Harvest Monday, November 21, 2011

I have five Grow Pots of yams in the driveway.

With Thanksgiving only three days away, I hope that I have some yams to show in next week’s harvest. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Meanwhile, the harvests even in southern California are looking pretty green.

Hey, I was about to eat that Komatsuna leaf!

Now you know why there are some holes here and there in my harvests. I didn’t know what kind of butterfly he/she would turn into, but I knew he wasn’t a cabbage moth caterpillar.  I carefully lifted him off the komatsuna, and put him onto some mizuna that I didn’t intend to harvest that day. Anyone know what kind of caterpillar it is?

Green, green, and more greens.

One day's harvest from the community garden.

Those are undoubtedly the last squash of summer. I still have 20 tomatoes on my Big Beef tomato, but these may be the last to ripen. Time will tell. If we get a warm spell, I could still harvest a few more tomatoes. Nothing more precious than a vine-ripened November tomato.

Harvest for week ending November 20, 2011

FRUIT

Zero, zilch, nada

VEGETABLES

1 lb 8 oz Carrots, Kyoto Red

9.5 oz Chard

2.5 oz Garlic, California Giant

5 oz Komatsuna (Japanese mustard greens)

4.5 oz Lettuce (red oak leaf and black-seeded Simpson)

2.5 oz Mizuna (Japanese mustard greens)

1.5 oz Snow Peas, Mammoth Melting

1.5 oz Spinach, Bloomsdale

10 oz Summer Squash, Lebanese

8.5 oz Tomato

12 oz Winter Squash, Green Kuri

TOTAL PRODUCE 5 lbs 1 oz, plus NO eggs, darn chickens aren’t laying

This week’s harvest puts me at 222 lbs for the year. My avocados are ready to harvest, the first of my navel oranges are ripe, and my yams may be ready, so six more Harvest Mondays should put me way past last year’s harvest of 224 lbs. To see what others are harvesting, visit Daphne’s Dandelions.

About Lou Murray, Ph.D.

I'm a retired medical researcher, retired professional writer/photographer, avid gardener, and active environmentalist living in southern California. I wrote a weekly newspaper column on environmental topics in the Huntington Beach Independent for many years. I also supervised environmental restoration projects and taught at the Orange County Conservation Corps before retiring in the summer of 2016. This blog chronicles my efforts to live a green life growing as much food as possible for my husband and myself on a 4,500 sq ft yard that is covered mainly by house, garage, driveway, and sidewalks. I am also dedicated to combatting global climate change.
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20 Responses to Harvest Monday, November 21, 2011

  1. sarah says:

    i am a novice gardener in long beach and i find your blog super inspiring and encouraging! thanks for all the info, it is certainly helpful in keeping me on track despite low yields this year (only my second year of gardening). hoping for more next year…

    Like

  2. Judi says:

    I am very impressed that you are still getting so much from the community garden! I must go there soon and see how other gardens are doing.

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  3. kitsapfg says:

    What a bounty you are still getting in your gardens… shows what a difference a growing region can make. We are settling into the long winter of dark days and cold heavy rains.

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  4. I’m sure the Mizuna won’t notice if it gets nibbled on. If it’s anything like ours, it could probably stand some pruning 😉 I swear Mizuna is indestructible! Impressed to see you’re still getting tomatoes. Our first rains in early October put an end to the season for us. We do still have a couple of late winter squash to pick though. Crossing my fingers you get some lovely yams in time for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  5. Bee Girl says:

    Wow! What a fantastic fall harvest!!!

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  6. mac says:

    Wow, tomatoes and squashes this time of year.

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  7. maryhysong says:

    Hope you get your yams. I have a hard time growing them here, the soil just isn’t good enough yet, while down in TX they were practically weeds…

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  8. I hope you get your yams in time! Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

    Lynn

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  9. Andrea says:

    Oh your own home grown oranges!! YUM, do you harvest enough to make juice and orange cake? Great harvest, as your tomato season is ending ours is just begining,dreaming of vine ripe juicy tomatoes!!

    Like

  10. Liz says:

    The furry caterpillars around here always turn into really boring looking moths but who knows what yours will become. I love your big mustard leaves (at least I think they are big mustard leaves) what do you use them for?

    Like

  11. Diana says:

    I wonder what type of yam is that, is it yam bean? In south east asia, yam are usually refer as taro. Lovely goodies in your basket. Happy Thanksgiving.

    Like

  12. Norma Chang says:

    Hello Lou,
    Hope you had a good yam harvest for your Thanksgiving table. Great harvest from your community garden.

    Like

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