tree a bit longer to maximize their sweetness. My blog post today has a photo of baby navel oranges that will be next year’s crop.
My tree is really small at the moment so it only has a few fruits on it but it is really exciting I have to say. I’ll be sure to check out your next crop.
Wow your first orange ! That’s a special harvest.
We have had two frosts in a row so the last of the beans are gone, so hoping for rain tomorrow.
It has been dry hasn’t it – our rainfall is way down on last year.
Hello Liz,
Thanks for the mention, may be the family will like the Hoisin Tofu better.
Your gardening season is winding down and we are just starting to get into full swing. My lemongrass, ginger, tomatoes and squash etc. are still waiting to get into the ground, think I will plant them this week.
The first of any thing from the garden is always the best, congrats on your first orange.
They do like hoisin generally so I will try that one next time. Thanks for the tip.
Oh, your puttanesca sounds fabulous. I hadn’t even thought about it in so long… I know I’ve had it, and I just checked the recipe and yes, I KNOW I’ve had it, but darned if I remember when. Now I want it, though!
And I’d love to see how people do their spreadsheets!
I cook it all the time – I suspect its an addiction, one that the kids have acquired as well – now I just neded to convince my partner but he remains dubious. There’s no accounting for taste I guess.