Harvest Time

After all the hard work of planting, weeding, planting again (after the crows ate half the seedlings), and weeding some more in late May and June, harvest time has finally arrived.  Sure we do a little harvesting in June with the strawberries, raspberries, peas and lettuces, but this morning’s harvest included lettuce, green beans, 1 sizeable beet, and raspberries.  Had I been so inclined, I could have pulled some baby potatoes, carrots, garlic, swiss chard, cabbage and a variety of herbs from the garden as well. 

Early Wakefield cabbage ready to be harvested

As much as I complain about maintaining a vegetable garden, it is truly enjoyable to be able to harvest the bulk of our meals from the backyard (this morning was particularly lovely; no bugs, sunny, in the 60s and the birds were chatting away in the wood line).  Toss in some eggs from the hens, and some homemade bread and you have yourself a tasty meal!  Now if only I had a goat or two so I could make some delicious cheese to go along with it...just kidding.

This is just the beginning of the summer harvest. I expect the menu will have expanded by next week.  Many of the tomato plants are flowering, some of the early varieties like the Glaciers are already bearing fruit; the squash plants are loaded with baby zucchini and summer squash; the garlic will be harvested over the next couple of days and hung to cure; and I’m hoping to see some activity with the peppers and eggplant soon. 

Just as the harvesting, freezing and canning get in full swing, it will be time to plant the fall crops (usually by the last week in July/1^st week in August up here).  I need to build-in a little extra time in the growth cycle with the shorter days.  But I plan on planting butternut and acorn squash, rutabaga, cabbage, lettuces and another round of brussel sprouts (not sure my spring crop will produce soon enough to escape the heat of July and August and I’ve read that the vegetable, harvested in the height of summer, tends to taste bitter; this is my first year growing them, so I will find out).    

Baby brussel sprout buds

One of the more significant benefits from having your own garden (or subscribing to a CSA), in my mind, is that not only does it require you to incorporate a greater variety of vegetables into your diet, but it also requires some degree of creativity in cooking. I've found the most wonderful array of recipes for salads (who knew such things existed!), breads, quiches, vegetable side dishes, vegetarian entrees, etc. over the past 3 years with my own garden than I discovered in the previous 20+ years (granted, I despised cooking until about 4 years ago, so let's just say the motivation to seek out new and exciting recipes may have been a little lacking). 

Despite all of these positives, Nora and I are seriously considering hanging up our veggie growing caps next year.  Perhaps it was the added work of the wedding prep (handled primarily -- ok, almost completely -- by Nora), or the ever-expanding flower gardens that require attention, but regardless, we find our weekends have become giant to-do lists with very little time for spontaneous, non-work related fun.  Even simple things such as a trip to the bagel shop in Potsdam on a weekend morning guilt-free would be nice; and leisurely mornings spent reading and sipping coffee on the front porch or in the gazebo would be welcome.  We had such a morning last Sunday since it was stormy and Nora turned to me at one point and said "this was so nice; it was a normal-person's Sunday morning."  Not that either of us have ever been "normal," but you get the idea.