Monday, February 1, 2010

Harvest Monday First of Feb

First week in February (how did that happen?) and the Danvers half long carrots are fattening up. I'm going to spend some time today gluing more carrot "mats" a la Annie's Granny, and then I'm going to fill up another half bed with them later. I'm greatly enjoying them and they're such a slow-growing crop that it pays to be right on top when it's sowing time.


Red Ursa kale is champion this spring. No pests, no powdery mildew, and tasty.


My son helped me harvest spinach. It doesn't taste awful if you add garlic to it, just meh. The citrus just keeps coming -- these are limes. And the chickens are just laying like there's no such thing as winter. Go figure. I'm not complaining; it's great.


First handful of "Alaska" peas. I did get one "Canoe," and both the pod and the peas were bigger. I may plant many more of that variety in years to come. But with stronger climbing supports!



There were the usual "handsfuls" of salads -- just enough to go inside and eat.


So everything is just sort of holding steady. We're going to get more rain, I think, starting tomorrow, so I had better do any wandering around I'm going to do today.

11 comments:

Annie*s Granny said...

Well, you're crops are coming right along! Those peas look so good, and the carrots...to die for. My little carrots look so good, it's going to hurt me terribly to leave them before they are big enough to eat :-(

Jeff Vandiver said...

That's quite a bit for this time of year! It all looks very good - especially the kale and carrots.

Dan said...

Wow, that is a nice harvest! Send some of that CA weather my way.

Ribbit said...

Lookin' good! Peas are so mean, aren't they. They just don't give up enough of the goods.

Stingy buggers

Zach said...

I hate you for having such a warm climate and being able to harvest carrots, spinach, and kale in FEBRUARY! Why do I live in such a cold state!

Christina said...

Looks great!

Thanks for sending me to search for the carrot mats--what a fantastic idea! I must plant my second batch now with that strategy!

Your peas are lovely. Aren't garden peas wonderful? They're 100x better than what you can get in the store.

Michelle said...

Wow, I just took a good look at your egg count for the first time. 133 eggs in January! That's amazing. Why so few eggs in the middle of the summer? Did you get more girls?

The kale looks really good. My kale is on the way out, the lacinato was not a good performer this year. I loved my Portuguese kale but it got battered by the wind a while back and I want to save seeds so I'm leaving what leaves are left to support the blossoms that are just starting. So, no kale harvests now.

kitsapFG said...

The kale and carrots and fresh peas look delicious. My winter crop of kale is still producing but is getting a little tired. Some sunshine would do it a world of good right now but we are in a pattern of grey and mostly rainy days without much sun to speak of. Luckily, I have the early spring crops of kale coming along in the shop under lights and the first batch will be ready to harvest not long after I move them out to the greenhouse.

Unknown said...

Lovely harvest in February! I can't wait to try Granny's seed mats this year.

Stefaneener said...

AG, I bet. I hate even pulling them, but sometimes you need carrots! Maybe you can eat them for baby carrots?

EG, it's normal for here. The kale is unusually lovely.

Dan, I wish I could. Want our forecast ten days of rain, too?

Ribbit, you're right. I'll go out and rage at them.

Zach, don't hate me. Compare real estate prices instead. This weather comes at a cost (I'm still happy to live here in earthquake country, though).

Christina, I'm going to have to plant many more in the coming seasons. I can't wait to see what the giant bed of snow peas does. Enjoy the mats -- I'm going to make some today.

Michelle, I'm going to post about it. I've been a little surprised myself. My Lacinato kale is disappointing, and it's one of my favorite kales! Rats.

kitsapFG, my summer-planted fall kale is getting round after round of powdery mildew (ominous portents for the future of my squash?). Glad you have some coming on. Succession planting -- what an idea!

GrafixMuse, I think you're going to have lots of company.

Daphne Gould said...

Your peas look wonderful. My husband won't let me have peas. He just hates the smell so much. I can get away with snap peas, but shelling peas do not come into the house much. My daughter likes them, but she tends to eat them straight out of the pod so no cooking.