Let the Harvest Begin!!

.........and not a minute to soon. Believe me! We are having nights of about 1 C deg, or 34 F.

Today I went to check on the veggies, and I was pleasantly surprised. The broccoli, altho i would get a head here and one there, now they all decided they wanted to be picked at the same time. The other veggies are comming along nicely, and most are winter veggies anyways. But the tender ones, decided, thats it, pick me,,,,,now. My side salad garden next to the house, is ready, and with the nights to cold now, we have really got to eat alot of salad for the next couple of days,,lol.

So my work is cut out now. I have herbs to pick and dry, veggies to blanch and freeze, and root veggies to pack in sand.

The side salad garden. Romaine Lettuce.


Parsley


Dill and along the walls is Anise and Fennel. (you can't really see them.)


And here is an overview of what I harvested today. Just a sampling of the goodies. Believe me, I picked all day!


Broccoli


Beets, and one lonely radish ( i have no idea how its has survived,,lol)


Havre Rot or in English, Oat Root. Its a root that goes back way before the Viking Era, it was the "potato" of the old era. It is so sweet, and the root itself is very, very white. When cooked it tastes like a sweet potato. Eaten raw, it has almost a water chestnut taste,,,but way better.


KÃ¥lerabi or Rutabega


KÃ¥lerabi and Oat Root all cleaned up, they just need peeled for dinner. The rest is put away already.


And last but not least in anyway....the last of the strawberries,,


They didn't make it to the kitchen,,lol.

I still have cabbage, potatoes, cauliflower and sugar peas. They will survive the frost. Those will get harvested in a few weeks to a month. The peas, as soon as they are ready, they are getting really plump. Now to finish the freezing process.

 

You must be so pleased, with all the veggie troubles you were suffering! Everything looks so good. Well done Biita. I need to check out that oat root.

 

That looks great .
I am a bit intrigued by 'pack the roots in sand ' , care to tell us what it means and how does it work ?

 

You've done good with your harvesting. I know my broccoli was small and went to seed. everything looks delicious. Your lettuce looks good. Maybe I'll have to try some of that next year. Thanks for posting.

 

Everything looks fantastic Biita! Things seem to be a bit slow in my garden this year, but they are finally coming along.

 

Whoo-PEEEE! Doesn't that look good!
That little herb garden up close to the house looks and did very good didn't it?

The fresh strawbs look sublime. I like your variety of roots. They appear to be good quality.
You mentioned packing some in sand--are you referring to making a "clamp"?
We sometimes make a clamp for beets or carrots, although you cam clamp many other things as well, of course.
What can you tell me about oat root? Do you know it's latin name?

You had a good harvest.

 

Thank you all! I am so pleased. And yes all that late planting, i was getting so worried. To the point it was making me sick. Nervous sick i mean.

Okay, heres what i mean by "packing in sand" Sjoerd i'm not sure what you mean by clamping, but maybe this is the same. lol.

I have 2 bins that take up one wall in our cold cellar. Its cold in there all the time, but not freezing. In one of the bins is play sand, like for children. The other is empty. First harvest your root veggies. cut off all green of anykind. I leave a thin layer of dirt on mine, to help act as a protector. Then i let them sit in the sun for most of the day, turning them to make sure all the dirt gets as dry as possiable. Next i use a layer of sand in the bottom of a bin, then place a layer of roots but not touching each other. Then i put a layer of sand ontop, enough that i can form a level layer with no roots from the bottom comming thru. So pretty thick. Then another layer of roots. Repeat this process untill all your roots are covered with sand.
The sand helps to let air circulate around the roots and to let the root itself stay moist with out mildew or bacterial developing, no mold either. If there is excess moisture the sand absorbs it, and releases it into the air. The other bin is so when i do take roots, i put the sand into the bin to air out, and dry. Since it takes a good long while before you get to the next level the sand that you move has time. Also its ready to go when the next season starts and now you just start the layering of sand all over. The most important thing about this process is your sand has to be super dry to start with. If you get some and its slightly wet, let it all dry out by sifting it now and then. I do this all winter long when i do laundry, i go in and sift the sand that has been moved to the empty bin to get ready for the next season. The bin that i use is made of wood, also its breathable too, to let the moisture out. Do not use plastic of anykind, or glass, it will not work. Your bottom roots can't breath and will spoil or rot on you.

