Monday, January 2, 2012

Harvest during Christmas week till before New Year

I had to decide to harvest many of our vegetables the day before we have extreme weather so that it won't be much a waste especially the leafy green ones. Well the fruits can be affected as well if left hanging on the plants. For example, it does not surprise me to see burn tomatoes or dehydrated wrinkled chillies on the plant. Sadly many of our tomatoes has been dropping from the stem before it turns red in this hot weather. Even the carrot root top that is exposed are all wrinkly and dehydrated. Not as juicy as the ones we grow in our cool season. Our Lebanese zucchini has started to produce male and female flower nicely but with this hot weather it won't set fruit well. Fortunately, the bonica eggplant that we grow in partial shade has managed to produce some fruit. We harvested our first medium size Challenger tomato before Christmas, although some were effected by the scorching sun. We also harvested several varieties of cherry tomatoes these past week.
Harvested all of our hon tsai tai greens.
Had to harvest some of the leek which is still 'baby' cause they are showing the tell-tale sign of forming the flower stalk. The environment stress has probably cause those leeks to produce flower quickly to reproduce. After the extreme weather passed, we probably have to pull out many baby leek. At the moment, I am keeping cool in the house and will access the damage after the weather cools down a bit. I am being pampered at the moment cause dear hubby waters the plants in the evening.
There were several potato plants that had dried long time, so harvested some potatoes.
I just remembered that I planted some 'Ruby Lou' or was it called 'Ruby Red' potatoes a few months ago after I dug out those potatoes.
Surprisingly, our last Italian Sprouting Broccoli  plant still produce some broccoli shoots to harvest in warm weather. Pick the largest Pak choi to harvest before their leaves were burned. The younger Pak Choi leaves growing in the garden has been burned now. Don't know whether pruning them later is worth the try but there are always hope.
On Christmas day, we went fishing at Moonta and the weather was very windy. Not a very calm day, we left early but hubby caught some crabs to bring back.
I wonder whether we have anything to harvest this week after extreme hot weather. 

24 comments:

Mark Willis said...

That post was all looking so nice until I saw the crabs...! Still, I expect you enjoyed them.

cathy@home said...

Lovely Harvest Diane, I love crab meat what did you make with them?

Sue Garrett said...

I feel the same as Mark about crabs but did I spot a little carrot person in the second photo - two arms and two legs?

Sunray Gardens said...

Wonderful harvest. That's the way to do a little trip, bring home crabs.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Sean L said...

The potatoes looks good. The weather sounds pretty nasty at the moment. Is expected to go hotter?

Anonymous said...

Wonderful harvest! I'm not quite to the point of missing the big summertime harvests here but I'm sure in a couple of months, I'll be having garden envy :)

kitsapFG said...

Your weather sounds down right miserable hot at the moment, but you are an amazing gardener that keeps bring forth harvest bounty despite the oppressive heat. Well done! Those crabs look tasty as does the varied harvest bounty from the garden.

Bee Girl said...

What a beautiful harvest! And those crabs! Yes, sometimes (not often, I am a mountain dweller) I long to live by the water...I would LOVE to catch our own crab!!!

Mary Hysong said...

What a great harvest you've had. Do you grow any real heat lovers like okra, black eyed peas or sweet potatoes? Hopefully you'll get a bit of cooler weather to keep everything going!

rainfield61 said...

Me and my wife have tidied up our compound these few days, will see more harvest very soon.

Norma Chang said...

A lovely variety of harvest. You are experiencing extreme heat and we are expecting single digit tomorrow night.

TK said...

Wah..bestnya potatoes tanam sendiri..Potong2, goreng and buat sambal kentang..sedap tu!!!

My Urban Gardens said...

Your harvest looks beautiful. Sorry it is getting so hot and dry. That must be frustrating.

Lynn

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG dear,
I'm drooling right now....your veges...and those crabs! Did you take a look at our "garden"? It's progressing...somewhat! purrr...meow!

