First raspberries harvest.
Raspberries
Finally, a raspberry harvest! Yep, this year I got to the berries before the birds.
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This is going to be a good Asian pear year, lots of fruits on the tree but not over crowded.
Asian Pear
This year the pear tree self-thinned and the fruits are nicely spaced which will result in good size pears.
Asian Pears
Last year the pears were damaged by stink bugs, not seeing any so far a good thing, I am happy, hope they stay away for good. Pears should be ready by the end of August.
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Fig tree is laden with fruits, going to be a great fig year also.
Fig Tree Laden with Figs
Figs
Figs should start turning brown at the end of July early August and ready to eat soon thereafter, I am drooling.
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I planted 2 all blue potatoes in the ice chest. Not sure why the plant on the left died before the plant on the right, both were treated with the same TLC.
All Blue Potatoes Grown in Foam Ice Chest
Had planned to wait for the plant on the right to die before harvesting all the potatoes but changed my mind. I needed to know what was underground and just could not wait any longer. The plant on the left produced fewer potatoes than the one on the right results of an early death I suppose.
All Blue Potatoes
Harvested about 3 pounds of potatoes from the 2 plants, the largest potato weighed 4½ ounces. That’s the one at the upper right hand corner.
Left: cross section of uncooked all blue potato. Right: boiled and peeled all blue potato. Color will be lighter if peeled before boiling.
Was craving potato salad but had no celery and did not wish to run to the food market. Had peas and corn in the freezer so decided to skip the celery and add peas and corn instead. Liked the results especially the corn addition.
All Blue & Yukon Gold Potato Salad
I used the Hellmann’s Original-Potato-Salad recipe with a few minor changes. Added more eggs than called for in the recipe and used rice vinegar. Do not like raw onion so tossed the onion in the vinegar and allow to marinate for about ½ hour before continuing with recipe. Click here for the original recipe.
Combined the All Blue with a few Yukon Gold (purchased from the food market) to make the potato salad. Love the waxy texture of the all blue potato, a keeper.
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Started to harvest my Duganski garlic when I noticed the plant where all the leaves turned brown the bulb had the purple stripes on the outer wrappers, the plant that still had 2 – 3 green leaves the outer wrappers were white.
Duganski Garlic
Enlarged Duganski Garlic
Decided to wait until all the leaves are brown to harvest the remainder.
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Both the Green Chinese Long Beans and the Red Noodles Beans are finally climbing up the poles, no flowers yet, hoping soon.
Red Noodles Beans
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The Okra plants on the other hand are not growing well.
Okra & Nasturtium
Okra plants are about the same height as the nasturtium, they should be much, much taller. Temperature was in the 90’s yesterday expecting 90’s and 80’s this whole week so hopefully they will take off if not they will be yanked.
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Radicchios are forming heads.
Radicchio
Fingers crossed, hope they do not bolt in the heat. Will be keeping a close watch.
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Tomato finally starting to show some color.
Black Cherry Tomato
That colored Black Cherry in the photo should be ready this week.
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Yes, that IS a poinsettia plant growing in my garden in the Hudson Valley, NY.
Every Christmas I receive a beautiful pot of poinsettia from a friend, late spring when the plant start to shed its leaves I place the plant, still in the pot, outdoor. This year I decided to take the plant out of the pot and plant it in the ground instead. Look how it is thriving, why didn’t I think of this before. Ah well, better late than never.
Poinsettia
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For the sake of convenience my shed is erected directly behind my house. The roof is the same as the house so are the siding and shutters. I landscaped all around it to blend in with the landscape and it looks like a cottage instead of a shed.
Planted the Bloomerang lilac in front of the window a few years ago and it is very happy.
Bloomerang Lilac
To the right of the shed is a row of pink Japanese anemone, full of buds and should be blooming this week will post a photo later.
Bloomerang Lilac
Aren’t the flowers gorgeous? Very aromatic.
The lilac bush is beautiful but it is blocking the shed’s window and door, will need to prune back quite a bit after it has finished blooming.
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And finally, a pot of annuals and lemongrass.
Annuals & Lemongrass
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Wow. Look how perfect your raspberries are Norma! Brillinat! All your fruit and veg look great. I love the look of the Asian Pear tree – so pretty.
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Hello Mandy,
The raspberries were delicious as well, was going to make a berry salad but I kept popping them into my mouth then there was none. A beautiful day to you too.
