Days 431 - 451 Ripe Fruit

Wow, in three weeks we have seen the departure of our pears and now into full swing on the apples and figs. The veggie garden is slowing a bit, although we did harvest 73 tomatoes in the past three weeks!!

Ripe fruit... This reminds me of a workshop I went to at Google last year. At the workshop, there was a nice spread of fruit to have with our breakfast and I was talking with a guy who pointed at a fig and asked, "what is that?" Well, he had lived in the midwest for his life and just moved to the west coast and thus had never seen a fig before. I told him what it was but warned him that it would probably not be very good...and sure enough it was not. On the other hand, we have harvested 77 figs in the past week and a half and they are ripened to perfection.

Why is it that we are allowing ourselves to eat such bad tasting fruit? Will it be some day that we do not even know what a good piece of fruit tastes like? I sure hope not, but for many, there really is no choice. Take it off the supermarket shelf or never eat fruit!! Too bad for those people...because figs are really tasty.

A three-week summary if you do not want to read the details:
Kale: 2 bunches ($4.00)
Raspberries: 3 baskets ($6.00)
Strawberries: 2 1/2 baskets ($5.00)
Cherry Tomatoes: 2 baskets ($4.00)
Zucchini: 5 ($8.00)
Cucumbers: 9 ($7.00)
Tomatoes: 73 ($47.50)
Grapes: 7 lbs ($14.00)
Lemons: 5 ($2.50)
Figs: 77 ($19.25)
Apples: 54 ($35.00)

Year 2, Day 66
1) 3 tomatoes

Year 2, Day 67
1) 1 basket strawberries
2) 1 cucumber
3) 4 tomatoes
4) 1 apple

Year 2, Day 68
1) 12 oz grapes
2) 5 tomatoes

Year 2, Day 69
1) 12 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 70
1) 1 cucumber
2) 1 zuke
3) basket cherry tomatoes
4) 7 tomatoes
5) basket raspberries
6) 1 lemon

Year 2, Day 71
1) 12 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 72
1) 2 tomatoes
2) 7 cukes
3) 3 figs

Year 2, Day 73
1) 2 figs
2) 2 bunches kale

Year 2, Day 74
1) 9 oz grapes
2) 3 figs
3) 1 tomato

Year 2, Day 75
1) 10 tomatoes
2) 8 oz grapes
3) 9 figs

Year 2, Day 76
1) basket cherry tomatoes
2) 9 oz grapes
3) basket raspberries

Year 2, Day 77
1) 10 tomatoes
2) 12 oz grapes
3) 6 figs
4) 1 lemon

Year 2, Day 78
1) 3 zukes
2) 12 figs
3) 12 oz grapes
4) 1 apple

Year 2, Day 79
1) 1 zuke
2) 7 apples
3) 3 figs
4) 6 tomatoes

Year 2, Day 80
1) 1 basket raspberries
2) 1 basket strawberries

Year 2, Day 81
1) 6 figs
2) 10 oz grapes
3) 10 tomatoes
4) 4 apples
5) 1/2 basket strawberries

Year 2, Day 82
1) 11 apples
2) 8 figs
3) 11 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 83
1) 10 figs
2) 10 apples
3) 8 oz grapes
4) 1 lemon
5) 1 tomato

Year 2, Day 84
1) 6 tomatoes
2) 11 figs

Year 2, Day 85
1) 8 tomatoes
2) 10 apples
3) 9 figs
4 3 lemons

Year 2, Day 86
1) 10 figs
2) 10 apples


Two-Week harvest: $150.25

Total Produce Harvested : $2236.50
Total Honey Harvested: $360.00
Expenses: $270.00

Days 417 - 430 The Tomato

We wait for this time of the year...the time for ripe tomatoes!! There are some who watch their green tomatoes never quite turn before the cool weather sets in, pretty much setting the stage for another year "without". Yet, those same people will plant again the next year in hope that they will get those special summer treats that we all love so much.

We are quite fortunate here in Healdsburg that even in a relatively cool summer we have enough heat to ripen these treats each year. Right now we are in the middle of a great harvest. We picked 30 tomatoes in the past two weeks, with various varieties sharing the table: Celebrity, Rainbow, Kellogs Breakfast, and Black Krim. One of the Rainbow tomatoes weighed in at over a pound!!

I do plan on planting some chard tomorrow and perhaps set a bed of Arugula seeds down for a spicy salad green.

As for the harvest, we really do not even look at the fruit at the grocery store at this time of the year. We have been eating those pears as they ripen and we harvest a cluster or two of grapes almost daily for the kids' lunches. As you can see down below in the summary, we have harvested 10 different varieties for a total of $162 over the two-week period. Sure helps the food budget stretch itself!!

A two-week summary if you do not want to read the details:
Kale: 1 bunch ($2.00)
Raspberries: 6 baskets ($12.00)
Strawberries: 1 basket ($2.00)
Cherry Tomatoes: 7 baskets ($14.00)
Zuchinni: 7 ($8.50)
Cucumbers: 18 ($16.00)
Tomatoes: 30 ($33.00)
Pears: 75 ($53.00)
Grapes: 7 lbs ($14.00)
Potatoes: 1 1/2 lb ($1.50)

Year 2, Day 52
1) 1 zuke
2) 3 tomatoes
3) 2 baskets raspberries

Year 2, Day 53
1) 11 oz grapes
2) 13 pears
3) 5 cukes
4) 1 tomato
5) 1 basket cherry tomatoes

Year 2, Day 54
1) 12 pears
2) 12 oz grapes
3) 1 basket cherry tomatoes

Year 2, Day 55
1) 4 tomatoes
2) 1 cuke
3) 8 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 56
1) 1 basket cherry tomatoes
2) 8 oz grapes
3) 2 baskets raspberries

Year 2, Day 57
1) 3 cukes
2) 20 pears

Year 2, Day 58
1) 3 tomatoes
2) 2 zukes
3) basket of cherry tomatoes
4) 1 1/2 lb potatoes

Year 2, Day 59
1) 1 tomato
2) 1 bunch kale
3) 4 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 60
1) 1 lb grapes
2) 16 pears
3) 8 tomatoes
4) 2 cukes

Year 2, Day 61
1) 9 oz. grapes

Year 2, Day 62
1) 4 zukes
2) 3 tomatoes
3) 14 pears
4) 7 cukes
5) 12 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 63
1) 1 basket strawberries
2) 1 basket cherry tomatoes
3) 2 tomatoes

Year 2, Day 64
1) 7 oz grapes

Year 2, Day 65
1) 5 tomatoes
2) 1 1/2 lb grapes
3) 2 baskets cherry tomatoes
4) 2 baskets raspberries

Two-Week harvest: $162.00

Total Produce Harvested : $2084.25
Total Honey Harvested: $360.00
Expenses: $250.00