Another Bountiful July Harvest
Here in the Northeast, temperatures remain well into the 90s, with lots of humidity.
Despite the uncomfortable summer weather, the vegetables at my Bedford, New York farm are thriving, and the gardens are looking spectacular this season. Fortunately, we were able to harvest another sizable amount of vegetables just in time for my weekend trip to my home in East Hampton. I am hosting a party, so I am very happy to have such fresh and delicious produce to share.
Here is an update on what we picked this week - enjoy these photos.
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- There has been so much growth in this vegetable garden in the last couple of weeks – look at all there is to pick!
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- We’ve had a lot of very warm days, and little rainfall. This combination can sometimes be a detriment to growing crops, but some of the plants continue to do well.
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- Here is Ryan picking more cabbage from our prolific patch.
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- 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 – this one is ready for picking.
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- And so is this beautiful green cabbage head. Cabbage is an excellent source of antioxidants and vitamins K and C. It is also a good source of fiber, manganese, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, and omega‐3 fatty acids.
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- Last harvest, we only picked one head of nappa cabbage – look at all we have now! Nappa cabbage, which is sometimes called Chinese cabbage, is milder and more tender than some of its cabbage counterparts.
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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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- There was lots of broccoli to harvest too. Broccoli is a hardy vegetable of the cabbage family that is high in vitamins A and D. And, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, the average American eats more than four-pounds of broccoli a year.
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- These beautiful cauliflower heads are brimming with nutrients. They hold plenty of vitamins, such as C, B, and K.
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- We also harvested more crisp, white turnips. Turnips are a versatile vegetable since both the root and the greens are edible.
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- In general, onions are picked after the long onion leaves start to flop over and brown, signaling that the plants have stopped growing and are beginning to prepare for storage; however, they can be harvested early if eaten within the same week.
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- The onions looked wonderful and so big – we planted many red, yellow, and white varieties.
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- Onions are a rich source of vitamin-C, manganese, potassium and phosphorus. Onions are low in caloric value and high in dietary fibers.
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- And more artichokes grew on their healthy stems. The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually flower buds, which are eaten when they are tender.
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- There is also a lot of fresh and fragrant cilantro. Often known in the United Kingdom as coriander, cilantro comes from the plant Coriandrum sativum. In the United States, the leaves of the plant are referred to as cilantro and the seeds are called coriander. Cilantro is also commonly known as Chinese parsley.
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- And here is Ryan picking a nice bunch of parsley.
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- This is dill. Dill is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus Anethum. Dill is widely grown in Eurasia where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavoring food.
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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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- 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.
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- Look at our bounty of artichokes and broccoli – and there are many still growing!
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- Laura is amazed with all the vegetables.
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- Here are Laura and Sanu cleaning the onions and turnips. Turnips are actually washed in cold water, while onions are just wiped clean.
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- These are all the beautiful turnips from our harvest.
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- And the cauliflower – two heads removed from its bed of leaves – waiting to be bagged.
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- This onion so gorgeous. Onions are brushed and wiped clean before its top papery layers are peeled.
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- All these onions are perfect, and just waiting to go into my next salad. My guests will love all these vegetables.
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- Once everything is washed and dried, the vegetables are then stored in the refrigerator until they’re packed up in coolers ready to be taken to East Hampton.
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