This weeks harvest is more of the same with a couple of different things thrown in for good measure. To start with the different, I harvested my first lot of beetroot since Spring.
3 Chioggia beetroot, a golden one and a small Detroit Dark Red. Although they look pretty I do find the Chioggia lacking in flavour sometimes and whilst the golden one was lovely in the salad I made out of these beets, their leaves and some pumpkin seeds, I do really prefer the dark red varieties for flavour.
Whilst eggplant is not quite new, this week saw the first volume harvest, with 3 large Bonicas being cut. Unfortunately my first attempts to photograph them were unsuccessful and by the time I realised they were unuseable I’d turned two of the eggplants into Baba ganoush. I think this one is destined to become Eggplant Masala tomorrow night.
Other than the beetroot and eggplants my harvest was pretty much the same as it has been for the last few weeks. Tomatoes, chillies and the occasional fig:
I’m still battling against whatever is eating my (well actually my neighbours) figs so the occasional one I get to harvest goes straight out of the basket and into my mouth. I would love to have more to make jam, or salads with but it is not to be.
What I am making salads out of is: lettuce, spring onions, herbs, and French Breakfast Radishes which I’ve grown in a polystyrene box. I do find old polystyrene fruit boxes are great planters – particularly for things like radishes. I know that Diana at Kebun Malay-Kadazan girls also uses them for a whole range of veg as well as strawberries.
We are getting heaps of the Scotch Bonnet Chillies at the moment, I harvested about 500g this week with a lot more left on the plants. I see some more Sambal making in my future. The beans are drying up though – the ones below are some of the last I’ll get for awhile. Except for borlotti beans that is, they are about to start producing.
I am so pleased with my herbs at the moment, they are all looking happy I’m cutting them like mad at the moment. The parsley’s doing well and I put in a few more plants this week as you can never have enough parsley in my view. I use thyme regularly and have a few plants scattered throughout the garden.
The basil is also doing well at the moment. We had spaghetti with pesto for dinner tonight, I also put some pesto away in the freezer. The plants are getting really big so I should be able to freeze a few more batches before the end of Autumn.
To see what others are harvesting this week, head over to Daphne’s Dandelions for pickings from around the world.
I am grateful for your comments on your beetroot varieties. I have wondered about the orange/yellow ones and the chiogga, I havent been tempted yet becasue I just love the way the dark ones look so I am glad that with your benefit of comparison you like the dark ones in flavour. I might stay with the beetroot habit I have developed then.
But I could be tempted by a scotch bonnet – they look so cute.
I think from now on my main variations are going to be different shapes of red varieties (ie cylindrical and round) rather than different colours. I do find that the leaves of the yellow varieties tend to be better to eat (but then they not so different from chard that I would grow them just for the leaves).
We grew Chioggia, Golden Ball, Blankoma (a white root) and Boltardy beetroot too last year. This year we will just be growing Boltardy. I think all things considered beetroot is meant to be dark red.
I agree entirely. I tend to get a little too seduced with new varieties and variations when actually if I stuck to growing the things I know I really enjoy then I would probably be better off.
500g of chillies! Goodness me, that is impressive! Glad you are finally getting some good volumes of eggplant.
They have been so good this year – I think having the plants in their second year really helps.
Nice harvest but you can keep your scotch bonnet. I have grown the Detroit Red for years. I am a bit of a traditionalist. Beets and tomatoes are red and carrots are orange.
I tend to agree although I have had some nice tasting yellow tomatoes…
What a nice mix of things this week. Your eggplant is a beauty… I can imagine it sitting there with two more sisters that look quite similar!
Agree, the red beets have the best flavor. I still grow limited amounts of the others just for the colors. Great harvest.
I do like beets and especially grow the cylyndras. But I have a white/light yellow one that I saved seed from. It came out of mix of heritage beets from Bountiful Gardens. I’m thinking it might be a mangel. Anyway it gets really big and is much sweeter than other beets and a little less earthy. I love how it doesn’t turn the soup red.
my basil are tiny seedlings right now but I look forward to pesto this summer!
The cylindrical are a really useful shape I find. I’ve not tried soup with a lightly coloured one – I will have to give it a go.
Beautiful harvest. Again I come away from your blog feeling jealous. Maybe I need to get a winter home in your neck of the woods. (My winter your summer) 🙂
It is a nice neck of the woods – i would highly recommend it, but yes in our summer rather than our winter.
Very impressed with your harvest of Scotch Bonnet Chillies-I’ll pass on the beetroot as I am not a fan-one day perhaps…
Isn’t that interesting – that you don’t like beetroot. I like it a lot but it has to be prepared nicely – i find it needs both an acid and sugar (and often chilli) to be at its best.
Your harvest looks lovely!! We are going into spring, so I am hopeful that we could have a harvest soon. 🙂 I am getting so impatient! lol!!!
Lynn
I hope you have loads to fabulous harvests really soon.
Thanks for reminding me, our neighbours fig tree grows over our fence, must have a look to see if they are ripe. I don’t like figs but my husband does.
Do you think the possums are eating yours?
I think its more likely to be birds or mice as whatever it is takes a few days to eat a single fruit and I reckon possums would have a bigger appetite.
I’m admiring the chillis! Are some of them the “Bishop’s Kiss” or “Cardinal’s Hat” type? I’d be interested to hear what you think of them.
They call them Scotch Bonnet here – but that isn’t the name they’d use in the UK. They are mild-medium heat and quite hardy (although not to frost). The plant is lovely – this is their second year and one plant is huge forming a nice tree like shape with a canopy of leaves and chillies.
Love your photo of mint, lettuce and radish the best, then the beet roots. I really like Chioggia beets the best, then Lutz Longkeeper. The Chioggias are so pretty with their red and white stripes.
They are pretty and i do like them grated and made into a salad – ie eaten raw.
Great photos of great veggies. Very nice post. Your harvests are coming along nicely.
Once again a beautiful harvest. Your pictures are tempting, and making me hungry. 😀
Beautiful harvest and pretty photos.
Yellow beet seem to have less earthy flavor, my children prefers it to red beets, I grow both varieties, this year I’m adding white beets and see how it tastes.
I think it is the earthy flavour I like best about beets which would explain my preference I guess. My kids seem to prefer the red ones but I suspect its actually the vinegar, salt and sugar that I often have with it that they really like.