Sunday, October 4, 2009

Harvest Conclusions

The tomatoes dramatically wilted with the first frost a few days back (Oct 1) and have been sent to the compost. The kale, brussels sprouts and swiss chard endure, despite the recent frost, and as of today, snow.
Above photo: Lovage (upper left), swiss chard and brussels sprouts.

One of the stranger looking carrots, between tomatoes and swiss chard. Most of the carrots were of similar diameter but a few inches longer (conically shaped).

Due to a sudden surplus of tomatoes with the mass picking before the frost, some were boiled into a yummy sauce, with lemon juice (citric acid) and salt added to help preserve while stored in the refrigerator.

2 comments:

Dave said...

Hi Middle Earth:

I see you got the white stuff a couple days before we did here in Edmonton, but we seem to be intent on catching up. I haven't had the heart to look at my Rainbow Swiss Chard yet, but I left it out as an experiment to see how it takes the cold. Looks like the next week will be a real test.

Glad I found your blog - I'm storing up sites to get me through the winter and yours looks like it will have lots to keep my mind off the cold and plant-less months ahead. Thanks.

I found your blog through a comment you left at The Far North Garden some months ago about damage to your peas. I don't know if you discovered your culprit, but this late Spring I was surprised to find that House Sparrows were damaging mine. If you are interested, this link will take you to a picture of the damage:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GQIg_IZuA-4/SlkYmfpfTEI/AAAAAAAAASA/EdwGkbkUFFY/s1600-h/3_Pea_seedling_ravaged.jpg

Jo said...

Dave:

Your blog looks amazing! Stunning photos! I am fascinated by the glimpses of biodiversity in our yard and neighbourhood but know so little about who actually lives here and how they live. Looking foward to learning from your blogged experiences.

Regarding the peas, I have seen some birds pulling at recent sprouts, so that is not surprising. House Sparrows may be the same culprits here, I'll have to watch closer.

Our swiss chard and kale froze up on October 8 (last Thursday) around the time the temperature hit around -8 Celsius in the afternoon. They definitely did not make it to December this year.