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August Harvest Totals

September 3rd, 2009

I almost forgot to do my July harvest totals post. It’s such a great way to realize how your hard work in the garden is paying off.
Garden_harvest_basket
The tomatoes were by far my biggest crop for the month of August. The weather finally heated up around here and they started to come ripe rather quickly.
Tomatoes_on_counterJars_of_Tomato_soup
Pickles_brining
So what did everything total last month?
113 lbs of tomatoes have made it into the kitchen, most of them have been made into tomato soup.
11 lbs of elderberries were made into syrup for sweetening tea and drizzling on pancakes.
7 lbs of wild blackberries have been frozen for winter cobblers.
5.4 lbs of celery has been used in my tomato soup.
5.2 lbs of cucumbers have been made into various pickles.
4 lbs of peppers have been roasted and pickled.
3.2 lbs of zucchini have been steamed, sauteed or made into zucchini bread.
2 lbs of crab apples were used to make pectin to thicken my elderberry syrup.
1.5 lbs of green beans have been steamed, drizzled with olive oil and enjoyed.
1 lb of herbs have been chopped and diced and added to recipes or dried for winter use.
Bean_HarvestBig_Celery_Harvest
That’s 155 pounds total, and I’m sure there were things I didn’t weigh because I forgot. I’m very happy that I’ve already exceeded my tomato total for last year!

What’s your garden harvest total for August and which vegetable/fruit tops the list?

27 Comments to “August Harvest Totals”
  1. Mangochild on September 3, 2009 at 6:26 am

    WOW! I’m so impressed by your tomato total, and the pictures of all the varieties you have. The elderberries too, I’m sure they will be a delight in the winter. In my garden, the eggplant have been giving like mad. Off to a very late start to bear fruit, but in August they were coming strong.
    .-= Mangochild´s last blog ..Tuesdays Independence Days: Week 14 =-.

    Reply to Mangochild's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 9:37 am

      I have tons of eggplants on my plants but only 2 ripe ones so far (I didn’t weigh them for August). I’m trying to decide how to cook them.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. kristin on September 3, 2009 at 7:33 am

    I wish I knew. If I weren’t so dang lazy, I would weigh everything myself and add it up. But except when I need to know pounds for a canning recipe, I never bother.

    A lot, though. It’s always a lot.
    .-= kristin´s last blog ..Today Is the Day =-.

    Reply to kristin's comment

  3. Daphne on September 3, 2009 at 7:50 am

    My tomato total tops the list too. The garden total for August was at 88.7lbs, and the tomato total was 66.4. That only leaves only about a quarter of the poundage as non-tomatoes. This is really close to your percentage too. Tomatoes and August just go together. Most of my tomatoes were sauced or made into salsa and frozen. Next year I want to can them instead of freezing them. Your jars look so pretty all lined up.
    .-= Daphne´s last blog ..Jamming =-.

    Reply to Daphne's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 9:36 am

      You’ll be loving those tomatoes come winter for sure!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Dave on September 3, 2009 at 8:40 am

    I sure wish I could come close to those totals! Leaving for a week during the summer allowed things to explode (like weeds and cherry tomatoes). Next year only one cherry tomato plant is allowed! I’ve been harvesting beans and tomatoes mostly. We managed a couple watermelons.
    .-= Dave´s last blog ..Sustaining Fresh Basil Throughout the Winter =-.

    Reply to Dave's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 9:36 am

      I know what you mean, I feel like the last week while I’ve been canning like crazy the garden has exploded!!! I need to get out today and weed, weed, weed and plant some peas to see if I can get a fall harvest of those.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. KitsapFG on September 3, 2009 at 8:49 am

    My August harvest total was 140 pounds of which tomatoes were the top item at 38 pounds. However, we had late blight hit the patch so I will not get anywhere near your tomato totals for 2009. However, I had huge amounts of green beans, corn, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and other items that provided a robust harvest for August despite the tomato shut down. September should be another big harvest month as I will be doing the big potato bed lifts and many of the pumpkins and winter squashes are ready to come in and my peppers are all ripening up now.

    Reply to KitsapFG's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 9:35 am

      That’s so sad about your tomatoes, I can only imagine how much your totals would have been with tomatoes. 140 lbs is a good harvest without tomatoes.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  6. s on September 3, 2009 at 9:21 am

    I just added things up yesterday because I was feeling kind of discouraged with the fall garden situation…made me feel a little better!

    August total: just about 230 pounds, though 20 of that is apples which turned out to be largely unusable, so I should adjust that down a bit. But it does include:

    Tomatoes: 110.49
    peppers 7.06
    zucchini 14.85
    pumpkins 8.81
    onions 13.48
    eggplant 6.88
    pears: 36.59

    Tomatoes were so funny this year, I picked 75 pounds in a 10 day period, and now we’ve slowed way down. It’s as if due to the wacky weather they decided to go for broke and all get ripe at once!
    .-= s´s last blog ..one day’s harvest =-.

    Reply to s's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 9:34 am

      I haven’t weighed my pears yet (even though I did pick them on August 30) I haven’t had time to weigh them. I’m hoping when my pumpkins and corn are harvested I’ll get good totals for September as well.

