It was another bad harvest this week for us: we lost most of our autumn crops to frost and there was another howling wind to smash up the few plants that had survived! Also, it has been so cold, the winter plants are growing very slowly. Not sure if you can see it, but below is our frosted/frozen grass and some bits of ice on my gloves! It will get very much worse than this yet, but it has certainly started early this year, and it caught us out with our crops. 😦
At least there was something left for us!
WHAT WE HARVESTED THIS WEEK:
9 baby Mini-Me Lemons
1 Meyer Lemon
2 Jamaican Limes
1 Savoy Cabbage
1 handful of Blue Shelling Pea Pods
2 handfuls of baby Green Beans – the very last for this season
4 pods of Green Peas – also the very last for this season
1 large bowl of Misome (Asian Greens)
Bunch of Giant Chioggia (Chicory)
Bowl of Collard Greens
1 bunch of sprouting purple Broccoli
And a bowlful of sun-ripened Tomatoes – these were actually picked last week before the last storm hit, but they were not ready until this week, so I have included them here! We have only 1 more bowl full of tomatoes left 😦
OUR MORE UNUSUAL VEGETABLES CAN BE SOURCED FROM HERE (IN NZ):
Misome (Asian Greens) – http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+L+to+O/Misome+F1-7860.html
Giant Chioggia (Chicory) – and don’t be fooled by the blurb saying it is for animals, it is highly nutritious for humans and yummy too! http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Field+Selection/Field+Crops/Chicory+Giant+Chioggia-5650.html
Blue Shelling Peas (the purple podded ones) – http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Vegetable+Groups/Organic+Veges/Organic+Pea+Blue+Shelling-3462.html
Purple Sprouting Broccoli:
The summer one – http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+A+to+B/Broccoli+Sprouting+Summer+Purple-2.html
And the winter one – http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+A+to+B/Broccoli+Sprouting+Winter+Rudolph-2.html
This week in the garden, some things are looking up while others are coming down!
Here are some photos from before I picked the harvest…
Time for the frost damaged plants to go:
And it is also time to get more winter crops in!
Have the frost cloth ready to go up at a moments notice now too. We have very high winds and many storms here, so we put it up on the night when it is still and clear and frosts are likely, and we take it down again in the morning:
Once again, wherever you are and whatever you are growing, have a happy time doing it! Peace, from Suz
© 2014-2015: “Garden to Kitchen” with Suz – All content on this blog is Copyright.
Garden to Kitchen - with Suz 
What you did manage to harvest looks wonderful!
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Thank you! I actually accidentally pushed the publish key instead of the save draft key and it went to my blog before it was finished, lol. I have been in the garden all day and so will update it tomorrow with photos of the garden as well. 🙂
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I hate it when that happens! They need to have a question that pops up to say “Are you sure you really want to publish this?”
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NICE!!! What is the name of the purple podded peas?
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They are Blue Shelling. I accidentally pushed the publish key instead of the save draft key and it got put on my blog before I was finished, lol. I will fix it tomorrow with all the rest of the details.
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It really makes one think of how hard it was years ago when people had to only on their harvests. Drought and storm and winter. Your harvest does look lovely.
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Yes, absolutely. We have considered that many times. We were caught without a job and with no money to shop, so had to become self-sufficient out of necessity, although it had always been a dream to do that “one day”… we had just not intended to do it yet or with no money, but hey – it has made us much more inventive. We are now right into it, and would probably continue this way of life, whether or not we had to! lol 🙂
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Ha left out the word “rely ” only on harvest
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We kept saying once we retired we would go self sufficient. Once we retired we decided we were too tired to do it..lol. it is a lot of work.
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LOL. Oh yes it it for sure, but it is so satisfying! We have realized there are some things we will have to change when we get to that age, like having raised bed gardens rather than planting in the ground, things like that. But we are enjoying it so much. It is such a healthy lifestyle… but I am sure if we had not been in the situation where we needed to do it, it would have probably remained a dream forever, without ever becoming reality, so we are very thankful. I love being out and about in creation most of every day. 🙂
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At least you managed to salvage something.. Reminds me of the summer I grew basil, but the other plants died, including my mint plant!!
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😦 It is so sad when your plants die, isn’t it. You nurture them and then its all for nothing. I admit I cried when my 20 beans plants died, just as they were podding up to pick…
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Oh…. :c
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Bad weather is such a bummer!!
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