A Big Harvest Before Heading to Skylands

August 1, 2018

A Big Harvest Before Heading to Skylands

Every summer, I try to spend as much time as possible at Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine. I always enjoy my trips there, especially when friends and family are able to join me.

Before leaving, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, picked another sizable amount of vegetables from my Bedford, New York farm, including some of the season's eggplants, cucumbers, artichokes, peppers and so much more. I am so happy with this year’s prolific crops.

Enjoy these photos.

: Here is our Polaris Ranger ATV filled with fresh vegetables from my garden. We’ve harvested so many wonderful vegetables this year – it makes me so happy to be able to share all this produce with friends and family during our stay at Skylands.

: Our cabbage patch looks excellent. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to eat all three varieties – Savoy, red, and green. And, don’t forget, cabbage can be eaten cooked and raw.

: Cabbage, Brassica oleracea, is a member of the cruciferous vegetables family, and is related to kale, broccoli, collards and Brussels sprouts. The leaves of the Savoy cabbage are more ruffled and a bit more yellowish in color.

: And here is a perfect red cabbage – so vibrant and striking in color.

: This is kale. A kale plant has green or purple leaves and the central leaves do not form a head. Kale or leaf cabbage is a group of vegetable cultivars within the plant species Brassica oleracea.

: Ryan already planted more lettuce in this bed. Most lettuce varieties mature in 45 to 55 days, which means we can easily plant two or even three crops during the season.

: Radicchio is a cultivated form of leaf chicory sometimes known as Italian chicory because it comes from Italian cuisine.

: Endive is a leaf vegetable belonging to the genus Cichorium, which includes several similar bitter leafed vegetables.

: This is a bed of basil just beginning to grow. Prior to the basil, this bed was filled with fava beans. As you know, I am a big fan of succession planting. Succession planting refers to several planting methods that increase crop availability during a growing season by making efficient use of space and timing.

: Here is our bed of carrots growing so beautifully. I always like to grow many varieties and colors of carrots. Most are familiar with the orange carrots, but they also come in red, yellow, white and purple.

: The onions look wonderful too. We planted a lot of white, yellow and red onions. Onions are harvested later in the summer when the underground bulbs are mature and flavorful. I always look forward to the onion harvest!

: We planted more than 120-tomato plants this year. All the plants are now well-supported under these bamboo teepee-like structures. These tomato plants are all very strong. We’re growing both hybrid and heirloom varieties.

: We should be picking our first red tomatoes in another week or so.

: There are several types of tomatoes available in my garden, including globe tomatoes used in processing, and for fresh eating. Beefsteak are large, often used for sandwiches. Oxheart tomatoes vary in size and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes are usually oblong, and used in tomato sauces. Cherry tomatoes are small round, often sweet and eaten whole. Campari tomatoes are sweet and juicy and of small to medium size.

: Most tomato plant varieties need between 50 and 90 days to mature. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests.

: I am so happy with our trellises for the eggplants and peppers. These keep everything safe off the ground.

: Here is one of the eggplants not quite ready to pick, but growing wonderfully. I like to pick them when they’re smaller, when they are young and tender, so this one will be harvested in another few days.

: Hidden beneath the leaves is this white eggplant – it also needs another week or so to grow.

: Sweet peppers are often harvested when the fruit is still green, but full sized. Allowing the bell pepper to remain on the plant and continue to ripen, changing colors from yellow, orange to red before picking pepper fruit, will result in sweeter peppers.

: These hot peppers look ready too. The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper of the species Capsicum annuum. It is mild to medium in pungency depending on the cultivar.

: Bush beans grow on shrubby plants and are very prolific producers. They can continually produce throughout the season with the proper care. In general, bush beans should be ready in 50 to 55 days. It’s been a very good bean season.

: Always harvest soybeans at their peak ripeness, which is about 85 days from initial planting. Test if they are ready by looking at them and by tasting them. They should be three to four inches in length when fully matured. The inner beans in the pods should feel firm, yet not hard. And, the bean’s pod should be fuzzy, rough, green and plump.

: And here are more artichokes – I love artichokes. The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus. Artichokes are actually flower buds, which are eaten when they are tender. Buds are generally harvested once they reach full size, just before the bracts begin to spread open. When harvesting artichokes, cut off the bud along with about three inches of stem.

: Artichokes have very good keeping qualities and can remain fresh for at least a week.

: Once the vegetables are picked, they are brought up to my Flower Room, washed and placed in big coolers. We will definitely have some wonderful feasts in Maine.