The Harvest Basket with Vegetables from the Garden

Posted on by Julia

July 11, 2026

On July 2, I did my normal routine in the garden. Afterwards, I harvested several vegetables from the garden. Bruce noticed the Japanese eggplant was ready, and he cut the stem and placed it in the basket. He asked what I was going to do with the eggplant. I mentioned a stir fry or a Thai curry.

I picked purple beans, green beans, yard long beans, and cherry tomatoes. I like the color composition of the vegetables in the basket. I like purple vegetables for some reason.

Harvest Basket

I picked more tomatoes after I took the above picture.

I picked some long skinny peppers. I have no idea what type of peppers these are. I ordered some seeds from Temu (Don’t judge. I find local seed sellers on Temu.). The issue with some seed sellers on Temu is that their seed packets lack labels. I have no idea what the seeds are. (Some people claim there’s a seller to blame, but I know, it’s my own damn fault. ) If I had waited until I received the packet before ordering the next packet, I could’ve labeled the seed packets.

I could tell several packets of seeds were from the nightshade family. I labeled the packets Unknown Nightshade 1, Unknown Nightshade 2, and so on. I planted the seeds with labels matching the new labels on the packets.

Unknown Pepper

The above unknown pepper is not spicy. Another of the unknown peppers is hot, with a nice level of heat.

I harvested some garlic.

The former potato bed is now full of dirt.

The tomato jungle with mistakenly planted with pole beans on the side instead of bush beans.

From the dining room, we saw this bird. It hung out for a bit. The bird would dart out, then fly back. It was fun to watch.

Eastern Wood-Pewee?

The sunset was stunning!

31 thoughts on “The Harvest Basket with Vegetables from the Garden”

  3. Beautiful sunset! Years ago, I remember eating a Weight Watcher’s version of Eggplant Parmesan. It was delicious! They don’t make it anymore. Your vegetables are very colorful, and I’m sure so good for you!

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    1. As well growing Asian style Eggplants. I am growing Italian-style eggplants to make Eggplant Parmesan. I love it. I want to find a recipe that doesn’t call for frying the eggplant. The purple beans are easy to see, making them easy to pick.

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    1. I focus on cheese, flour, tea, coffee, lettuce, herbs, salt, and spices. The herbs are for the ones I don’t grow. Lettuce won’t grow in our summer heat. I also buy cilantro for the same reason.

      I make my own sandwich bread and hamburger buns. I do buy hoagie buns for Sloppy Joes. I just can’t seem to make the hinge from the split hold up.

      We have two freezers full of local beef, chicken from next door, and pork from Costco. We are set for meat for now. 😁

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      1. Mike and I both eat different bread products as he can’t handle all keto rolls and sometimes gets a funny taste because of his medication. I used to make it but it is too much for one person, so I just take out a couple of things from the freezer for me and it is good. We don’t eat much meat lately. Our diet is really changing. We buy brisket and have it divided. That is good for both of us. We are eating much less.

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      2. I can sympathize with you. I remember when Bruce couldn’t eat certain food due to the taste.
        I am trying to get Bruce to eat less meat, but he always wants to know where’s the meat. I am trying to get him to eat less, but the seconds meant lunch another day are eaten. He is trying to be better about eating more than he should.

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      3. Yeah, we are focusing on iron. Mike has lost about 50 lbs. or more. Focusing on keeping his weight on and iron strong. The docs don’t seem concerned with the weight loss, so he is getting his energy back and we are eating better, at least more healthy fruits, veggies, etc.

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  5. What a handsome harvest basket. When I had my teeny little garden at the old house, I usually just put things in an upturned shirt. LOL Then again, I just gardened in pots because of the hoodlum squirrels but always longed for a nice looking basket to put things in.

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    1. I had a lightweight wooden basket that I used for years. I got it from a farm stand, full of peaches. It eventually fell apart, and I wanted a new lightweight wooden basket. I couldn’t find one, but I found this basket on Amazon. IKEA also has similar baskets. It is easy to clean, and dirt falls through the mesh.

      I still use the upturned T-shirt method when I happen to be in the garden without one of the baskets. When I have a pouch of beans or tomatoes, I tell myself, it would be easy just to walk back to the house and get the basket. I just don’t. 🤦‍♀️

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      1. Just a note to say on behalf of the male gender, we are quite fond of the upturned shirt method. The more upturned the better. However, this does not apply to gardeners like me where an upturned shirt is a beer belly basket.

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Published by Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. We bought a ranch house on a hill in the middle of five acres. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist and I’ll share my current projects. Reading is my favorite hobby.