Harvest Monday – 16th January 2012

I have poured a lot of money into establishing the garden over the past year. This is mostly establishment costs such as fruit trees and seeds, but fertilizer, mulch and ongoing maintenance is significant too. I’m hoping that this will slow down a little with the chooks on the scene, but I’ve decided that I need to keep a better track of the harvest I’m getting for all my money, time and effort.

So I’ve decided to join Liz and others keeping track of of their weekly harvest in a blogging tradition started by Daphne at Daphne’s Dandelions. This will force me to take a record of what I’m picking, whether it is consumed by us or gifted away.

So this week we have:

20 Golden Nugget pumpkins (approximately 400g each)

Some of these were used in gnocchi and dhal, but most were given away. My friend Sarah turned them (along with some of my monster zucchini from the last few weeks) into chutney, and gave some back to me 🙂

'Crystal Apple' cucumbers, carrots, Golden Nuggets and 'Double Yield' cucumbers

5 Crystal Apple cucumbers

I grew these on the request of my sister in law, and they have been wildly successful. I’ve lost count of the number of them, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we had 100 before the season is over. I’m still not sure what to do with them apart from tzatziki, raita and refrigerator pickles, but they have been working just fine for those.

3 ‘Double Yield’ cucumber

These haven’t been as prolific as the Digger’s Club claims. I had terrible trouble getting them to germinate, and they have struggled a bit. I think they are coming along now though, and I’ll get more this week.

850g dwarf green beans

I need to plant more of these, because I adore them and they yield amazingly. If I don’t sow another crop I’m going to have a big gap in supply.

Large bowl of silverbeet (hen-pecked because the chooks get out occasionally)

And also:

• 4 bird’s eye chillis – I used these in the kimchi
• 4 yellow button squash
• 2 zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 2 black cherry tomatoes
• a bowl of lettuce leaves
• a small bowl of wild arugula
• a large bowl of basil leaves – for a batch of pesto, which is already all gone
• The occasional pick of mixed herbs – oregano, thyme etc
• An unknowable number of strawberries (You’ll have to ask Little D about that one)

Have a look at what other people are harvesting – head on over to Daphne’s blog.