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WR's 2014 Fall Garden

w_r_ranch

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Picked a few things to go along with tonight's supper...

Harvest_120314.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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LOL, if you take me on the 'Bourbon Trail', I could probably give you a hand when we're done!!!

Pick another broccoli head to accompany our supper tonight. I think tomorrow that I'm going to start harvesting a bunch of them & get them blanched & frozen for later meals as I have a number of them this size.

Broccoli_120614.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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Picked 6 heads of broccoli this morning that will be processed for future meals... After we cut & blanched them, we put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, we will vacuum pack them... We have lots more to do, so we'll repeat the process tomorrow.

Broccoli1_120814.jpg

Broccoli2_120814.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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Tied up the cauliflower leaves to enclose the heads (this will keep them white)... Looks like they'll be ready in about 2 weeks.

Blanched & froze another 6 heads of broccoli. Vacuum packed the batch from yesterday.
 

w_r_ranch

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Blanched & froze another 7 heads of broccoli. Vacuum packed the batch from yesterday. I believe that should be enough frozen to last us till next season. There are lots of florets coming on that will keep us supplied for the next 6 weeks... Next up will be the cauliflower.

Picked a big kohlrabi that we will mash (kind of like mashed potatoes) to accompany our steak supper tonight.
 

w_r_ranch

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Picked 5 head of cauliflower so we can start blanching them tomorrow prior to freezing. Depending how we feel, I'll pick another 5 after we process these...

Also picked some lettuce & broccoli florets to go with our supper tonight.

Cauliflower_Harvest_010615.jpg

Cauliflower_Size_010615.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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Blanched & froze the cauliflower. We'll vacuum pack it tomorrow & see about doing another batch.

After this freezing weather passes, I need to harvest the potatoes.

Blanched_Cauliflower.jpg
 

Rahab222

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I wish I had of put in potatoes last fall. Just to much going on. I'm going to change up some things this year.
 

w_r_ranch

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Did another batch of cauliflower after vacuum packing the batch from yesterday. I believe that should be enough frozen to last us till next season. I'll make the rest into cauliflower soup after I'm done making the vegetable stock for it.

Vegetable_Stock.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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Harvested some more broccoli & cauliflower to accompany tonight's meatloaf.

And surprisingly, the lettuce,chard & spinach look pretty good for having gone through some hard freezes (it was 23 one morning). I believe being 3' off the ground may have helped in this case.
 
E

ErnieCopp

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Sam,
I am sure that 3' makes a big difference. My half acre slopes about six feet, and as our frost is always in the mid to high twenties, it is easy to see the frost line. Just like you can see the snow line on the side of the mountains, some mornings i can see the edge of the frost on the grass.

Ernie
 

w_r_ranch

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I believe it did factor in, Ernie.

Started harvesting the 'Red Pontiac' potatoes as the soil is finally dry enough. Got about half a row done & will finish after my back is rested...

Potato Harvest_011615.jpg

Big_Potato_011615.jpg
 
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ErnieCopp

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Red potatoes are heavy producers in the right soil. When did you plant them?

Ernie
 

w_r_ranch

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Sept. 26th. I just finished getting them all harvested... ended up with 2 tubs, probably about 80 pounds, which should hold us until the spring crop is harvested at the end of May.

Started trimming up the 'Long Island' Brussel Sprouts & fed all the leaves to the cattle. I'll finish this tomorrow.
 

w_r_ranch

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The fall garden is coming to a close soon. It has been very productive & we will have plenty put up to last us till next year!!! Here is where we stand:

With the recent spring temperatures, the asparagus started popping up & we harvested some. The smaller stalks I left & they're starting to branch out...



The broccoli is always prolific here... I'll harvest some more florets over the next month, however I always let most of it go to flower this time of year so that the bees have something to replenish there honey supply (there are hundreds of them in the garden right now)...

Broccoli_Bees.jpg

Broccoli_012715.jpg

The Brussel sprouts are looking real good this year. They can remain in place a while longer as they are where the watermelons normally reside. It looks to be a bumper crop this year!!!

Brussel_Sprouts_012715.jpg


The cabbage did great & next week we will turn it the remaining heads into sauerkraut. We have a number of the that are better than 12" across!!!

Cabbage_012715.jpg

The garlic & the onions are both doing well thus far. The will remain in place until they are harvested in Late May/early June.

Garlic_012715.jpg

Onions_012715.jpg

Next is the lettuce & spinach... the lettuce did amazing, surviving some pretty cold temps (23 degrees). We love our salads & have had a lot of them with our suppers!!! The spinach normally doesn't have a problem with the cold. We will be harvesting the rest of it soon & then putting it up for later use.

Lettuce_012715.jpg

Spinach_012715.jpg

 

w_r_ranch

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Started picking, blanching & vacuum packing the Brussel sprouts today. The first batch of many, LOL!!!

BrusselSprouts_030615.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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We had started picking & processing the other day (before the rains) and today we continued. I picked 5 tubs & got all the leaves stripped/cleaned this morning... this afternoon we blanched them & packaged an additional 16 1 pound containers, which will be vacuum packed tomorrow. Mrs. Ranch says we have more than enough, so the remaining plants will be fed to the cattle.

Still need to finish picking/processing the Brussel sprouts, probably tomorrow as it is still way to wet in the garden to till.

Spinach1_031115.jpg

Spinach2_031115.jpg
 

Rahab222

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I'm planting potatoes in the fall after seeing your crop. I didn't know if they would make or not, but apparently they did!
 

w_r_ranch

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Here is a whopper for you: 13" across (almost 41" around)!!! That is a lot of cabbage rolls right there!!!

Cabbage_031515.jpg
 

w_r_ranch

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Update on the above cabbage... I harvested it this morning as Mrs. Ranch wanted it for coleslaw & I needed to remove it to till the garden anyway. It made it to 15" across & 47" around. It weighed in at 18 pounds 3.1 ounces!!!

Cabbage_032915.jpg


And that is the final chapter in the 2014 Fall Garden...
 
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