Harvesting, Processing And This, That And The Other

The harvest period here is rolling right along. There's another week left of my vacation and the freezer and pantry are nearing peak capacity. It has been a peculiar year in terms of weather, and development of some crops and flowering plants have been delayed here.

Although it hasn't been 'business as usual', things are turning out better than I had expected. This posting will be a sort of potpourri in terms of the things featured. There has been good harvests for myself as well as for the Food Bank, flowers continue to open and replace those which are blooming-out, the good harvests have meant that quite a bit of processing had to be done at home after the garden work had finished.

I will begin with some garden work. The tomatos have been going great guns, safely protected in the confines of the greenhouse. They received their fifth and last pruning and topping. The 'energy' that goes on in the plants will now be focused on the ripening of the fruit.
The topping and removal of distal blooms, growing tips and small fruits will allow this to happen. The leaves are not really needed at this stage.

These Ferline cordons have been clearly and liberally pruned of stems and leaves. You can see the trusses at different levels up the cordon.


Focusing in on the lower trusses just makes me want to snatch one off of there and eat it!


Across from the Ferline cordons, are the bush toms--'Legend'. They are not supposed to be pruned heavily at all, but this year I wanted to try that out to give better ventilation and to have some say as to how the fruits developed.


A closer look at the Legends shows that they are developing their fruits well and I have already managed to put up 15 jars of concentrate.


Two separate days' harvests show how some of the crops are producing. This was a decent harvest just for myself.


This next foto shows harvests for myself as well as for the Food Bank.


Then, once home processing of veg and fruit is the name of the game. Here on the stove, there are two pots of toms which are being processed to make concentrate, as well as corn. Corn--the first of the season. Some cobs were eaten, and the rest was frozen-in.


The first round of canning--jam and tomato concentrate.


The work of today.


The corn nestled in a pot of boiling water....getting ready for the 'feed'.


Here, the cob is soaked with melted butter. I could hardly wait to take the pics so that I could begin eating these delicious things.


Not all of the harvesting goes to myself and the Food Bank--some of was destined to be a gift.


This onion string was in that crate. It was put together in what I thought was an attractive pattern of red and 'white' onions.


I must include some flowers as well--they are after all part of the lotties. An important part.
This Hibiscus was looking very nice in among the rest of what is blooming at the moment.


These very tall Rudbeckia laciniata (Herbstsonne) tower above everything and are attractive to bees. The reddish flowers in the foreground are Crocosmia.


Do you recall that bumblebee that I rescued from a rain gauge?


....well, I was wondering if this lady could be the same one. hahaha....Well, they have the same fuzzy, yellow hair-do. This time with a bit less gel.


Finally I was wondering if any of you can identify this hover fly. it is quite enormous, 3-4 times larger than the usual ones that I see hovering -about.


This has been an exhaustive posting but i hope that you were able to stick with it.

 

That was a great post (as usual) Sjoerd...nothing exhaustive about it!!
You sure have a lot of great looking tomatoes in your greenhouse and that corn looks amazing! The food bank is so lucky to have such wonderful donations.

 

This was very interesting. I have never pruned the tomatoes to look like this. I think I have way too many to try it.

The jars of sauce do look great though. Maybe you could give us your recipe. Maybe we will all want to try yours, too.

Your gift crate was very nicely put together and very thoughtful, also.

thanks Sjoerd!

 

Here I sit checking in on the 'Stew as my supper cooks (still about 30 minutes before it's done)... and then I see Sjoerd's post. I knew not to look! But I did anyhow.
Oh I wish I still had fresh corn on the cob! And tomatoes! And beans and everything else that Sjoerd harvested.
Sigh. I knew better. Now my supper just seems so "blah".

 

oh to be the lucky recipient of that gift basket!
That corn looked good enough to eat right off the screen - and I've already had dinner.

 

Good evening, a very interesting and informative post, thankyou, I have actually learned a little more about tomatoes, great photos, certainly not boring.

