The Modern Victory Garden

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what people are producing from gardens from so many different regions, and how they are using it.   Check it out and join in!          

The harvest total broke over 100 pounds this week and the harvest amounts should continue to accelerate through the coming weeks and months as the high season of the summer garden gets underway.   I thought I would be picking the big shelling pea patch this weekend, but I need to hold off a few more days (at a minimum) because they are not quite ready yet.   However, I did harvest all of the elephant garlic and the onions that were growing next to the garlic.                             

These are not included in this week’s harvest tally as they need to dry down first and have the tops removed before I weigh them.   The bed these were in was cultivated and prepped and then planted up with 41 broccoli starts and 3 cabbages.   The only remaining item in this bed from earlier plantings is the patch of leeks (lower right hand corner).                    

I was going to transplant these broccoli plants into the bed where the pea patch is located (once the peas were harvested).   However, the pea patch is taking longer than normal to fully mature and the broccoli could not wait any longer to go into the ground.                 

Last week I harvested the hard neck garlic but did not include it in the harvest tally as it needed to dry down.   This week they are in the tally because they had dried sufficiently to remove the tops and be weighed.   These were placed in my ceramic garlic storage jar (has ventilation holes) to be used in the months to come.   

We also have been getting dribs and drabs of raspberries and strawberries throughout the week, but we have been eating them as fast as they ripen and have not been getting any pictures or weighing them.   The exception is that on Sunday morning I picked a larger amount for our Sunday brunch, which was at least photo worthy even if the weight of them fell below my required ¼ pound for inclusion in the harvest tally.                    

On Tuesday I harvested some broccoli side shoots, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, and an onion.   Both the carrots and the onions did not make weight and are therefore not included in the weekly harvest tally.   I really like “this and that” harvests as they make a great foundation for a good stir fry dinner, which is exactly what I did with the Tuesday night harvest.         

Turnips were the harvest item for Thursday.                         

They were peeled and diced and combined with an equal amount of peeled, cored, and diced apples.   They were then tossed with my favorite sweet slaw dressing (3/4 cup of mayo, 1/8 cup of maple syrup, 1/8 cup of lemon juice, dash of ground nutmeg – whisked together).   This was served with breaded and seasoned pork chops that were baked until just done and still juicy.      

I harvested some sugar snap peas on Friday.   I am so glad they are back on the menu again.   I really have missed them!              

These were just simply steamed until tender and then served with a little butter and sprinkle of salt as an accompaniment to spaghetti with meat sauce (made with some of our home canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, some green onions, and green garlic).                        

On Sunday I harvested two good sized heads of savoy cabbages, some more broccoli side shoot florets, and I did a exploratory check of the potatoes and pulled out a couple of decent sized ones which together weighed a half pound.   The broccoli and potatoes were destined for the Sunday evening menu – Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and steamed broccoli (served simply with just a little butter and a sprinkle of salt).   The cabbages were used to start a small batch of sauerkraut.      

The cabbage was trimmed, washed thoroughly, and cored.   A few of the best large green outer leaves were set aside and the rest of the cabbage was processed with a fine chiffonade cut.                         

The leaves were layered into the fermentation crock and sprinkled with pickling salt on each layer (1 TBS for 3 to 4 lbs of cabbage) and some caraway seeds (1 tsp for 3 to 4 lbs of cabbage).   A final toss/mix to ensure the salt was well distributed and then the two large leaves held in reserve were laid on top of the mixture.   I have a Harsch fermentation crock, which comes with split weight stones. However, you can also use a scrubbed heavy rock to do the same job of keeping the cabbage submerged below the liquid and generate pressure, which is necessary for proper fermentation.   I placed the stones on top of the large leaves and then applied pressure until the combination of pressure and salt yielded the liquid from the cabbage.   I added some previously boiled and then cooled salted water to the cabbage liquid in an amount sufficient to ensure the stones were completely covered by liquid.                    

This particular style of fermentation crock also has a gutter for water around the top, which makes the crock airtight when the lid is set in place. I filled the groove with water and set the lid in place.                

This will now be left alone and allowed to ferment.   Since I used a summer savoy cabbage for this batch, it should be ready in just a little over two weeks time and can then be refrigerated for many weeks while we use it up.        

Harvest totals for the week of July 11th through July 17th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).

• Broccoli 0.75 lbs
• Cabbage 3.50 lbs
• Carrots 0.00 lbs (not enough to round up to ¼ pound)
• Garlic 1.50 lbs
• Peas (sugar snap) 0.25 lbs
• Potatoes 0.50 lbs
• Raspberries 0.00 lbs (not enough to round up to ¼ pound)
• Turnips 3.00 lbs

Total For Week 9.50 lbs

Total Year To Date 104.00 lbs                   

Eggs collected this week – 32                   

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener