Harvest Monday, June 4, 2012

Harvest has been all about the lettuce this past week! And I am quite ok with that.

We planted Crisp Mint Romain and we're loving it.

Along with lettuce though, we pulled our first few beets and 2 carrots to see how they were doing.

The beets looked great in my opinion - it is our first time growing them so it's been trail and error in choosing when to harvest.

Hubby doesn't remember which carrot seeds he planted. We pulled an orange one and a reddish one, so I am guessing at the least, he planted some Atomic Red carrot seed I had left over from last year.

The beets were roasted with dinner and the leftovers went into my lunch salad the next day.

We're so nice, we even let the horses enjoy the first carrot harvest of the season, greens and all. And of course, you know the spoiled ladies of the coop took away with all the beet greens!

Later, over the weekend, we pulled more beets and the rest of the carrots. We plan to plant a new patch.

These were the Detroit Red Beets.

We still have Bulls Blood Red Beets in the ground.

Beet & Carrot Harvest

The Chard is growing in nicely and we picked our first big harvest of it on Saturday.

Hubby holding part of the Chard harvest

More Chard!!

And we have begun to pick our Alaska Shelling Peas. Someone may or may not have been trying to steal them right out of the colander before they were even shelled!

This post was linked up for Harvest Monday over at Daphne's Dandelions. Hop on over to check out other bloggers harvest from the past week.

Baby Food: Carrots

Ah - the carrot.

The vegetable that beta-carotene was named after!

 Did your mother ever tell you to eat them so you can see better?

No vegetable even comes close to comparing with a carrot when it comes to beta-carotene.

A study from Harvard University suggests that people who eat at least 5 carrots a week are less likely to suffer a stroke than those who eat one carrot a month. I found that fact interesting.

So, as you see above, I peeled the carrots. Normally, when I throw them in stews, pot roast etc, I do not. And if I buy them from a farmers market or pull them out of our own garden, I do not. However, these were from the store - I can't tell you why, but I felt I needed to peel off that outer layer. I digress - do what your gut tells you too. And have you ever had a fresh carrot from the garden? I never believed it until I tried it myself, but they really are so much more sweet and tasty than one from the store.

Anyways, what I was trying to get at was, since these are a root vegetable, I chose to roast them. Because everyone knows roasted root veggies rock! I coated them with some olive oil and baked them at 375 degrees F for probably 70-90 minutes depending on the size of the chunk! I could have done 400 degrees (and it would have took less time), I am sure, but I don't particularly care for the oven being that hot if I can avoid it. I know, I'm weird!

Coat these carrot chunks in olive oil - YES! - olive oil. Saturated fats are good for you. And they are good for your baby too. Coconut oil would probably be good too. Margarine or vegetable oil, umm, not so much [gag]!

After these roasted, they took a spin in the food processor. They were a 'rough puree'. If I had steamed them, I think they would have been more of a smooth puree, but since my little guy is almost 8 months now, a little more rough is better. He is learning textures. He screams when I take away a piece of steak that I let him naw on - but we'll save that story for later!

You may notice some little black specks. I say that is ok. Those specks are roasted goodness from the carrots. I also added some [homemade] chicken broth to the carrot puree for good measure ;)

Give these a try for your little one. And for sure, if you can grow them yourself or purchase some fresh from a farmers market, I highly recommend it!

Alternate Prep Method:

Peel the outter layer, then dice. Steam for about 20 minutes or until tender and pierced easily with a fork. Puree in foor processor with 1 tbsp of softened butter. If you baby is exiting the 'pure, puree' stage, you can still use the food processor, just hit the grind button a few times to leave them lumpy for more of a texture.

Companion Planting

As I may have mentioned in a previous post, we are trying to 'Companion Plant' our garden this year as well as make our larger garden into raised beds. I am working on diagrams for hubby to go by. Just when I think I have things where I like it, I want to switch something or I am questioning if there is a better way!


I would really like to hear from any of my readers if you do 'Companion Planting' with your gardens -- with your veggies, herbs, flowers...any of it. And if so, what are some tips you have? What have you found helpful? What really works for you in your area?

Alas, I mentioned hubby is working on his Rasp/Blackberry patch too -- any suggestions for companion planting in there? I didn't find much when doing a brief google search.

Hubby working up the new Rasp/Blackberry patch

Side Note: Chives planted underneath apple trees are said to help prevent scab on your apples. Do you think hubby would plant chives under our 120 apple trees ;) ?

I am letting the book 'Carrots Love Tomatoes' by Louise Riotte be my guide, however, I am still stumped on what I want to plant with our carrots nor can I decide how & where I want to place our bell peppers - Jupiter Peppers to be exact ;) Any suggestions. I know I can plant my peppers with some basil, but I am already planting basil with my tomatoes and since I haven't grown the basil from seed, I am not looking to break the bank on basil plants :)

Hubby preparing the gardens...dumping in some composted manure

Grilled Veggie Medley - The Best You Ever Had!

Hubby & I did some harvesting from the garden Thursday evening. Then he took most of the harvest and created what was the MOST delish veggie medley I have ever had [since last summer] on the grill!

All winter I thought about how I couldn't wait for garden harvest's because my husband throws them on the grill and whatever it is he does to them, they are certainly 'the best I have ever had'. For those family members reading, I am sure you are laughing! You see, for those non-family members, my husband has this ongoing, a tad annoying, joke that anytime he cooks something, he proclaims it will be 'the best you ever had'.

But seriously, when he does this with veggies fresh out of the garden, it IS the best I have ever had.....every time! As soon as I get him to fork over his secrets, I will post the recipe.

This mix was carrots, summer squash, mammoth snow peas, onion and broccoli.....gosh my mouth is watering....and it isn't even noon!

Ready for the Grill

Ready for my Belly ;)

A Glimpse Into The Gardens...

Wild Daisy's at the entrance of one garden

An Onion coming in

Yellow Squash

Mammoth Snow Peas

The Pepper & Tomato Garden in the Orchard

Heirloom Tomato Blossoms

Harvest Monday, June 20

Welcome Harvest Monday! As usual, I harvested a ton of my herbs as I went through the week while I cooked. Some Dill in Fridge Pickels, Basil & Oregeo in pasta, Lemon Balm in my Sun Tea, Cilantro in my Kale/Rice/Chick Pea dish and the list goes on and on! I bet if I weighed my Parsely, it'd be 500 pounds!! Ok, maybe not 500 but.....

So this week, we harvested 5.82 oz and the last of our Easter Egg Radishes. Two bolted so I left them to go to seed and then I can collect them and replant next year. Any suggestions for what to make with these radishes? This is the first year we've grown them. My husband eats them raw but I'd like to do something else with them!

We also harvested more Broccoli, 3.32 oz. I cannot believe the Broccoli we are having this year! Our cauliflower is close too!

And now a question for all you 'Harvest Monday'ers' out there ;) How do you grow your carrots?

Our patch is full and I read that you should thin out to no less than 2" apart. Here is a stack of what my husband pulled last night as he thinned a few rows. There were already tasty little nibblers there!

Here's to a good week :) Stay cool out there!

Check out other gardeners harvests at Daphne's Dandelions!