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Monday, June 23, 2014

HARVEST MONDAY JUNE 23 2014

Every Monday, Daphne's Dandelions hosts "Harvest Monday" where bloggers can post their harvests.  Click her link above to see what others are harvesting and see below for what we harvested.

Harvest Monday Basket
Kinda looks pretty all together huh?

Not too bad this week.  Tomatoes are still slowly coming in, but we are losing a few, I'll blog about that later.  There were quite a few jalapeƱos ready and it looks like we have enough to make some jalapeƱo poppers!

It was kind of hard to see in the above picture how many herbs there were so I took this picture to show you the bundles:


Herb harvest bundles
These are bundles of oregano, chives (both garlic and regular) and two types of basil; regular Italian basil and Thai basil.  I think we're going to put them in the dehydrator and see how that goes, unless anyone has any other suggestions.  We'll probably get this many more again next week.

One of the eggplants has bounced back, the other two died (ants) and I pulled them up.  Squash is still struggling.  Once again though, not too bad for being out there once a week and not getting them watered by hand on a daily basis.  This is a test this first season to see what we need to change for future seasons and we're taking good notes on what does and doesn't work.

Vegetable harvest:  1 lb 8 oz
Herb harvest:         9 oz
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Total harvest YTD:  3 lb 2 oz


27 comments:

  1. Tomatoes already? that's very early, but makes for a very pretty and colorful basket.

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    1. It's already in the 90's here on a regular basis. Our season starts early but ends earlier too...here in another month or so, it will be so hot and unbearable, the veggies will start to fizzle out. The basket was pretty wasn't it? Thank you!!!

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  2. Lovely basket. I dehydrate a lot of herbs too. Though I don't have Thai basil.

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    1. I hope to get the dehydrator going tomorrow. Have you ever had Thai Basil? It's also sometimes called Asian basil or Vietnamese basil. It's a strong basil with sort of spicy cinnamon overtones. Very good and can be used it just about anything you'd put basil in.

      Thank you! And thanks for always hosting!!

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  3. Herbs, tomatoes, peppers - I see lots of possibilities in that basket! I'm with you on learning what works and what doesn't. I think every year is another new adventure with gardening!

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    1. Great way to put it huh? Every year a new adventure for sure. Thanks for the kind words!

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  4. Save some basil for a few basil bliss drinks:
    http://www.nwedible.com/2014/06/the-basil-bliss.html

    Refreshing after you've been working outside all day in the Houston heat. They taste almost like a sweet tart!

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    1. Just commented on Erica's blog. Thanks for the tip, that looks delish!

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  5. Great harvests already! Your tomatoes look divine! I think ours are probably a month away still...all of our starts failed so we're way behind where we usually are at this time. Slice up a juicy one and sprinkle some salt on it for me, will you? ;-)

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    1. Thank you! It's technically our first year of finally doing a little gardening and so far not so bad. Only have the three beds going but that's more as a test this first year so we can learn what to do differently next year (and expand). We will have a few slices with salt (is there hardly anything better in a garden?) and enjoy it just for you!!

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  6. That is one beautiful assortment of veggies - we are at least a month away from that combo. I'm in the early learning stage of vegetable gardening as well. There are so many new things to learn for each vegetable (especially when you are just starting out) that I think I will be taking notes & making adjustments for quite some time..but all that experimenting is half the fun, now isn't it?

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    1. Thank you very much....I tried to 'style' it, ha. It came out pretty good. Yes, we're considering this an experimental year. :-)

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  7. What a beautiful harvest! Your long-distance watering seems to be working, even in this heat.
    That is a great idea to dehydrate the herbs. You inspired me to purchase a dehydrator and it just arrived - so my herbs will be my first attempt at it. Thanks for the inspiration!
    Seeing your tomatoes and peppers together made me think of my Daddy’s okra gumbo recipe. You already have the tomatoes and peppers, now all you need are some okra, which you can find in a farmer’s market or from some country neighbor who has an abundance.

