It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where gardeners from all over celebrate all things harvest related. Autumn is officially here now, and my garden activities are reflecting that. I’ve been busy cleaning out the greenhouse to make ready for fall and winter crops, which is a seasonal chore. I have greens like lettuce, kale and arugula started indoors and it will soon be time to plant them in the greenhouse both in-ground and in containers. Meanwhile, the harvests continue, albeit at a slower pace. I brought in more winter squashes last week, including mature Centercut and Turkeyneck varieties. And I harvested several pounds of pole beans, which are still producing well for us.
September harvest
The peppers are really coming in, with a good selection of both sweet and hot types. The sweet ones included Carmen, Sweetie Pie, Glow and Jimmy Nardello. They have wound up in numerous dishes, including a veggie quesadilla and a batch of sheet pan ratatouille I baked up for dinner one night.
sweet peppers
Aji Delight is a C. baccatum pepper with no heat but the typical fruity flavor most baccatum peppers have. The plants get big for me here, and are always loaded with sweet and crunchy fruit. We use them fresh, roasted and cooked with beans and other dishes where a bit of sweet peppers is called for.
Aji Delight peppers
The pole beans and blackeyes keep me busy shelling and snapping them. The freezer is filling up nicely with both, and we will be enjoying these for many months to come.
pole beans and blackeyes
I got a few of the long skinny eggplants last week, along with the Aji Delight peppers. I roasted some of these eggplants for an open-faced sandwich we had for lunch one day.
sweet peppers and eggplant
I’m still getting a few tomatoes, and last week the haul included some slicing types and the last few of the paste tomatoes. We’ve been using these fresh, as I have preserved plenty of them already.
late season tomatoes
The native Goldenrod is blooming around here now. The plants are not that conspicuous until they start blooming, when the yellow plumes of flowers appear. Goldenrod is attractive to both bees and butterflies, and is beautiful to look at as well. It is commonly blamed for hay fever, but this discomfort is usually caused by pollen from Ragweed plants which bloom at the same time. That fact was confirmed by my allergy doctor many years ago. I happily plant goldenrod here as well as let a few of the wild plants grow, but I pull any ragweed plants I see.
Solidago ‘Peter Pan’
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!