We’ve had a lot of weather in the past week. Some of it hot (39.5C/102F), some of it wet (about an inch of rain) and some of it simply lovely (mid 20s/high 70s and sunny). Not sure what the garden made of it all, but this is what it produced,
Firstly a new harvest – some Purple King beans. Just a handful, but it was nice to have them with my Sunday roast (chicken).
Shamefully out of the 6 veg I served with the Sunday roast they were the only one from the garden. Hopefully that situation will be remedied soon.
I don’t like zucchini with roast so these went into a smoked trout and zucchini pasta dish.
Other than the zucchini the most productive plant in my garden at the moment are the beetroot. This is almost the end of the cylindrical (I harvested 4 large ones this week) but I have some Detroit Dark Red which should be ready in a week or so.
Also in the basket is some mint and some more of the pickling cucumbers which I am experimenting with at the moment. This is my first year growing this variety of pickling cucumbers. I made refrigerator pickles with what I’ve harvested to date, I think I’ll bottle the next lot whole and perhaps slice the ones after. Perhaps then I’ll know which works best.
Speaking of working best I think I now know that the soft neck garlic definitely performed better than the hard neck. I’ll write a proper garlic round up post later this week but here is the last of my garlic harvest – mainly ‘Italian Common’ and ‘Italian White’.
Some of the heads were a pretty decent size:
As difficult to follow as those garlics are I still have a couple of harvest photos for the week. These Spring Onions had to come out when our kids early Christmas present (a new to us Cubby House) was erected.
Finally something green (or more accurately something else green). Freckles Lettuce plus small and oddly shaped spider – he was kind of cute.
Now head over to Daphne’s Dandelions and see what others have in their baskets this week.
Yay for garlic success! Nice early summer harvest, pretty beans and lovely beetroot. As I started so late here, I am not picking anything except the herbs in pots that I brought with me. Oh well, at least I have started. Funny spider.
I’m very excited about the garlic – I’m now trying to decide whether to use the best heads or whether to save them for planting out….
Wow, what a crop of garlic. I will have to investigate hard vs soft neck varieties next year, as I have no idea which types I attempted to grow. Your produce looks great!
This is my first time at growing something other than Italian Common and in all honesty I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have been better off just sticking with it. Still I do love an experiment…
I so covet your garlic! Mine are an embarrasment, as I have said, ad nauseum. Beans already? You and your garden are a marvel, Liz.
I admit to pushing the envelope a little and sowing the beans early (in pots undercover in the Bunnings special). It hasn’t worked for all the varieties i tried but it does seem to have worked for the purple king.
That is quite a beautiful harvest you have there! Very colorful and I’m sure it won’t be long before all your meals are full of home-grown goodness!
I do hope so, this in between seasons thing is a little dispiriting.
Has that spider lost some legs or were they hiding? Good garlic – I’ve come to the conclusion that the common varieties are common for a reason!
Hiding….now you’ve got me thinking….was it a beetle? Hmm pretty sure i remember eight legs…..
Your garlic harvest looks great.
I just sowed some detroit beetroot will see how they grow in the tropics.
Your purple king is a beauty. Mine always kind of turn green some like they have been cook by the harsh light from the sun.
Mine usually start out a bit green then turn purplish (some definitely turn more purple than others though). It will be interesting to see how beetroot does in the tropics.
Great looking garlic! The cloves on most of my harvest this year were so small that my husband refuses to use them because peeling and chopping them is such a time consuming job.
I have a very, very sturdy garlic press which comes in handy – it tolerates limited peeling.
The weather has been a challenge over the last week keeping everything watered, today its cold only 16C with a freezing cold wild !
Beans already…. I think I said them same thing last week with your zucchini, garlic seems to be a great favorite with everyone but sometimes not that easy to grow. You have some good sized bulbs there, were they planted somewhere a little different than your others?
Funnily enough they were next to the smaller ones so who knows….
I think that hard necked garlics do better in colder climates so I’m not surprised that your soft necked ones were better. I usually do a combination of both types to hedge my bets, but this year I’m only growing 2 varieties and I don’t remember what types they are. They are a sort of spur of the moment, I wasn’t planning on growing it, oh why not, last minute thing this year. I bet the garlic rust knocks them out early again, so… whatever!
Those purple beans are so pretty. And you are right, beans are so good with roast chicken. Yum!
Ah that would explain things – hope yours keep the rust at bay.
I love all you harvest, especially beets. I can smell it roasted with some of that lovely garlic!
Nice idea – I’ll give it a try.
Great varied harvest, enjoy seeing your garden thrive as the greater section of my garden is sleeping.
I think your oddly shaped “spider” is a stink bug.
Really – a stink bug – I should explore some more.
I have found the hardnecked garlic to grow better in my area, but when I was living in central Washington state – which is much dryer and hotter – the soft neck varieties did better for me. Always adapting and changing to our specific growing climates.
Lovely harvests this week. I am jealous of you in that you are in the ramp up of your growing season and we are largely entering our “dormant” growing period of mid winter.
Based on everyones feedback I think i will definitely stick to softnecks from now on.
Zucchini and smoked trout sounds delicious. I always hear that softnecks do better in warmer climates. So of course I don’t grow them any more. I did for a while. I loved being able to braid them.
The braiding ability is useful isn’t it? I would definitley recommend zucchini and smoked trout – worked well as a combinaton.
Your garlic looks great Liz, nice sizes.