Harvesting: The (Bitter)Sweet Reward

It's apple picking season, which also signals that it's time to harvest the outdoor garden. Since we only have one harvest time in Vermont, harvesting is a bittersweet process for me, since it will be an entire year before we get to do it all over again. This is one of the main reasons I practice Aquaponic gardening - to have the freshest grown food available year-round. Since I've been spending most of my gardening days outside in the dirt this summer, though, this blog post is dedicated to those crops instead.

Corn

I've only been growing corn for the last couple of years. Why? I dunno. Maybe because fresh corn is so plentiful and affordable this time of year at farm stands. But, there's really nothing like pulling an ear right off the stalk, dunking it in water, and throwing it immediately on the grill, as fresh as it gets. I figure they're ready to pick when I can't get my hand around the ear anymore. 

 I grew a few rows of Silver Queen right on the south side of my deck, spaced only about 8" apart. With this closer spacing, I noticed that instead of growing two full ears (last year I planted them 12" apart), most have only developed one. Still, I have a good dozen ears more than I grew last year. Most all of them recovered from the trampling from the neighborhood bear in early June. Check out those paw prints. They were as big as my hand.

Butternut Squash

I planted four hills with two squash plants each, and let the plants sprawl around the base of the adjacent corn plants. I haven't eaten any yet, but they seems just about ready since most of them are fully dark yellow color and the leaves are dying off. I've heard that the best thing to do is to pick them, and then rotate them for a couple of weeks, to prepare/season their skin for winter. I haven't grown these before, so we'll see how they turn out.

Tomatoes 

It wasn't a good year for my tomatoes. We bought a variety of kinds from Walker Farm - from cherry tomatoes to Romas. They were doing well until mid-August. But with cool temperatures and too much rain, the ripening process slowed right down to a sluggish crawl. Unfortunately, I still have quite a few semi-mature tomatoes on the vine, with our first frost right around the corner. Some drop right off the vine, still green. I noticed that some of the tomatoes had green/yellow "shoulders" on top. Many of them were heirloom varieties, and I guess that can be a prevalent condition with heirlooms. I grow basil in between the tomato plants, but they didn't grow that well this year either.

Asparagus Bean 

OK, I know what you're thinking...."Asparagus what?" This bean is also known as Yard Long Bean and Snake Bean. I bought a seed packet of these beans in an Baltimore Asian market this spring. I planted them in late May, but the plants grew very slowly. Since they grow like vines, I put up a low fence for them to use, as I do with my spring peas. But, they just grew around and through it.

They're finally starting to flower. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the frost will kill these in the next couple of weeks before the beans develop if I don't cover them, so I may put up a cold frame around them and give them a better chance. Anyway, in Asia, these suckers grow bean pods over one and a half feet long! This is what they're supposed to look like when mature.

Figs

During that April trip to Baltimore, I picked up a small Northern Chicago variety fig tree at a nursery for $40. It was just a year old, but I was reassured that it would fruit this season as there were a few dead figs around the base of the plant already. I planted it in a big pot, and brought it outside in mid-May, and put it on the south facing patio. Figs require a lot of water, and have a soft wood, much like sumac. They grow very quickly. Within a month it had grown a foot or so, and sprouted about thirty little figs. This variety is ready to eat when they turn from green to purple. They're delicious and not too seedy. After a couple of frosts, I'll bring it inside, prune it, and it will be dormant until I put it back outside next spring. I guess it doesn't need much watering at all in the winter, so it's only a high maintenance plant half of the year.

Beets 

I pulled the row of Tiger Lilies from the front of our house and planted beets and turnips in their place. Sound weird? Well, I wanted to maximize growing space on the long side of our house which faces West. With all the rain cascading off our roof, the beets and turnips did pretty well and didn't need much attention. This one is about softball size.  

Gilfeather Turnip 

You gotta love the ol' Gilfeather Turnip (a.k.a. "the poor man's lobster"). It's hearty, grows late into the season, and so tasty. I grew these up against the house on the West side. Insects chewed holes through the leaves, but if you're familiar with these vegetables, you know it's a pretty ugly vegetable, anyway. Who knows? Maybe I'll submit one of them to the Wardsboro 11th Annual Gilfeather Festival on October 26th. They do award a prize for the ugliest turnip in their turnip contest, after all.

Potatoes

My neighbor gave me some Yukon Gold potatoes in early spring, so once May hit, I planted a couple of rows of them in a mix of soil and fresh compost. I planted them with their sprouts pointed up, just peeking through the soil. An early May frost turned their leaves brown and I thought they'd die. But, they were hardy, and the taters bounced right back. Weeds quickly took over my potato beds, and by late June, they demanded serious attention. Luckily, after weeding them I had a lot of soil from my new garden plot to cover the plants with, and they grew well in foot-high mounds. Next year, I think I'll plant more rows.

Swiss Chard

Chard is an amazing plant. It seems that the more you cut it, the more it grows back. I planted just one row of chard this year, but that was enough since it grows like crazy. I might even have to freeze some for winter.

Dinosaur Kale

This variety grows longer than some other kinds of kale, and the leaves do resemble dinosaur skin. Insects got to mine, but that's no big deal. I'll just make some kale chips by rinsing it, patting it dry with a towel (otherwise you'll end up steaming it) and covering it with just a little olive oil and salt. Bake it at 350 degrees for about ten minutes flipping it after about five minutes. They're awesome.

If you've read this far, you're probably wondering what's happening with my Aquaponics projects. Find out by tuning in to WKVT AM 1490 this Friday from 10-11am for September's radio show of "Tank to Table" with Susan Crowther and host, Chris Lenois!