A Bountiful July Harvest
Here in the Northeast, temperatures are a bit milder this week after a string of hot, hazy humid days in the 90s.
Despite some uncomfortable summer weather, the vegetables at my Bedford, New York farm are thriving. Fortunately, we were able to harvest another sizable amount just in time for my trip to Skylands, my beloved home in Seal Harbor, Maine. I am hosting several gatherings during my stay, so I am very happy to have such fresh and delicious produce to share with family and friends.
Here is an update on what we picked this week - enjoy these photos. And be sure to tune in to QVC today starting at 11:45am ET when I'll be sharing some pieces from my holiday decor collection - it's never too early to start thinking of the holidays!
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- There has been so much growth in this vegetable garden in the last couple of weeks – there is so much to pick!
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- In preparation for my annual trip to Maine, I wanted to harvest as many vegetables as possible.
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- We’ve had such a bounty of beans this year. Beans grow best in full sun and moist soil. Here in the Northeast, we’ve had both.
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- These beans are gorgeous. Violet-purple outside and bright green inside with great flavor. The six-inch-long pods turn green after cooking, providing a built-in blanching indicator.
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- These yellow beans are also pretty. 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.
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- And of course, we harvested lots of young, sweet, crisp green beans.
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- Enma and Sanu separated the beans by color variety – we will have a lot of delicious, organic beans up at Skylands.
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- We also picked lots of carrots. 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.
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- Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. The leaf stalks are large and vary in color, usually white, yellow, or red. The leaf blade can be green or reddish in color. Harvest Swiss chard when the leaves are tender and big enough to eat. Cut chard leaf by leaf, so the plant can continue to grow new leaves during the rest of the season.
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- Here is Ryan soon after picking these two beautiful heads of celery. To get celery to look this good, it requires rich soil, plenty of water, and protection from the hot sun and high temperatures.
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- These peppers are ready too. Be careful when picking peppers – always keep the hot ones separated from the sweet ones, so there is no surprise in the kitchen. Sweet peppers, such as these sweet banana peppers, have a long shape that tapers down to one to three lobes at the bottom.
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- We also harvested several eggplants. I like to pick them when they’re smaller. This one is a perfect size.
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- Here’s another variety of eggplant – also ready for picking. Pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Picking a little early will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
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- We picked this big head of cabbage. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to include all three varieties into the diet – Savoy, red, and green. The leaves of the Savoy cabbage are more ruffled and a bit more yellowish in color.
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- This beautiful cauliflower head is brimming with nutrients. Cauliflower holds plenty of vitamins, such as C, B, and K.
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- And look at all the kale. One cup of chopped kale has 134-percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin-C – that’s more than a medium orange, which only has 113-percent of the daily C requirement.
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- Here is more kale – very pretty with ruffled leaves and a purple-green color.
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- Beets – the beetroot is the taproot of the beet plant, and is often called the table beet, garden beet, red or golden beet or simply… beet.
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- Beets are highly nutritious and very good for maintaining strong cardiovascular health. It’s low in calories, contains zero cholesterol and is rich in folates, vitamin-A, B-complex and antioxidants.
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- Lots of tomatoes are developing on the vines, but they’re not ready just yet – they still need a few more weeks.
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- The vines are all growing so nicely on their bamboo supports – we will have an abundant amount of tomatoes very soon.
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- Everything is loaded in trug buckets and brought up to my flower room, where they will be washed if needed, then bagged and stored in the refrigerator. I am looking forward to many meals with all this wonderful produce – the fruits of our labor. How is your garden doing this season? Share your comments below.
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