Love those raspberries. And your Asian pears look wonderful. I have a neighbor over the fence with Asian pears. I’ve never seen him picking them though. It looks like a good crop this year. I wonder though how many the squirrels eat.
Hello Daphne,
Maybe your neighbor will share some of his Asian pears with you. Squirrels are big issue so are the stink bugs.
Your fruit trees are beautiful, what a great harvest you should get! And your radicchio is certainly shaping up well. I love colourful potato salads – I often use blue potatoes in salads, or sometimes mix up yams or sweet potatoes with regular potatoes. Yours looks delicious!
Hello Susie,
Thanks, I hope the critters leave my ripe fruits alone. I should copy your idea and mix up sweet potatoes with regular potatoes.
Wow! Your garden is really taking off. What gorgeous raspberries and your figs will be such a treat. Everything looks so good, except the okra. How weird. What fun to go out and pick so many lovely edibles. Love the lilac, too.
Hello Betsy,
It could be my soil pH, this is the 3rd year I am trying to grow okra with little success, most likely will be my last year trying. I am checking my figs every morning hoping to see color on some of them.
The purple Duganski looks like it is starting to open up. The tops of the cloves are separating. That’s the way my Duganski seed garlic came last year and I was not happy. Even the skins were coming off the cloves. Not good for storage, but OK if you are going to use it right away. The potato salad looks great. I make it the same way, minus the onion but plus some Durkee’s dressing with the Hellman’s.
Hello David,
No the Duganski is not starting to open up, those are the purple stripes you are seeing in the photo, the head of garlic is solid.
Your tomatoes really are looking great! Those are going to be good! Such pretty lilacs too. I bet the aroma is wonderful to have in the yard!
Hello Sandra,
I am hoping to harvest my first tomato this week. This lilac bush bloomed in the spring, blooming now in the summer and I am hoping for another set of blooms in the fall.
Such pretty flower and beautiful looking produce. The salad looks so tasty. 🙂
Hello Ronit,
Thanks, plants are looking good in the gardens. Salad was tasty but still needed the celery.
I agree about the celery. No doubt it adds a lot.
Hello Ronit,
I am going to try growing celery next year, I grew Chinese celery previously but never tried regular celery.
Really nice looking blue potato harvest, Norma. And those raspberries look perfect. My berry vines didn’t produce a single flower this June. But like your Asian pear tree, mine is also loaded with fruit. However, yours has much better looking leaves than mine.
Hello Lou,
Thanks. This is the first year in a long time that my pear leaves look this good, don’t know the reason, but I am happy. The challenge now is to get to the ripe fruits before the critters.
I am speechless, Norma. From raspberries, pears to figs…what a great harvest!
Hello Angie,
This is a good fruit year especially the raspberries.
Your fig tree looks amazing! I just purchased a couple of them myself & am now doing a bit of research on how to take care of them. How big is the pot they are in? What a fantastic idea with the poinsettia! Now if only I could keep it alive long enough to get it into the garden.
Hello Margaret,
My fig’s pot is 18″ x 18″ x 18″. This fig tree ideally should be in a larger pot but there is no room in the garage where I overwinter it.
What zone are you in? I am in 7b and we had a cold snap this past Feb. that killed my figs to the ground. They are coming back but if they are killed back each year, they are NEVER going to produce figs! If you are in a similar zone, what do you do to protect your figs each winter? Your harvests look WONDERFUL, by the way 🙂
Hello Newbie,
I am in 6a. I bring my fig tree into the garage for the winter reason it is in a container, it will not survive our winter outdoor.
Everything is wonderful and it seems like so much is happening at once. I just can’t get over how beautiful your raspberries are and how exciting that you were one step ahead of the bugs and the birds. I bought some purple potatoes a few weeks ago and thought they’d be excellent for a potato salad – so much colour! xx
Hello Charlie,
Yes, once the weather improved and started to get warm all the plants were happy. Are red potatoes available where you are also? I planted Adirondack Red, it is red inside, will post cross section photo when I harvest.
First, congrats on your raspberries! You should definitely be proud 🙂 I’m sure their taste is fantastic!
Second, how cool to plant out the poinsettia! I’d never thought of doing so either! I wonder how they’d do in the high desert? I may have an experiment on my hands 🙂
Hello Melissa,
Thanks, yes the raspberries tasted fantastic, I just kept popping them into my mouth and they disappeared in no time.
I hope poinsettia will do well in your area.