    That is such a gorgeous photo of your garden’s bounty in the basket. You could frame some of your harvest photos for your kitchen. Country pictures in a farmhouse kitchen, what could be more beautiful!

    Happy Gardening!
    Texas Rose

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    1. It is working...for the most part. Thank you! YAY! A dehydrator! I'm about to fire ours up tomorrow for these herbs. Need to read up on how long to do herbs, I can't imaging they take very long.

      And what a great idea to save pictures and frame them. I will have to start a list of pictures i want to do that too. Thanks!!

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  8. Nice basket. I forgot to add the peppers to my harvest this week. LOL your jalapenos reminded me!

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    1. Ha, that's ok, last week I forgot the herbs. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the compliment, it's not much but it's a start. :-)

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  9. I'm not real happy with the dehydrator I've been using the last few years. Wish I could set a temp or timer on it. Great harvest post. Still a ways out on anything more than lettuce and the like for us.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I bought one that has a digital temp control and a timer (there is al link to the post about it over on the side where the labels are listed). Definitely makes life much easier.

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  10. Great harvest photo. I don't have a dehydrator, being on solar, and I haven't yet tried to do herbs in our solar dryer but what I have done with them is turned them into flavoured butters. I mix any combo of herbs and spices with butter then freeze them in large ice cube trays. When they are frozen, I pop them out then place them into zip lock bags. Then when I'm cooking meat or even veges, I just throw one or two into a fry pan and you then have your flavour base as well as a beginning to a tasty sauce. I couple of favourites are rosemary, garlic and seeded mustard or lemon juice, cajun spices and garlic. The mix possibilities are endless. Also, I plant my basil among my tomato plants. I think it helps the flavour of the tomatoes (though maybe that's in my head).

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    1. OK, now that's great info to know. I love that idea and as much as we like to cook (and eat) it would be an awesome thing to try. So you use real butter I assume and just dice herbs up into a fine mince? Is the butter liquid melted or just melted like room temp melted? Great idea, thanks...we will try that and I'll be sure and blog about it (and give you credit!!!).

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  11. What a beautiful harvest photo! So colorful! It will be a while before I will see any tomatoes or peppers, so I will be enjoying your harvest monday posts :)

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    1. Thank you much. I'm guessing that they will be similar since I haven't planted much else. There are the eggplants to root for, ha. And the squash hopefully!

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  12. I posted a harvest too. Blogger is not listing who posted new post for me today. I don't know what is up with that. I have clicked on everything I could think of to get it to give me a list LOL... I have been just going down the list and checking when I had time today to see if anyone posted... You had a Lovely harvest...I dry a lot of herbs in my dehydrator, I use the herb setting on my dehydrator... if yours doesn't have a herb setting, its just real low. Better to dry them at a lower temperature. If they are dirty and you have to rinse them off let them dry before you put them in the dehydrator. It seems to help them to hold their color better and they just dry nicer over all. :O). If my herbs are not dirty I do not wash them as they dehydrate better over all if you don't have to wash them off first. Just knock off anything loose on them :O)... if its a option to do it that way :O).

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    1. You know, the dehydrator is virtually new (new as in most recent style) and I am not sure if there is an herb setting (it is digital). I will have to look. Thanks for the tip on how to do it. I wasn't sure about washing them first. Of course, I put them in a baggie with a damp paper towel to bring them back from the farm. I'll make sure I dry them off as much as possible. Thanks!!!

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  13. Here is a recipe to use some of that garden fresh Thai Basil. This recipe also calls for hot chilies and I use Thai Peppers if I can find them. Enjoy!! M

    http://andreasrecipes.com/thai-basil-chicken-kai-kraphao/

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    1. YUM!!!! Thank you for that link. Might just try that out!! You are awesome.

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  14. i'm growing thai basil for the first time this year. I think it tastes like black liquorice. I haven't put it in anything yet though. I might try the chicken suggested by Midnite Baker (thanks!).

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