August 17, 2015

Harvest Monday, 8/17/15

I've started cleaning out the garden this weekend to get ready for fall planting. Cleared out the bush beans from the Brussels sprout bed and the Pinkeye Purple Hull peas from the asparagus nursery bed. Everything was in decline so it was nice getting things cleaned up.
On Thursday all the tomatoes were picked off the vines in preparation for the big garden clean up. I plan on making a half recipe of sweet and spicy green tomato pickle from Simple Daily Recipes. There's some little eggplants, Shishito peppers, red and green long beans, summer squash, and cucumbers.
Tried sautéing the Shishito peppers in olive oil with salt and some lemon juice added at the end. Not my favorite. The rest will probably end up in stir fries or pickles.
Summer squash, long bean, eggplant, tomato, and garlic stir fry with rice. Quite yummy and what we've been eating for most our dinners.

This week's harvest:

7.320 pounds green tomato
2.916 pounds ripe tomato
4.278 pounds cucumber
2.390 pounds squash
1.298 pounds Shishito pepper
1.042 pounds eggplant
0.924 pound long bean

Total weekly harvest: 20.168 pounds

Please join us for Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions where gardeners and garden enthusiasts from around the world share what they've harvested for the week.

26 comments:

Susie said...

What a terrific tomato harvest, I love green tomato pickle.

Margaret said...

That's quite the harvest for the week & the stir fry looks delicious! I think the Padrons I'm growing are similar to the Shishito's as they are often cooked & served in that same way. When I fried the Padrons they were good but WAY too spicy. We only ended up eating a few (our mouths were on fire!) and the rest I have been using in yoghurt/cucumber salads as well as a stewed green bean dish...much yummier and no need to call the fire department.

Phuong said...

Hi Susie, I had sweet green tomato pickle for the first time at a restaurant and it was delicious. I'm very hopeful that this recipe turns out well.

Phuong said...

Hi Margaret,
I wonder how the taste of Padrons compare to Shishito peppers. Were the peppers raw in your yoghurt cucumber salad?

Eight Gate Farm NH said...

I am impressed with your poundage of shishitos--they are such a small variety it must take a bushel to weigh that much. How many plants did you grow?

David Velten said...

That is a big pile of green tomatoes. Last year I harvested a lot of small ones before an upcoming frost and made refrigerator pickled green tomatoes. Those were tasty and easy to make.

norma chang said...

Hope you will write a post about your experience with the green tomato pickle.

Shaheen said...

Your green tomatoes are proper whoppers. I like making green tomato chutney, but I look forward to your green tomato pickle recipe

Daphne Gould said...

Look at all those tomatoes. I remember when I could eat them, in the fall I'd have the green ones all lined up on the windowsills waiting to turn red.

Unknown said...

What a nice pile of tomatoes. I love making a stir fry for dinner using whatever is ready in the garden. It is a great feeling to get the garden cleaned up for the next round.

Melissa said...

Wow! What a wonderful tomato haul! Congratulations!

Lexa said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! I am embarrassed to admit to you, I don't like tomatoes so I can't give you a very good report on taste. I just love to grow them and share them with friends. But so far everyone has liked them. This is the third year I have grown Galina because of all of the positive feedback. Your stir fry looks amazing. Fresh garden eating at its best!

Margaret said...

The Padrons I used in the yoghurt salad were cooked (leftovers from those that we fried). I am actually thinking of using them in that way from here on in as they are delicious when mixed in with other dishes, just too spicy to eat on their own. I included some in a stewed tomato/bean dish and it was really good. I think I may harvest, fry them up and then freeze them whole to use over the winter.

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

I love green tomato pickles and relish! My experiences with Padrons are a lot like Margarets. They were too hot to eat on their own, but good cooked with other things.

Phuong said...

Hi Eight Gate,
There's 6 Shishito pepper plants but a couple of those plants are pretty big and still loaded with fruit. It's nice that peppers keep so long on the plants, it makes it a lot easier to deal with them.

Phuong said...

Hi David,
I never tried refrigerator pickles before this year. They are so easy and wonderful, I might try that instead with the green tomatoes.

Phuong said...

Hi Norma,
The recipe calls for letting the pickles rest for at least three weeks before trying, but it says they're even better after a couple months. I like that the recipe has sweet and hot peppers and carrots in it as well.

Phuong said...

Hi Shaheen,
I'll definitely post about my experiences with the tomato pickle. I started chopping the vegetables today and will finish up canning before work tomorrow, I've decided to make a couple quarts with jalapeno peppers and the other quarts with Shishito peppers.

Phuong said...

Hi Daphne,
It must be difficult to have allergies to the nightshade family, they're so pervasive in our food culture. My little one has severe peanut and nut allergies so we have to be super careful.

Mac said...

Nice pile of green tomatoes, everyone says Padron is hot and spicy, I have not had one single spicy Padron this year, wonder what's going on.

The stir fry dish looks yummy.

Phuong said...

Hi Rachel,
Stir fries are definitely my go to for quick easy meals. Your tomatoes are ripening so beautifully and I really enjoyed your post on 13 Quick Growing Vegetables for the Fall, it reminded me that I have some Golden Ball turnip seeds that need to get planted.

Phuong said...

Hi Melissa,
It was nice getting all the tomatoes off the vines and get ready for the big garden clean up.

Phuong said...

Hi Lexa,
Your garden is amazing and your dahlias are breathtaking. I do the same thing, grow things I don't eat a lot of because its a challenge or they're so easy to grow that a person might as well grow them for others.

Phuong said...

Hi Dave,
The Shishito peppers ended up being pretty spicy, so I've been adding them to other dishes like the way you do with the Padrons. I wonder if my Poblano peppers are cross pollinating with the sweet peppers and making them spicier, but more than likely it's the weather.

Phuong said...

Hi Mac,
Are you using the same Padron seeds? Maybe the strain is milder. Your peppers are so beautiful and you've gotten lots of them.

Texan said...

My goodness that vegetable dish on rice... that looks sooooooooo GOOD!