Finally, today, no more potatoes in the ground! After a near-pristine potato patch for much of the season, field priorities got switched around and pigweed had its turn with the taters. Eradicating the weeds before digging up the last 50’x50′ section seemed to take forever (but was actually a few hours spread over the last couple of weeks). Anyhow, this last haul is about 200 lbs (91 kg). It’s not much when you can buy a 50lb (22 kg) bag of great, unsprayed, unwashed potatoes for $14CDN at the farmers’ market. But in my crop mix, it makes sense. We harvested somewhere around 1,000 lbs (454 kg) this year. In the usual 1-2 lb bags, some sold at a by the pound (not bulk!) price, and the majority used for CSA shares, that works out just fine… Of the Yukon Gold, Norland and Gold Rush, YG performed the best, from small, early, supertasty new potatoes to a good amount of nicely big mature ones—they’re not for storage, but who stores a pound!
Veggies
Tasty baby bok choi
There’s a lot of tasty stuff still in the field, but for me the TASTIEST are the two varieties of bok choi, Joi and Mei Qing, planted in late August, and benefiting immensely from the ample rain and absence of flea beetles of the past weeks. They’re, um, just about perfect! Absolutely delicate flavor. Crisp, juicy stems and tender, entirely unbitten leaves. I’ll miss them when they’re gone…
Jerusalem artichoke flowers
Sometime over the last few days, the Jerusalem artichoke have started to produce pretty yellow flowers. That’s interesting. Without all this warm, way-past-normal- frost-date weather, what would they have done? They did go in a little late… And why do they look so…familiar? A couple of minutes online and it’s apparent that flowering is optional, largely dependant on location and conditions. And, no wonder, they—Helianthus tuberosus, aka sunchoke, sunroot, topinambour—are close relatives of the majestic sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Small world…
Winter squash
The Friday harvest finally included winter squash, and a tiny little harvest it was. These guys were on their own when it came to water, we just didn’t have time and gear to irrigate—given a bit of a rain break, they’ve tended to make out. Unfortunately, the timing of this year’s drought caught the plants later on in the season, late July into August, as they tried to fill out. Bottom line: super low yield and small squash this year, drip irrigation a must…next year. In any case, we did get enough for two rounds of CSA. Typically, the acorn squash came through best (Table Ace, Table Gold, Cream of the Crop), the butternut (Early Butternut) are…minuscule. Delicata was a first this year, I’m not sure how large they are usually, but likely bigger than this. And so on. Even the usually prolific and reliable, bright orange Uchiki Kuri, a Hubbard-type (Japanese Kabocha), didn’t do so well. Only the Sweet Mama buttercup came through with some decent dry weather size! So, off to the farmers’ market with an assorted 50 or so, none for sale, all for the CSA shares!
Autumn harvest action!
A steady harvest through a warm, hazy afternoon wound up quite early, with just about everything sorted, rinsed and bunched or bagged by around 8:30 pm. Smooth! The end-of-season crew has settled down to Jo, Lynn, Conall and me. Here, Jo and Lynn are harvesting a sparsely germinated but bountiful spinach patch (the second growth leaves are HUGE, fleshy, tasty and tender), while Conall cuts all-lettuce mesclun on the Greens Machine. When not snapping pics, I’m bunching kale in the last stand of brassicas. Filling in between the veggies, lush expanses of oats. In front of Lynn, a sprinkler from the last days of irrigation. The large clear leaf bags are used once for greens harvest, then saved for collecting mulch, or at least, trash. All is in order… It flashed through my mind how over the course of a few short weeks, everyone who came regularly to work in the field started with, in most cases, no experience, and casually transformed into a cheerful, efficient crew. Tiny farming must come naturally!
Brussels sprouts
A pleasant fall surprise, at least one of two beds of Brussels sprouts (planted over five months ago) has come through! A bed each of Oliver and Jade Cross (hybrids both) received no water and looked mighty stressed and strained for all of the droughtish summer. The recent rains brought ’em back—well, mainly the Oliver, although the JC has some smallish…sprouts. A tiny harvest, still, the first Brussels sprouts for this market garden!
More tiny eggplant
Unlike the super-early tiny eggplant at the other end of this season, these guys have come to the party a little late. Warm, frost-free autumn weather means crops like eggplant and peppers put on a new bloom and even start to form fruit… Unfortunately, they’re doomed. Even if the warm conditions continue for another month (and THAT seems like as not), the short, weak-light days aren’t gonna give up the energy they need to get in harvestable range. Oh well, they still look pretty…