      I agree on the wacky weather for tomatoes. I pick a basketful or two here and there, but we had one nice hot week and I picked 28 lbs on several occasions.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  7. Beegirl on September 3, 2009 at 10:29 am

    I love that you are keeping totals too! Your tomatoes look wonderful..congrats!

    Reply to Beegirl's comment

  8. the inadvertent farmer on September 3, 2009 at 11:54 am

    Tomatoes followed closely by wild blackberries…or Frankinberries as we so fondly call them here in the Northwest! I’ve gotten lots of peppers too, and eggplant, and squash…just a lot of everything I guess! Lovely photos, your soup looks awesome! Kim

    Reply to the inadvertent farmer's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 12:39 pm

      We have tons of wild blackberries, but I was too busy during blackberry season this year. I only picked 10-12 pounds of them unlike the tons I picked last year.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  9. Dan on September 3, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Wow, you have been harvesting a lot. Everything looks exceptional, particulary the tomatoes. What is the square footage of your garden? I’m not sure how much I have harvested this past month but I have harvested 73lbs since the beginning of this season from 163sqf of garden space.

    To answer your question about tomato seed saving, I did not take any cross pollination precautions. As long as you are saving seed from an open pollinated variety and it has regular leaves the seed will come true. Most tomatoes are self pollinating, the styles are so short it is next to impossible for them to cross. The exception to this rule is potato leaved tomatoes which have a long style and most hybrids will also not some true in the F2 generation. I will scan the tomato section in my ‘Seed to Seed’ book today and e-mail it to you. I have save tomatoes seeds once before and they grew true to type this year. I am guessing the wintersown seeds suffered from a bad case of disorganization, I know Granny experienced a similar situation with her wintersown seeds.
    .-= Dan´s last blog ..Tomato Seed Saving Time =-.

    Reply to Dan's comment

    • Susy on September 3, 2009 at 12:37 pm

      My total edible garden square footage is about 300 sq ft I would guess. I have 6 raised beds and a few other areas scattered around in my ornamental beds.

      I’ll have to possibly save a few tomatoes, I’m trying to decide which ones are tastiest.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Dan on September 3, 2009 at 1:01 pm

        I just sent off the scanned pages. Good luck with your seed saving.
        .-= Dan´s last blog ..Tomato Seed Saving Time =-.

        to Dan's comment

  10. Maureen on September 3, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    I love that you not only total your produce but give us an idea what you are doing with each item….I will have to start including that with my totals!

    And once again, your photos are truly beautiful!
    .-= Maureen´s last blog ..Peach Jam =-.

    Reply to Maureen's comment

  11. Amy W. on September 3, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Yummy!

    Reply to Amy W.'s comment

  12. Pampered Mom on September 3, 2009 at 3:22 pm

    August was certainly our most plentiful month with tomatoes tipping the scales for the largest portion of our harvest. Mostly, though, it’s been a dismal growing season as evidenced by the fact that there are *still* cabbages in the garden and kale going strong. It’s all been a bit slow, actually, which tries the patience a bit. We still haven’t harvested any corn and am beginning to wonder if it will have enough time to mature before the first hard frost.

    I was reading in the paper today about the situation (at least I know we’re not alone). We typically have something like 2000 some degree days in June, July, and August – this year it was only around 1500. Add in the higher than average rains and it’s a mess.

    All in all, I think my decision to pick heirloom tomato varieties meant for us northern folks was the best decision I made this year garden wise.
    .-= Pampered Mom´s last blog ..Growing Up =-.

    Reply to Pampered Mom's comment

  13. warren on September 3, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    I am jealous! The only thing we got worth mentioning is garlic…something like 116 heads. We’re going to harvest a good crop of sunflowers soon too. Other than that…ugh…
    .-= warren´s last blog ..I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I… =-.

    Reply to warren's comment

  14. Christine on September 3, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    I’m very impressed! We’ve had to start from scratch this fall with a brand new garden that’s only 130 sq ft. We’re hoping to expand, and maybe in a couple of summers can hope to have an abundance like yours.
    .-= Christine´s last blog ..Beautyberry Jam =-.

    Reply to Christine's comment

  15. MAYBELLINE on September 4, 2009 at 1:21 am

    I see that you take your rings off of your jars. I read that in may instructions; but I’ve always left mine on so I can screw the lid back down and put any unused stuff in the refrigerator.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Tomatoes =-.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

    • Susy on September 4, 2009 at 8:19 am

      Yes, I don’t have enough to leave rings on all of my jars. After several years they start rusting and are unusable. Since most of my canning jars were passed down to me by my grandmothers and my mother I didn’t get a lot rings with them. I also buy my lids in bulk and they don’t come with rings.

      I actually have one piece lids that I use after opening them.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • MAYBELLINE on September 4, 2009 at 11:22 am

        I need to know more about the one piece lids please.
        .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Tomatoes =-.

        to MAYBELLINE's comment

      • Susy on September 5, 2009 at 12:23 am

        You can buy them in plastic, but at a local store I can buy one piece canning lids as well. I’ll check around and see if I can find them on-line somewhere and send you a link.

        to Susy's comment

  16. Lynn on September 4, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    Oh I wish I had your ambition to can goods although I too did not see very big yields.

    Reply to Lynn's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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