Harvest Season

Harvest season is endless here, or so it seems. Today Johnny made sauerkraut out of about twenty cabbages with that many or more still forming in the garden. I took the afternoon off and rode all three horses... the first time since last December. Johnny did not take photos of his sauerkraut making and I did not take photos of my riding... but here are the horses peacefully grazing yesterday, where they are most of the time because, most of the time, I am harvesting and putting up veggies from the garden.

I overproduced on melons this year, especially since they are not the greatest. I grew new ones and think I'll go back to the old. For the last two years, I've bought my seed from D. Landreth Seed Co. They have the most beautiful catalog and wonderful, mostly heirloom, seed... but the varieties they carry vary from year to year. This Tendersweet Orange watermelon is satisfactory, but it is has, well, orange flesh. And there are way too many of them. I'll try drying them for sweet snacks over winter.

This one has light yellow, almost white, flesh. It is Cream of Saskatchewan and so far, pretty tasteless. It is hard to get melons to ripen in this climate. Next year I'll plant red fleshed ones so they at least look like watermelons. Drying is said to concentrate the flavor and sugar. Here's hoping.

The honeydews did not ripen well, but there are plenty of them. The cantaloup are better but small. We eat both kinds daily. With salt they're pretty good.

Tomatoes and corn are the stars this year. We have eaten oodles of corn, given it away, frozen it and still there are ears ripening in the garden. And it is delicious... actually Bodacious. Yum. The tomatoes are still going strong in the garden in spite of the heavy rains earlier. Here is yesterday's harvest.

 
 I get that many every other day. I have canned many quarts, made tomato soup many times, and we have eaten tomatoes every which way they can be eaten fresh and cooked. Next year, I won't plant quite so many... or so many varieties. One variety is huge... bigger than some of my melons. Here are a few of them lined up on the kitchen window ledge.

Still producing in the garden is broccoli, De Cicco. At first I was disappointed because the heads were small, but then they made side heads, and more side heads, and more. They just won't quit. And it is perhaps the best tasting broccoli I've ever grown. Hopefully, it will keep on keeping on all winter. Broccoli is pretty cold hardy.

Yet to bring in are the delicata squash which are ripe and ready. They are my next project, along with the pumpkins. I loved the pumpkins I grew last year but could not find that kind this year. So I grew Autumn Gold and they are huge. I'll get photos after I get them out of the garden... somehow. The acorn squash I planted from seed I had saved from last year produced various hybrid squash. It's tasty but it's not acorn squash. Live and learn.

The freezer and pantry shelves are full of garden produce. We have buckets of potatoes and onions. Lots of veggies remain in the garden for me to dig and pick as we eat them: beets, parsnips, kale.

It is a good feeling to have our own organically grown food to eat all year.

But I think I'll start spending more time riding my horses... and taking a break from harvesting.