Liz said...

Wow - eggplants before the New Year and crabs - now you just need the cool change to come and things should be perfect.

Kelli said...

Your harvests always look so very lovely! Crab sounds good too, yum!

Dani P. said...

Wonderful harvest for such a hot weather. Great potatoes !!! And those tomatoes and eggplants ... I am dreaming of summer, looking at your pictures.

makcikmanggis said...

banyaknya hasil kebun Diana:)setiap kali baca n3 kebun Diana ni setiap kali besemangat nak pegang cangkul hehe.....suka tengok kentang merah tu:)..oh ya..terima kasih ..biji benih dah selamat sampai.

Robin said...

What a wonderful beginning to a New Year! I love crab....you are lucky to be able to go get your own fresh crabs!

Jody said...

Sorry to hear it's to hot for many of your veggies. I hope you get fruit from the zucchini. You have a wonderful harvest this New Year. Enjoy!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mark~ Hahaha...thats why it was put as the last photo.

Cathy~I like to enjoy them as "chilli crab". It is a signature dish in our country.

Sue~Ah you are right there is a little carrot person there.

Cher~It was a nice trip. It was just too bad that the kids did not have an opportunity to play in the water that much due to the weather.

Sean L~Fortunately the weather has cool down a bit so its bearable.

Foodgardenkitchen~Spring is just another 2 months for you then it will be summer. I don't really enjoy mid-summer here because the weather is really harsh here.

KitsapFG~I hope we have some summer veggies left to get through summer so we have something to harvest in fall.

Bee Girl~We are just 5minutes drive to the nearest jetty. But not much fish there nowadays. So we usually travel to other place for fishing.

Mary Hysong~We do have okra and sweet potatoes growing at the moment. But the heat prevents them from growing that much. They spend most of their energy to survive the heat. So no obvious growth observe during extreme weather. But they pick up again when the weather cools down.Black eyed peas is not something I am familiar of. But thank you for the tips I will look for some black eyed peas and try growing them.

Rainfield61~Hopefully the year of 2012 will give you bountiful harvest from your garden.

Norma Chang~Keep warm. While we have to keep cool here.

TK~Memang sedap ubi kentang fresh ni rasa dia lain dari yang Malaysia import ubi kentang. Pastu ubi kentang lain jenis pun lain rasa dan texture dia.

My Urban Garden~It is frustating. I have to re-sow many vegetable seeds as many of them died. I just hope that it can produce some before the winter comes.

Cat-from-Sydney~Your garden looks great. Everything very organise. But make sure the fertiliser is not that fresh.

Liz~Eggplants has start to flower but with the extreme heat, it won't set fruit well. So I hope they start flowering again when the weather now starts to cool down.

Kelli~It is a good season to catch crab now. Just wish that we have bigger freezer to keep them.

Dani~I have to sow some tomato seeds now as many of them died. Just worried that if another 40 degree Celsius will come.

Makcikmanggis~Selamat menyemai benih;-).

Robin~Fresh crab meat is so sweet and tender. Save a lot of many catching our own crabs since it is about $15perkilogram here.

Jody~Our Lebanese zucchini looks pretty bad so it takes a while for them to recover. I probably sow some seeds cos they grow really quick.

Daphne Gould said...

I hope you get some cooler weather soon. I'm hoping for warmer weather for me. The last couple of days have been below freezing. And the nighttime temp last night was about 11C. Brr. Not the coldest weather we will get this year, but cold anyway.

Malar said...

Yummy harvest and catch for Christmas!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Daphne~The weather has cool down a bit. Hopefully we won't face another 40C again. I do have to re-sow many seeds as many died especially the cucurbit family. Hope you have warmer weather and you green will have the chance to grow a bit faster.Keep warm.

Malar~ We still have 2 meals enough with the crab. The malas part is always to clean them before cooking...hehehe..