The Oat root, I don't know the latin name for. But i will search. It is a fiberous root, that at one time was the main staple of the ancient kitchen. It can be dried and ground to make a flour out of. It tastes like a sweet potato, when cooked. And you can eat it raw, and it tastes to me like a water chestnut with the crunch to it. It can be used as a thickener also for soups, stews.
Growing wise, you can leave the root in place for a few yrs if need be. It will be perfectly good when harvested. It gets a yellow daisy like flower ontop and that is where the seeds are. Some roots grow to be as long as a hand, but most are about the size of a finger long. and thick. The roots that i have shown are from this yr and also last yr. I wanted to see if they would still grow as was told. The 2 yr old root is way thicker and longer than the 1 yr root. It was just as sweet. The leaves of the root, i don't know if can be used or not, i have never tried. But they grow to be about a foot long or 30 cm. Very hardy plant, it can take the heat, and cold and still produce. Winter is no problem for it, i just wanted to see how they were doing, and they all looked just fine so i harvested. I will definately be planting these again. One thing, they love wet earth, but not soggy. So when watering, let them get a good long easy soaking, then don't water for a few days or a week. Depending on the weather. To be honest, most farmers don't bother watering them, they let nature do that. Like the potatoes up here. But i water a few times in the summer, just to be sure. lol. The plant was used as the main staple like i said, here in Skandinavia, mostly in Norway and Sweden. It survived when most other plants didn't.

Toni,,,ohhh yes, yes, yes they all will go nicely with all that free meat in the freezer,,,lol. (honestly i only have one pack of sheep meat bought at the store for farekål, a cabbage and sheep dish),,,,lol.

 

I understand how that works. In fact I have seen that technique on a DVD that I have called"The Victorian Kitchen Garden". The DVD shows gardening techniques used back in Victorian times.
A clamp is a hole one digs in the garden to store their root veg in. We call that inkuilen in dutch.

I am really curious about that "Oat Root". I haven't been able to find out much about it yet. I'm still looking.
I wonder if it is related to Scorzonera. It really makes me think of that.

 

Ahhh okay Sjoerd, the old norse did that also. The pit. This is just the more convient version of that. Norway as you know is mostly coast line, so lots of sand, and that was done. Now we just make our "pits" in the house,,,lol.

I'm still looking on the Oat Root also, but i can tell you that i got my seeds from a friend in Sweden. If i can get a hold of her, i will ask. The old farmers around here, when i asked how they started,( i asked 3 yrs ago) they just said, they been gathering the seeds every yr for yrs. Its something that just always has been, i guess. But i will keep hunting!

 

Okay,,, whewwww, i called my friend in Sweden, and she said the other name for it, down south anyways, is Skorsenerot and that made it easier to look up. Up here we call it Oat Root. Now i do not agree with the Wiki article at all on most of it. Maybe its because of where we live. But roots don't get to a meter long here,,that would take a lot of yrs! It does not give off any sap, that i have ever seen after i have peeled them. They are not bland at all, and have a great mild flavor. So this is the link, but first hand i can tell you, alot of the info is wrong, at least for this part of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorzonera_hispanica

 

Harvesting in Texas

I am harvesting tons of tomatoes, bell peppers, okra, and kale. I have little pumpkins on my vines. This is my first fall garden and I love it.

 

It looks like all of your hard work paid off, Biita. Enjoy the fruits of your labors. We haven't had a hard frost here yet, but my tender plants are done for the year. I spent the weekend doing fall chores...cleaning the gutters, prepping my pond, bringing some tender plants inside to my potting shed.... I love this time of year, despite all the work. We still have wood to haul (I hope to loose a few pounds!).

I really enjoyed reading everyone's input on this post...I learned a lot!

 

Wonderful job Biita. The oat root is very interesting, but I think it would be to hot here to grow it. We do not have a mild temperate climate. Enjoy some for me. :}