The first harvest post of 2013 and its a big one. This is partially because I have photos held over from last week and partially because I have quite a few different things producing at the moment. One of these things is potatoes. I harvested a few from my main bed during the fortnight and I also harvested a large tub of Dutch Creams – pictured below. I probably harvested them a bit early but the foliage was looking a bit diseased and so I thought it best to get rid of the plants before any issues spread to other crops. I got 3kg of lovely new potatoes from my large pot so it wasn’t too bad a haul.
My shallot harvests continued this week with a few more bunches of small brown shallots being harvested. I think I will pull the remainder of the shallots – a larger red unknown variety- this week. The shallots pictured below spent much of their life in shade (either from the house during winter or from the tomatoes I planted around them in Spring) so I think they’ve done OK considering the trying circumstances.
My Black Zucchini plant is doing well, churning out the zucchinis regularly but not so many that it has got too overwhelming….yet. I made fritters and pickles with the ones pictured below.
Behind the zucchini’s you can see a couple of cucumbers – Summer Dance (thanks to Bek for the seeds) and Lebanese. I’ve been really pleased with the Summer Dance in particular – nice long crisp fruit. Miss 6 loves cucumber with salt so any I harvest usually end up in her stomach.
The cucumber in the basket below is ‘Catalan Pickling’ and I have managed to preserve a few of these as gherkins (I suspect the pictured one was eaten by Miss 6 though).
My mint is doing particularly well at the moment and I have been eating it a lot in salads.
What is doing less well are my beetroot, the remainder of my Detroit Dark Red crop was eaten by the marauding rats but I managed to salvage this one. I don’t know where these rats have been prior to about a fortnight ago but I’m really not too happy that they’ve decided to invade my space.
Although the rats have been eating my larger, and still green, tomato varieties they have left the Tiny Tims alone. They are providing us with a of handful a day which is nice but not really keeping up with my family’s needs so hopefully the larger ones will ripen soon (if there are any left…).
My one other tomato variety which has ripened to date is also a small one – I’ve had a handful of Broad Ripple Currant Tomatoes.
I like the flavour of this variety but I find the plants a little heat sensitive. We’ve had a few days lately over 38C (100F) and on a day which reached 43C its new growth died back.
I don’t think carrots like heat much either. Not so much the plants themselves but I think the flavour suffers so I pulled the remainder of the crop and ate them.
Another crop which I associate more with winter but which is doing very well despite the heat is my Cavolo Nero. Andrea at Harvest with Glee kindly dropped off 3 plants back in about November and they have established themselves really well. I have been eating from them regularly – mainly in omelettes.
I’ll finish this post with a basket which represents the things I am harvesting most from the garden at the moment. My ‘wild’ rocket is living up to its name and has colonised a good portion of my bed. The Purple King beans are providing a decent handful or two every few days. The Red salad onions are eating well. The tarragon is putting on heaps of new growth and the spring onions are being used in lots of potato salads.
Thanks again to our host Daphne for Harvest Monday’s – head over to see what else is being harvested around the world.
It’s great when it gets to the time of year when there’s a variety of veg to harvest. I can’t wait to get sowing again.
Everything you are harvesting looks so beautiful! Love the variety and the colors; they are making my mouth water.
Very nice harvest! I’m especially envious of all those potatoes. Any meal plans yet for all this yummy food?
Beautiful harvests. Now you have me dreaming of summer and all the things I want to grow. I really hope my zucchini harvest is good like yours is.
I’m enjoying a ‘virtual’ summer looking at your harvest photos – and it looks like you’re getting plenty from the garden just now, despite the attentions of the local rat!
I wouldn’t be too pleased about the rats either!
I suppose you ought to be able to track them by following a red trail – that is if lots of beetroot has the same effect on rats as it does on humans’
Yes, that certainly is a great haul. Interesting that the rats ignore the Tiny Tim tomatoes – I wonder what is different about them? I had some yellow currant-type toms once (Currant Goldrush) but they not much good – lots of tough skin and very little flesh – though I have to admit they were very prolific. I’m currently awaiting delivery of my seed potatoes, so I’m exactly at the opposite end of the cycle to you.
Hey there. 3 Kilos of potatoes made me green with envy…hehehe…so many varieties of harvest for you this week. I have not started much on our new garden. But tropical fruits are continuously providing us harvest.
Great stuff, Liz. I’m waiting until early February to put in my carrots (and parsnips) that seemed to work for me last year.
I’ve been thinking about your sudden influx of rats. Has there been any demolition or building going on close by? If so, that sort of activity could have disturbed them and they are looking for a new home with food laid on!
I’m surprised you’ve found the Broad Ripple Yellow Current tomato a bit delicate, maybe there’s something about your soil or microclimate that they don’t like. I’ve grown this variety in Footscray for a few years (can’t get rid of them actually, they self-sow like crazy, springing up all over the place) and found them to be absolutely indestructible, in heat & drought tolerance, and resistance to diseases. I read somewhere that this variety wasn’t bred, it was found – growing in a crack in the pavement near Broad Ripple Creek in Indianapolis. Not sure if this is true or an urban myth, but from what I’ve seen it *could* be true! I like the spicy taste they have, the only only thing that I don’t like is that they’re a pain to pick because the fruit are so small, plus they tend to split when pulled off the truss.
The critters always seems to know when is the right time to invade the garden. I had major problem with them last year.
Well thank goodness the rats aren’t eating EVERYTHING. Yet… Good luck with your battles, I know what you are going through.
I’m amazed that you got 3 kg of potatoes from a container, you do have a very green thumb!
Bad luck with the rats –
Its strange about the Cavalo Nero….. I pulled out some of my plants to make way for some late capsicum plantings and let chook help herself to the remainder before I went away thinking it must be close to the end of it….. but despite the heat and all they have just bounced back amazingly……
Lovely harvest – I am especially impressed by your potato crop. I would love to know the secret of growing potatoes, because when we’ve tried it the results have been pretty pathetic volume-wise. Do make sure you store them somewhere the rats can’t get them!
I store the potatoes inside so I am fairly confident they are safe….hopefully…..
Wonderful! You have so much happening, I’m very envious. My garden seems in limbo with lots of things not quite cropping yet. Good to hear the rat isn’t eating everything!
Beautiful harvest, wow 3 kg of potatoes in a tub! Nice to see summer crop harvest in the winter, it really encourages me to START thinking about ordering seeds for the spring-summer seasons.
I’m a new reader to your blog and I love it! Have you had a house in your area pulled down and when we had one pulled down near us we got so many rats coming to say hi to our garden it’s was frustrating! I think, especially if it is an abandon house or something they like to live under it and then it gets pulled down and they have to find somewhere else to go. I’ve heard that catnip can keep rodents away. I have heaps of catnip (I have cats which help keep my mouse and rat population down!) and where I have my chooks and rabbits and that has really helped. Maybe you could try?
Any, I look forward to reading more posts!
I do like the idea of catnip – I will put some in! In our area houses are pulled down from tiem to time so that certainly makes sense. I also think that it hasn’t helped that next doors apricot tree didn’t really fruit this year and I suspect that was their food supply last year. I did hear on the radio that rats were particularly prolific in Melbourne this year.