Hav e you ever missed out on a harvest?
By writersedge
@writersedge (22563)
United States
September 15, 2010 6:01am CST
Often, something goes by before I get a chance to harvest it. Usually it's fiddlehead ferns in the spring. They're one inch high, it rains like crazy, just pours, thunders and lightenings for a few days, then when it stops, they're a foot high and open.
Well, by the time I figured out what to do with the corn next door, they found someone to put it into silage.
Other times, I missed out because of work. I had to work doubles when some things needed to be harvested years ago.
So have you ever missed out on harvesting something?
1 response
@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Sep 10
Oh, no... I'm sorry you couldn't take advantage of the corn! Keep your eyes open, maybe you'll find some more somewhere. I usually miss out on the wild asparagus here, because I forget about it until it's too late. We used to always pick it in the early spring, but where I live now, I have to drive a few miles to where it grows. It never dawns on me that it should be ready in time.
I also missed out on gleaning onions this year for the same reason. I always think "next year, I'll do better!"
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
16 Sep 10
Well, when you get a calendar for next year, put "Check the wild asparagus" and "Glean onions" on your calendar for the month before and the month of the usual harvest or if the year is running late, the month of and the month after.
Let me explain:
Last year, our crops were 2 weeks behind the usual week. This year, they were 10 days ahead. So you have the normal crop week and the possible variations. Last year, the last frost was late and it rained a lot with very little sunshiine. This year, the last frost was early and we had tons of sunshine.
So mark you calendar when you get one for next year and see if it helps. We're lucky, we're in an area where there is a crop report once a week. So if you hear rhubarb is coming along nicely and people are about to pick it, you know to check the asparagus and/or the fiddleheads.
So if you mark your calendars, next year, I bet you will do better.
This year, I read an article about a guy in a related area that wrote, "They say to pick the fiddle head ferns when its not raining. Not possible, it rains the entire fiddlehead season where I live, so I cut them when they're ready anyway." Since I have the same problem, now I know.
Thanks for your continued support. I hope next year you have asparague and onions.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
16 Sep 10
That's a good idea! I'll do that. Asparagus is the first thing that pops up in the spring, but the wetter the spring is, the earlier it is, so it can vary quite a bit, too. I wish we had a crop report here. I feel like a fish out of water for even being interested sometimes. :)
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
16 Sep 10
Before the crop reports, people used other methods of knowing. Leeks come out when the mosquitoes are bad. Fiddle heads when the black flies are bad (or is it the other way around?) June was called strawberry moon by one of the tribes here. Hard to forget to look for them when an entire month is names after them.
Do you have a Cooperative Extention? Type the city or county where near where you live and cooperative extention in the search part. They might have a newsletter online or that is sent to people's homes. Wild and tame asparagus are pretty close in timing. CEs help with regular farm crops, but some of them are interested in wild ones, too.
