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 too!                          

The harvest this week is definitely shifting into fall crops.   There are still some pole beans but they will not be lasting too much longer and I picked the last of the cucumbers on Sunday as the plants are giving in to the powdery mildew.   I have some pumpkins that are still maturing.   Once the pumpkin vines start dieing back, I will move the pumpkins into the sunny and warm greenhouse to finish ripening off the vine.   Until then though, I want to leave them on the vine as long as possible.                             

On Monday, I harvested the largest of the remaining green tomatoes and moved them into the house to begin ripening off the vine.   I also picked the last of the peppers, one of which was a nice sized ripe one but the rest were small and green.   I managed not to weigh or photograph the peppers so they are not included in the weekly tally.                             

These tomatoes will not go into the harvest tally until they are ripened, as many of them will likely not make it.                     

The harvest on Tuesday was a colander of broccoli and some fresh chives which did not get photographed or weighed - something that usually happens with herbs as I pop out and grab a bit while cooking and never stop to weigh or photograph them.                         

The broccoli and chives were used along with the red pepper harvested on Monday and some potatoes from storage to make that night’s dinner.   The menu was small steaks (pan seared) topped with a finely sliced ripe red pepper that had been sautéed until roasted and beginning to get soft and then cooked further with white wine on high heat until the wine was fully evaporated and reduced and the peppers tender.  The steaks topped with the peppers and wine reduction was served with steamed broccoli dressed with just a bit of butter and a sprinkle of salt, and a baked potato topped with sour cream and fresh snipped chives.                       

My garden shopping (otherwise known as harvesting!) for Wednesday night’s dinner was a large colander of beautiful large spinach leaves.            

 This was used to make boneless/skinless chicken breast chunks in a spicy Thai peanut sauce served on a bed of cooked spinach (also known as Swimming Rama) with cooked rice served on the side.                      

I worked at the Giving Garden Saturday morning and then came home that afternoon and did quite a bit of work in my own garden to get it ready for the hens to return for the winter.   This entailed transplanting some kale and cabbages from beds that were not destined to be protected from the hens and moving them to the large bed that would be covered with a grow tunnel.   All of the beds that have perennial plantings (rhubarb, bush pie cherries, strawberries, tree kale, and the ultra dwarf apple trees) were protected with either a fence of chicken netting ( using bamboo as the “posts” ) or covered with PVC hoops and bird netting.   The bed of broccoli, cabbage, and leeks as well as the bed of overwintered onions were also covered with PVC hoops and bird netting.     The 4’X4’ bed section with red beets was covered by hoops and plastic sheeting.   Finally, the large 32’X4’ bed (where the majority of the winter crops are growing) was covered by a large grow tunnel.   I added a ridgepole of PVC pipe this year along the top of the PVC hoops (secured using tie wraps) to give it more rigidity and help shed snow and rain more easily.        

This bed has swiss chard, more spinach, mache (corn salad), lettuces, pac choi, kale, two kinds of cabbages, and golden beets.   After the grow tunnel was in place, I shut the door on the greenhouse to keep the containers of lettuces, napa cabbages, and carrots growing there safe from the hens.   With that the garden was buttoned down and ready for the hens to return to forage and graze through the fall and winter months.   I opened the two gates that connect the hen’s year-round grazing area to the garden…              

…and within minutes all six of them were returned to the garden paradise of plenty for the off season!                       

 Before I covered the bed of beets, I harvested several of them for the evening meal.                             

The beets were roasted and then diced into large chunks and tossed with some butter and a sprinkle of salt, and served with roasted pork chops and shell pasta in a creamy and very garlicky Parmesan sauce (garlic from storage).    Nice hearty dinner to end a day of hard work in two gardens.    

On Sunday I harvested the last of the cucumbers and a few carrots both of which I put in the fridge for later use or snacking.   I also picked some pole beans and pulled a few ripe tomatoes from the group of greenies that have been ripening indoors.                           

The green beans were used along with potatoes from storage to make the Sunday night dinner of roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed green beans dressed simply with a bit of butter and a sprinkle of salt.                                        

Harvest totals for the week of October 3rd through October 9th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).                           

• Beans 0.50 lbs
• Beets 1.25 lbs
• Broccoli 0.75 lbs
• Carrots 0.50 lbs
• Cucumbers 0.50 lbs
• Spinach 0.50 lbs
• Tomatoes 1.00 lbs

Total For Week 5.00 lbs

Total Year To Date 333.50 lbs                       

Eggs collected this week – 20                                     

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener