Henbogle

This week saw the last of the tomatoes at Henbogle.  The wet cool weather ushered in my old pal Late Blight, and the tomatoes dropped like flies.  Overnight, the vines died, half-ripened tomatoes dropping as the plants died, littering the ground with the spoiled fruit.  Yuk.  The only holdout had been the Pineapple tomato in the hoophouse, but I knew it couldn’t last, and I was right. I picked the last of the tomatoes showing any color tonight.  As soon as I can stand it I’ll clean up the nasty slimy mess, but it won’t be pleasant.

The garden is winding down.  My harvest for this week was only 8.4 lbs., although I did not record all the squash I harvested, much of which was given away, for example this big boy being modeled by my dear friend Susanna.  I still have winter squash to harvest and weigh, and my fall greens are coming in, but at this point, between Hurricane Irene wind damage and the blight, the garden is an ugly mess, and I’ve been ignoring things hoping they would Go Away.  Sigh.

Ah well, the paltry harvest this week brings my yearly total to 314.68 lbs. valued at $1,101.21 for a net value less expenses of $718.58, and there is more to come. This is part of Daphne’s Harvest Monday series, wish the wonderful Daphne hosts on her blog, Daphne’s Dandelions.  Check it out to see what other gardeners are harvesting right now, there is a lot of gardening going on in the blogosphere.

I also have a few new projects in the works.  All those photos of juicy raspberries in the Harvest Monday posts did me in, so we are preparing a new bed for a raspberry patch, using the cardboard sod killing method I’ve written about many times before.  I hope to get the raspberries planted next spring before my next big project begins.  For details on that, tune in to my next post.

We escaped the frost on Friday night, probably due to the wind ushering in the cold front.  Dan and I had headed out for a camping weekend, but were pleased to see the garden escaped the frost when we returned home.

With back to work busyness and reaching escape velocity for camping, we did not do much gardening this week other than picking and processing tomatoes, giving away some of the bounty.  We picked quite a few lovely Pineapple tomatoes from the hoop house, a hot pepper, 11.5 oz. of broccoli, over 5 lbs of squash, 3 oz. of peppers, 17 oz. of carrots, and 22 lbs. of tomatoes.

The carrots were mixed.  They were all supposed to be the same variety, but there are clearly two different types.  In addition, several of the carrots showed damage, both wire worm and possible rodent damage, too.  They tasted pretty good, though!

The weeks harvest tally amounted to 29.4 lbs. for a yearly total of 306.28 lbs valued at $1072.68.  Less my expenses, unchanged at $383.06, the value of my garden harvest this year comes in at $689.62.  This post is part of Daphne’s Harvest Monday series published on her blog Daphne’s Dandelions.  Check it out and see who else managed to escape frost.

This week we harvested another delicious melon, a lonely cuke, a couple of squash, and 28 1/2 pounds of tomatoes.  Holy cats!

All those tomatoes became roasted tomato sauce and salsa, as documented in my earlier post.  I processed a full canner load of 14 pints, and have more in the fridge awaiting processing tonight.  That’s sauce on the top, a big container of salsa below, and more sauce next to the salsa.

There’s no rest for the wicked.  Still, I am certain we will appreciate it this winter, and it is very satisfying, if slightly exhausting!

This weeks harvest came in at a bit over 34 lbs. for a yearly total of 276.9 lbs. valued at $972.68.  Less my expenses, unchanged at $383.06, the value of my garden harvest this year comes in at $589.62.  See what other weary gardeners are harvesting, canning and freezing on Daphne’s Harvest Monday series published on her blog Daphne’s Dandelions. Maybe some people are finding time to actually eat their harvests!

PS>  That beer is some that Dan brewed.  We have another batch which will soon be ready that used our own hops and blackberries.