Friday, September 26, 2008

Harvest Post, One of last few left.

Today I headed out to harvest what needed to be picked. It was a nice breezy fall day, cloudy but no rain. This will probably be the second last harvest post I will have for the season. Asides from the brussel sprouts, the peppers and some radishes there really isn't much left.

Before I get to what I harvested I like to share a photo of my disappearing lettuce seedlings. I was rather shocked to notice I have one lettuce seeding left with no sign that they where even growing there before. Under closure inspection I noticed some dried slim trails which brought me to the conclusion that snugs have devourer my whole lettuce row. I guess I will be planting some more, I just hope that there is enough time for them to produce.

On to the harvest, first thing I harvested was the fingerling potatoes. They really did not produce much, about a third of them did not sprout leaving 7 plants and they are not a very heavy yielding potato. I don't think I will grow these next year as I really don't have the space to waste on wimpy plants. They do however produce some of the most interesting potatoes I have ever seen.


This is one spud!

I then picked all the lima beans on the two vines I planted. I have never eaten lima beans before so I will have to give them a try over the next couple days. I was expecting them to produce long beans but it just formed short pods with 2-3 beans in each one. They do yield a fare amount off of just two vines.


The last thing I harvested today was my pumpkins that were supposed to be zucchini's. I read that the way of knowing when to harvest a pumpkin is when you press your nail into it that it does not cause an indentation. You can also leave them on the vine until a light frost but they must not be exposed to a hard frost. I ended up with two small pie pumpkins and one large pie pumpkin. They are destine to be pumpkin pie but I will store them for a little while first. They weighted 1lbs 4oz, 1lbs 15oz & 3lbs 13oz.

Well I as out I also ran into two toads. They were both living in the potatoes and didn't like me disturbing there home. The large on took off until it was cornered between the house and raised bed and the little one stayed in the area well I was digging but off to the side.

9 comments:

  1. Pesky snails! They have not been an issue for me due to lack of rainfall...

    Your potatoes are some of the strangest things I have ever seen! Is that the normal growth for that type potato? Kids could have fun playing Mr. Potato-head with those! lol

    Ah, fresh pumpkin pie, yum!

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  2. Those potatoes and pumpkins look great! The toads too.

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  3. skeeter - they are supposed to grow long skinny potatoes, like a finger but I have no idea if they normal fuse together. They are a really tasty potato even if they are a low producer.

    tina - I certainly have my fare share of toads. Some time they freak me out when they jump out of know where at me.

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  4. qSorry your harvests are slowing down. I'm hoping for good fall/winter harvests. And I love my toads. They sound so great at night.

    I hope I get potatoes that look like that from my bin! Good luck growing potatoes next year.

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  5. Nice harvest!

    I can highly recommend Sluggo or Sluggo Plus for getting rid of those munching slug/snail pests. It also does a great job of getting rid of Woodlice/Sowbugs too. There are many products out there but whichever one you choose check that the active ingredient is Iron Phosphate which is good for the soil too so it's a win-win situation. Avoid any which contain Metaledehyde which is a poison.

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  6. Those are interesting potatoes. Very cool shapes. I bet they were good.

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  7. P.S. Maybe you could make a Gratin dauphinois with those potatoes. This French food consists of a casserole dish of potatoes layered with crème fraîche and Gruyère cheese, and then filled up about halfway with milk. Bake it in the oven and the potatoes become rich and flavorful, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

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  8. mick - I will have to look for this product. All the rain we had this year has produced a bumper crop of these little buggers.

    parsec - I am going to try that gratin.

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  9. I love the pumpkins. They don't grow well where I live, but I keep trying.

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