I have been harvesting all year, at least a little bit, but I have not been playing Harvest Monday. That is where blogging gardeners post photos of their harvests, and usually list the poundage as well. I have found that I don’t like photographing my harvests nearly as much as my growing plants. My second favorite things to photograph after plants in the garden are the meals I made with my harvests. Photographing harvests comes last, but I managed to snap a few pics.
Tomatoes
I turned about two dozen tomatoes into spaghetti sauce last night. There was enough for dinner for the two of us last night and tonight, plus two freezer bags of sauce for later.
We are getting pounds and pounds of green beans. These are Blue Lake pole beans. The Contender bush beans are just now beginning to produce. The basil leaves at the bottom of the dish went into pesto. Then I made a dish of baby gold potatoes, green beans, tortellini and pesto. One dish dinner. The recipe was from “Molto Italiano” by Mario Batali.
Harvests this past week included:
Apple (Fuji) 4 oz
Basil 1 oz
Garlic 2 oz
Green beans 1 lb 3 oz
Green onion 2 oz
Lettuce 4 oz
Nectarines 1 lb
Summer squash (Lebanese) 1 lb 1 oz
Tomatoes 6 lbs 14 oz
and 5 eggs
I think I finally remembered how to use widgets in WordPress, and have added in my total harvests for 2019 as of July 31. It isn’t overwhelming, just 81 lbs of fruit and 37 lbs of vegetables. August and September bring harvests of my “heavy” vegetables such as tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash, and cucumbers, so those harvest numbers should go up. My goal is 200 lbs of produce. We shall see if I get there.
I am expecting a nice harvest of winter squash one of these days.
I was about to give up on my Navajo Cushaw squash, but one of them finally set fruit. This one is about 4 inches long.The first Guatemalan Blue squash is already about 6.5 inches long.Two butternuts have set fruit on two different vines. Both vines sprouted from compost.This is the second butternut. They both have a lot of growing to do before they are ready to pick.
And because eating the produce is really the whole idea of growing it, here are some recent meals.
Summer squash fritters with green onion, parsley and sour cream, buttered green beans, and sockeye salmon dipped in lemon zest and olive oil with a dry rub of sugar, cocoa and smoked paprika.
Cottage cheese with a sliced Snow Queen nectarine fresh from the yard.Salad of homegrown tomatoes, homegrown lettuce and little balls of mozzarella cheese with garlic, basalmic vinegar and olive oil, and an entree of tuna, tortellini, green beans, caper, garlic, and cream.
Hope you enjoyed this brief review of my week’s harvest and meals at Harvest Monday.
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.
Good to see what you’re growing Lou! Your one dish dimmer sounds yummy. Tortellini and pesto go well together, and I need to make some pesto with my basil.
Loved all your delicious-looking pictures! I just harvested our butternut today . . . 285 pounds/120 squash(es) . . . they really took over our little backyard garden this year (Old Towne Orange area). 🙂
I am so far behind. New computer, lots of issues. But I think I am back. That is AWESOME. I can’t imagine 285 lbs of butternuts. Are you a commercial grower?
Lou Murray's Green World 
Good to see what you’re growing Lou! Your one dish dimmer sounds yummy. Tortellini and pesto go well together, and I need to make some pesto with my basil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved all your delicious-looking pictures! I just harvested our butternut today . . . 285 pounds/120 squash(es) . . . they really took over our little backyard garden this year (Old Towne Orange area). 🙂
LikeLike
I am so far behind. New computer, lots of issues. But I think I am back. That is AWESOME. I can’t imagine 285 lbs of butternuts. Are you a commercial grower?
LikeLike