Fall Produce

All I can say is, “WOW!” I have picked and picked and picked some more, and the veggies just keep coming.

Above is the romaine lettuce that I picked HARD just about 5 days ago and I need to pick some more. I pick the leaves around the outside and leave the rest to grow. The stakes are there to keep the deer OUT.

This is the romaine than I started a little later than the first tub, and I am going to need to pick this one as well.

These are a little hard to see, but these are more baby romaine lettuce plants that I need to get in the ground.

This is the bok choy and I have harvested 12 or 13 heads (maybe more) and I still have more to pick. I picked some and blanched it and froze it, and I may have to do that with some more because I don’t know how we’re going to get through it. I will definitely plant bok choy next fall. It grows well, and FAST!

This is my first attempt at carrots. I had to put the garden stakes all around it because the deer love carrot tops as you can see. These are Nantes carrots and I am hopeful that we’ll have some carrots by this time next month. If they do well, I will plant them again because they are LOW effort.

This is my baby arugula that I planted about 12 days ago. It grows fast and well, but harvest time is short because it bolts (goes to seed).

Have you ever seen such pretty broccoli plants? I may have overdone it with 36 plants, but broccoli is one of my family’s favorite vegetables. I don’t plant it in the spring because the plants get destroyed by cabbage worms, and I don’t use pesticides. It’s going to be several weeks before we pick any broccoli, but fall broccoli is really sweet and not bitter at all so it is worth the wait. I plant broccoli every year. This is my first time trying it in this location.

My arugula that needs to be picked. I planted this about 5 weeks ago. I plant this in the early spring and in the fall every year.

This is my kale. When I posted photos of when they were first planted, you could barely see some of them. They are doing well and they handle the cold well. This variety is Lacinato and it’s my first time growing this one. The leaves on this one can be 2′ long and days to maturity is about 80 days. I have about 60 plants. I use this for Saag Paneer, which is one of our favorite Indian dishes and you need a lot of greens to make it. I plant kale every year.

Since my last update, I harvested all of my French Breakfast radishes. I removed the leaves and washed them really well, blanched them, and froze them. I will use them in Saag Paneer as well–they are cousins of turnip greens. I’ve never used radish greens, so we’ll see how that goes. I am going to roast the radishes. I’ve heard and read that they are delicious prepared this way.

Phew, who would have thought that fall gardening would be so busy?