Is it bad that I started to drool after I saw those raspberries and the pears? They look absolutely wonderful and so darn amazing. The smoothies and desserts I can make with those. Beautiful post Ms. Norma.
Hello Kay,
Thanks, no raspberries smoothy or dessert, I kept popping them into my mouth and they just disappeared in no time.
Oh the first raspberry harvest!!!! We LOVE raspberries. And your potato salad looks incredible! I’m going to have to make sure I get some of my grandparents potatoes this year. I love home grown. And your flowers are just beautiful! So colorful and full. Love series today – made me smile.
Hello Kristy,
Glad my post made you smile. Home grown potatoes have such wonderful flavor. Do your grandparents grow different varieties of potatoes.
They do, but I’m not sure what varieties. 🙂
Hello Kristy,
I am sure they are all tasty and even tastier when grown by ones grandparents. 🙂
Wow, all your plants look awesome, Norma. Even the okras. I think they look nice. I also had raspberries for the first time this year. Very small but tasted great. Btw, how do you care for your fig in the winter? I have two that survive last winter b/c I brought them indoors. This is the first time ever for me. I killed at least 3 figs in the past.
Hello Angie,
I overwinter my fig tree in the garage. End of October I wheel the pot into a designated corner of the garage where it will remain dormant (water when soil feel dry) around mid-
April I begin to harden off the tree and around end of April it is outdoor for the season. During the hardening period my car has to sit in the driveway night and day.
Your raspberries look luscious and it’s really exciting that your Asian pear tree is so loaded with fruit. I have a friend who grows peppers in ice chests and they seem to do really well, usually hers set tons of fruit all summer long.
Hello Phuong,
The Asian pear tree is loaded with fruit but not overcrowded so I should get good size fruits, one year it was overcrowded and I got lots of very small fruits.
Wow, so much to rave about! I envy your raspberry harvest. Ours are being destroyed by Japanese beetles. I love seeing so many Asian pears on your tree and the figs too. Congratulations on observing your first ripe tomato.
Hello Rachel,
It was a good week. Still waiting to pop that first tree ripened tomato into my mouth.
The blue potatoes are gorgeous, I am going to hunt some down, wonder if they would make good gnocchi? And raspberries…. WOW. They are perfect, we are buying our berries from the frozen section of Costco, oh how I long for a fresh berry. Beautiful that you have figs, hope you wrap some prosciutto or cured meat around one and bake it, soooooo good! As always, totally inspired by your bounty of wonderful garden goodness. 🙂
Hello Anna,
Hope you find some blue potato in your food market. Do post photo of your blue potato gnocchi. I will try to remember to wrap some prosciutto or cured meat around some of the figs and bake them, I am sure they will be delicious, I am drooling.
I usually soak the onions in cold water to reduce their pungency. Your potato salad looks wonderful, love the look of the blue potatoes, so nice that they maintained their colour after cooking.
Your fig tree looks awesome, I guess it’s what I have to look forward to in a couple of years. How many gallons is the tub it’s in? I was thinking of transplanting mine to a larger tub, but now I’m rethinking (would be too hard to lift off the garage roof).
Beautiful raspberries.
Hello Eva,
I use the cold water method also but when a recipe calls for vinegar I just toss the sliced/chopped onion in the vinegar for about 1/2 hour. For the blue potato to retain its color it must be boiled with the skin on.
My fig tree container is 18 x 18 x 18-inches, no idea how many gallons.
Mine is about 18″ round, so it may be big enough after all! Great idea for the vinegar.
Hello Eva,
I think your container is adequate for now.
Wow Norma, you a have world’s greenest thumb!!! Your plants are doing wonderful. Lots of delicious harvest and glad to see that at least you got a handful of raspberries before those pesky birds. Pretty purple potatoes and love the size of your figs. Wishing you a super week!
Hello Bam,
I have my share of garden failures. I sure was pleased that I got to the raspberries before the birds. The challenge now is to get to the tree ripened figs before the critters, checking every day.
Other than your potatoes, your garden seems to be prospering. This year has been the best in many years in our orchard. I think our spring weather had all the right conditions to insure a good crop.
Hello Karen,
Best year in your orchard and you will not be there to enjoy. I hope the new owner appreciates all the heirloom varieties and has the knowledge to take care of it all.
Isn’t that the truth. 🙂
Hello Karen,
All the best. 🙂
Those raspberries are gorgeous and the figs! Oh my! Your posts always make me happy.
Hello Maureen,
Thanks, glad my post made you happy. Hope you are back on your feet and all is well.
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