Late Summer Harvest

As weather changes indicate, summer is coming to an end here in Southern Ontario, Canada, and my main growing season is also wrapping up in the backyard, with the bounty of the harvest at its peak.  Here are six crops that are being earnestly used or preserved in my kitchen:

Garlic – I mentioned my hardneck garlic producing scapes back in June.  After the scapes are removed, the plants concentrate their energy in plumping up the bulbs, so a couple weeks later, the leaves start to turn yellow, signalling that the harvest is approaching:

Once three or four leaves have browned, it is time to dig the bulbs out.  After harvesting in mid-July (photo below, left, of my 2018 crop), the bulbs are cleaned and cured.  The best of the crop is reserved for the next planting, which is happening soon, and the rest are kept in a dark, dry, and cool spot, ready for cooking (photo below, right):

Mini Purple Radishes –  After the garlic is harvested, a nice spot with well loosened soil is vacant, and I like to take advantage of it by sowing fast-growing veggies that will be indifferent to cooling temperatures, such as rapini (a.k.a. broccoli rabe) or winter radishes.  This year I planted white daikon radish (still in the ground), and mini purple winter radishes, as shown at the top of this post, and below, left.  These radishes were about three to four inches (7.5 to 10 cm) long.  Once washed and sliced crosswise, these interesting veggies reveal a purple and white pattern (photo below, right):

Purple snap beans – these plants went from blooming in early August, to developing pods later that month (photo below, left), and although the main harvest already happened (photo below, right), there are still a few growing on the plants:

Bay Leaf – Last spring I reported that my bay leaf plant had some pest problems; after treatment, it was taken outside to the backyard, and recovered nicely, even growing a few inches taller (photo below, left).  I have been clipping leaves here and there, to add to soups and stews (photo below, right):

Hungarian hot Wax Peppers – This is a crop that started blooming mid-summer, and has been producing peppers steadily since then:

These moderately spicy peppers are first harvested while still green, as shown above, but from there, they turn pale, to bright yellow, and then orange (and eventually red.)   In the photo below, five examples of these stages:

Tomatoes – I only grew cherry tomatoes this year because I was away for a good part of May; they were growing a little slow, but I had a reasonable crop.  My in-laws grew big (enormous) heirloom red tomatoes, and I have scored some for my kitchen: 

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I am joining Six on Saturday for September 16, 2023, hosted by Jim Stephens @ Garden Ruminations.

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I am sharing these pics at Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD) Challenge for September 16, 2023.