We’re starting to harvest from the garden this month
6/2: My rhubarb plant (in the garden) is very healthy this spring. I harvested enough today to preserve in the freezer for syrup, muffins, cake and scones. I also snipped a couple of bunches of cilantro.
6/11: The lettuce is coming on well this year. Today I was able to pick three 2-gallon bags along with another batch of garlic scapes and a big bunch of cilantro. I also saw a few small zucchini that should be ready in a day or two.
6/16: A few of the soft neck garlic plants were starting to show brown leaves at the base so I decided to check one to see how they were coming along. I found a split head of garlic (almost a month before I normally harvest garlic). Split heads don’t keep long so I went ahead and harvested all of the soft neck garlic. They aren’t huge, but they aren’t bad and I have no idea what variety they are (planted some sprouting garlic from the kitchen) so I’m happy with them. We’ll use the split heads quickly and I’ll cure the others in the garage for the pantry.
6/17: I decided to check the strawberries this morning and was very happy to find at least 4 pints of red, juicy berries. I also pick a few pea pods that the bunnies hadn’t found yet and harvested a bit more lettuce. I also cut most of the lavender blooms from the plant in the garden and was able to make four pretty lavender bundles.
6/20: I checked the hard neck garlic and found that they were pretty good sized. I decided to go ahead and harvest rather than risking them splitting like a couple of the soft neck heads had done. I wasn’t so lucky with the Elephant garlic. All of the heads had split so I won’t be able to cure them. I just separated the cloves and cleaned out the dirt. Now I’ll either puree it and freeze Tablespoons of the puree (stinking up the freezer) or freeze them as whole cloves (less stink in the freezer).
6/21: I thinned the rutabagas and turnips a bit this morning. A few of the turnips were big enough to harvest and I probably should have kept the greens to cook but, being from the PNW where we don’t eat many greens, I’m not sure how to cook them. The chickens will probably love them. I pulled a few more rhubarb stalks and some strawberries that survived the storm (downpours and funnel clouds over the weekend). I also pulled some volunteer potatoes that were crowding the peas and cabbages and a few had potatoes big enough to add to a salad.
6/29: Today I harvested some more lettuce and turnips, a cabbage, an onion, a potato and a few pea pods. I also pulled out the tall lettuce plants to make a little more room for the zucchini – they seem to have bolted anyway. In the afternoon, because we’ll be away for a few days and it’s supposed to be hot, I picked strawberries. There were about 5 pints on the bushes as we head into the end of strawberry season. I washed these and popped them into the freezer for another batch of jam or to use in smoothies.
| SEED | VARIETY | # | PRICE | # | Store Price | Total |
| lettuce | iceberg | 1 | $0.25 | |||
| lettuce | grand rapids leaf | 1 | $0.25 | 11 | $2.49 | $27.39 |
| mesclun | gourmet greens mix | 1 | $1.40 | |||
| cilantro | not labeled | 2 | $0.50 | 2 | $1.49 | $4.47 |
| basil | container variety | 4 | $1.00 | |||
| basil | sweet Italian | 1 | $1.00 | |||
| dill | long island mammoth | 4 | $1.00 | |||
| parsley | Italian | 3 | $0.75 | |||
| sage | broad leaf | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| rosemary | not labeled | 1 | $1.00 | |||
| chives | not labeled | 5 | $1.25 | |||
| chives | garlic chives | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| leek | American flag | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| onion | white Lisbon bunching | 1 | $1.99 | |||
| thyme | not labeled | 3 | $0.75 | |||
| zucchini | dark green | 1 | $0.25 | |||
| beans | top crop – bush | 3 | $0.75 | |||
| beans | blue lake – bush | 3 | $0.75 | |||
| beans | fordhook #242 lima bush | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| beans | Kentucky wonder | 2 | $2.00 | |||
| spinach | Olympic | 6 | $4.00 | 6 | $1.99 | $12.94 |
| spinach | giant noble | 2 | $0.50 | |||
| peas | Alaska | 3 | $0.75 | |||
| peas | little marvel | 2 | $1.76 | |||
| peas | melting sugar | 2 | $1.76 | .25 | $5.99 | $1.50 |
| cowpeas | California blackeye | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| peppers | Hungarian wax | 2 | $.050 | |||
| peppers | serrano | 2 | $0.50 | |||
| peppers | habanero | 2 | $0.50 | |||
| peppers | grand bell | 1 | $0.25 | |||
| peppers | jalapeno, mild | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| marigolds | petite yellow | 4 | $1.00 | |||
| marigolds | cracker jack – mixed | 4 | $1.00 | |||
| marigolds | french dwarf – double | 4 | $1.00 | |||
| tomato | mortgage lifter | 1 | $1.00 | |||
| tomato | big rainbow | 1 | $1.00 | |||
| tomato | chocolate cherry | 1 | $1.00 | |||
| cucumbers | Boston pickling | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| cucumbers | muncher | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| peppers | bell color mix | 1 | $1.12 | |||
| peppers | habanero | 1 | $.88 | |||
| peppers | serrano | 1 | $.80 | |||
| peppers | jalapeño | 1 | $.88 | |||
| beet | Detroit dark red | 1 | $1.99 | |||
| carrot | scarlet nantes | 1 | $1.99 | |||
| turnip | purple top white globe | 1 | $.80 | 3 | $4.50 | $13.50 |
| rutabaga | American purple top | 1 | $0.88 | |||
| rhubarb | perennial | 1 | perennial | 14 | $0.87 | $14.79 |
| soft neck garlic bulbs | kitchen | 4 | 13 | $0.76 | $9.88 | |
| hard neck garlic bulbs | Magic & Red Thai | 17 | $0.76 | $12.92 | ||
| elephant garlic | Elephant | 1.5 | $15.00 | $22.50 | ||
| garlic scapes | kitchen | 1 | $6.99 | $6.99 | ||
| strawberries | perennial | perennial | 10 | $4.00 | $40.00 | |
| lavander | perennial | 0 | perennial | 3 | $3.00 | $9.00 |
| potatoes | .8 | $1.33 | $1.07 | |||
| onions | Walla Walla | 1 | bunch | 8 | $.50 | $4.00 |
The amount spent in the garden this year
- Walla Walla Onion Starts (Burns Feed Store) $2.99
- Kennebec Seed Potatoes (burns Feed Store) $3.49
- 1/2 yard 7-way soil blend (Boring Bark) $26.00
- Alpaca poo – $10.00
- Seeds (BiMart) $17.11
- Olympic Spinach starts (Wilco Feed Store) $4.00
- Organic Bandit Leek starts (Wilco Feed Store) $5.99
- Organic Copenhagen Cabbage starts (Wilco Feed Store) $5.99
- Rosemary plant (Wilco Feed Store) $4.99
- Walla Walla Onion Starts (Wilco Feed Store) $2.99
- Bintje Seed Potatoes (Wilco Feed Store) $0.98
- 1/2 yard premium planting blend (Portland Rock & Landscape $23.50
- Marked down Asparagus crowns from BiMart $8.10 for 23 crowns
Total Harvest – $178.37
Beavercreek Backyard Farm - Finale 