 

What a inspiring post, I loved it and I think I'll be planting toms as soon as I can get my hand on some of the seeds.

Thanks Sojerd.

 

Thank you NETTY--I'm glad that you liked the looks of the harvest and the greenhouse toms. If the weather here doesn't improve soon, I may not be able to harvest them red. It is very fall-like here at the moment.

Ach CAROLYN-- Thank you so much for your posting. Most folks do not 'handle' tomatos the same way that I do chuckle. Well, i reckon that even with alot 0of toms, once you get the knack of doing what needs to be done, it goes very quickly and you can simply just come back later and clean-up the clippings. Of course with all the other things that you are growing that also need some care from time to time...you may be right. Time is a precious commodity (even with excellent allocating), isn't it? I am wondering if you sucker your toms at all then? Do you prune them at all?

The tom concentrate is very simple. There is only basilicum in the first lot and nothing in the second group. I add herbs at the time that I make soups or sauces.
The crate was well stocked with veg to be sure, but the REAL prize for the recipient was a bottle of Rémy Martin underneath it all.

Hee hee hee, 4G--What a comical and nice comment you had about the posting. Thanks.

You are very welcome, CHOCOLATE--I am glad that you enjoyed the posting.

Uh-oh ...I apologize for the post, CHERYL--chuckle. I am glad that you liked the thread this time though.

Thanks KK--I hope that you will try toms. You have success with other things, so I think that you will have success. I hope that you can get hold of some seeds.

 

An attractive and fruitful harvest Sjoerd. You gardens are so neat and organized. I remembered from last year that you did a lot of pruning of the tomato leaves. I have been doing that with the lower leaves but only about 1/4 of the way up. I think I will go out tomorrow and remove some more, the lower leaves tend to yellow. I like the mixture of your onion string. Looks like you have been busy as a bee on your holiday.

 

Bzzzzzzz....Bzzzzzzz....Bzzzzzz......
Yes I have, Gail.

It is interesting to hear that you have been doing some pruning as well. My first pruning is with the lower ¼. The ensuing pruning episodes get to be higher and selected branches "in-between". This last pruning one has to make a judgement call on and it is different every year.
I'm glad that you like the onion string. It looks festive doesn't it.
Anyway, good luck with your continued tom pruning. Why not send somepics of your handiwork?....That would be nice to see.

 

Personally, I would like to see what your stocked pantry and freezer look like... just warn me ahead of time so I can prepare myself with a drool bib!

The fly is curiously beautiful.

 

wow sjoerd, what a grand harvest!!! i never prune our toms at all, but have been reading about the ventillation under the plants like you mentioned. i think i just might go do a little pruning on a few plants later today and test hop how they do. i can't figure out how your toms don't get sunburned with the leaves gone and not protecting them? is it cause they're in a greenhouse? mine always get sunburned on the top here and there if there are no leaves to protect them.

what kind of jam did you make, tomato jam? i've been wanting to try that.

oh...my goodness...that corn...and butter...and corn...and butter. soon i hope we'll have some pics like that from here! good job sjoerd!!!

 

Sjoerd---Your garden looks delicious!!!!

 

Hahaha....DAISY-- a drool bib. chuckle.
I shall have to think about a pantry and freezer shots. I can't right at this moment think how the pics will show much. I will think about what my angle limitations are and what I can do to the contents. Yes, I agree that the fly is an attractive creature.

Thanks BUNKIE--Good luck with pruning some of your plants. My toms are in a greenhouse and I have the windows painted with a thin layer white chalk.
The jam that I made was plum jam.
Thanks for the corn compliments. It was just as delicious as it looks. I can't wait until you have some corn to photograph and post......ANNNNNND eat!

CAYUGA--Thank you so much for that nice remark.

 

Sjoerd, I love your pictures and admire your garden work so much. Iam envious of the beautiful onions as ours only grew to about golf ball size. I see you plant Marigolds alongside your tomatoes as do I.
Is there a way to change a photo to Jpeg? I really wish to post the Hornworm with the Wasp larve attached.