We dug up the potatoes we planted for the Cornell variety trial... by hand!
It was a lot of work. We used the digging forks to loosen up the area of the "hill" just under the dried-up vines, to expose the potatoes. Then we grubbed with our hands to find every last little tater! It sure made me appreciate the tractor. But "for science" the Cornell folks told us, we had to be thorough and accurate. Little Daniel helped out with his digger too.
We took a 5' sample from each variety, and weighed them up. Some were really productive, some not too much. There were red, blue, and yellow potatoes. One of the funniest names was "Prince Harry" which actually had lots of little hairs on it's leaves that prevented insect damage. This plant stayed green long after the others had died, and really did make a lot more spuds. I'll have to taste test them all now.
This is an Adirondack Blue... they don't all look like this one! But they are all bright blue inside.
At distribution, we labeled them all so that people could help us "taste-test" varieties.
A colorful offering this week: Red peppers, leeks, carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers,
Lettuce, garlic, and... my famous purple yard-long beans! The variety is called "Red Noodle". Most people asked what in the world you do with them, but thankfully Sister Mary Ann had cooked some up like green beans, enjoyed them, and shared her recipe. I like sauteing them in olive oil with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I only grew a small amount, so I didn't have enough for everyone. I gave them out "first come first serve".
We also offered the chance to take "seconds" onions... the ones that need to be peeled a bit further due to a certain "softness" but are delicious and totally still edible.
And our fall greens are in full swing now. Arugula, red mustard, green "golden frill" mustard, and herbs.
parsley, dill, cilantro...
This is "golden frill" mustard-- pretty spicy! It's good to spike a salad with, or cooked as a green.
And, tomatoes.
The variety above is an Italian heirloom called "Costoluto Genovese".
These huge ones below are from my little heirloom experiment-- I haven't been very scientific about it though, and couldn't tell you which variety is which. They are all delicious!
And another of my little trials, Scarlet Runner Beans:
I had time to harvest a bunch of dill and basil from a row we were tilling in, and hung it to dry on my porch:
It was a lot of work. We used the digging forks to loosen up the area of the "hill" just under the dried-up vines, to expose the potatoes. Then we grubbed with our hands to find every last little tater! It sure made me appreciate the tractor. But "for science" the Cornell folks told us, we had to be thorough and accurate. Little Daniel helped out with his digger too.
We took a 5' sample from each variety, and weighed them up. Some were really productive, some not too much. There were red, blue, and yellow potatoes. One of the funniest names was "Prince Harry" which actually had lots of little hairs on it's leaves that prevented insect damage. This plant stayed green long after the others had died, and really did make a lot more spuds. I'll have to taste test them all now.
This is an Adirondack Blue... they don't all look like this one! But they are all bright blue inside.
At distribution, we labeled them all so that people could help us "taste-test" varieties.
A colorful offering this week: Red peppers, leeks, carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers,
Lettuce, garlic, and... my famous purple yard-long beans! The variety is called "Red Noodle". Most people asked what in the world you do with them, but thankfully Sister Mary Ann had cooked some up like green beans, enjoyed them, and shared her recipe. I like sauteing them in olive oil with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I only grew a small amount, so I didn't have enough for everyone. I gave them out "first come first serve".
We also offered the chance to take "seconds" onions... the ones that need to be peeled a bit further due to a certain "softness" but are delicious and totally still edible.
And our fall greens are in full swing now. Arugula, red mustard, green "golden frill" mustard, and herbs.
parsley, dill, cilantro...
This is "golden frill" mustard-- pretty spicy! It's good to spike a salad with, or cooked as a green.
And, tomatoes.
The variety above is an Italian heirloom called "Costoluto Genovese".
These huge ones below are from my little heirloom experiment-- I haven't been very scientific about it though, and couldn't tell you which variety is which. They are all delicious!
And another of my little trials, Scarlet Runner Beans:
I had time to harvest a bunch of dill and basil from a row we were tilling in, and hung it to dry on my porch:
1 comment:
oh, your harvest is so beautiful. i'd love to sink my teeth into all of that amazing food. [sigh]
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