June 29, 2015
What are you harvesting this week? We are harvesting:
- kale
- cabbage
- broccoli
- kohlrabi
- carrots
- beets
- beans
- zucchini
- cucumbers
- potatoes
(I apologize for the blurry picture and the lack of pictures. I’ll load you down with pics for the beginning of July post š )
Only 2 of the 5 kids liked the kohlrabi so I will not be ordering any seeds next year. It was nice to be able to taste test without buying a whole packet.
We gave away everything but the carrots and kohlrabi because truthfully, I just don’t have the energy to do anything with it and I don’t want it to go to waste.
Fruit Conundrum
I am sad to say, one thing we are NOT harvesting is blueberries š¦ We had PLENTY on the bushes as they were forming. I am not positive why we have no more blueberries. I have not been harvesting them, my oldest two have, so I couldn’t tell you if they all disappeared one day or little by little…
The chicks and chickens have been getting out and heading straight for the blueberry patch and we never did catch what was eating our strawberries so it could be critters.
HOWEVER, the strawberries are no longer blooming or fruiting. This time last year, I was harvesting GALLONS of blueberries each day and a few handfuls of our first-year strawberries.
Last year (the last two years, really) was unseasonably wet and chilly. This June, we had a steady stream of high 90s/low 100sĀ with no rain. Could it be that everything ripened early? Or that it was too hot so they stopped producing? (I’m thinking of the strawberries now)
What do you think? It is very odd and very sad š¦ I typically freeze 10+ gallons every year of blueberries and this year, I froze 0.
Background on the blueberries:
- bought 8.5yrs ago (3yrs old I think)
- started harvesting 7.5 yrs ago
- pruned every year but one (VERY few blueberries that year and they were tiny)
- have had more and more blueberries each year
Any ideas? I am saddened and baffled.
Check out what other gardeners are up to at Daphne’s Dandelions today.
Gardening Without... 
Too bad about the blueberries. I’m going to guess something is eating them, birds or some other critter. I can see slight variations in ours from year to year, but I’ve never seen them go away. We do harvest them every day, and hang pie plates and old dvds/cd to help scare the birds away.
That’s too bad about the blueberries – I’ve just purchased my bushes this year, so unfortunately I don’t have any experience with them yet.
If I could get ripe blueberries here, I’d help you, but they never produce for me. I know a lot of our problem is the winter moths (an invasive that came in about a decade ago). They will eat all the flowers. Then the birds come in and eat what is left.