Harvest Time Knives!!

[313 Mike]

Alright gents, it's that time of year again! Harvest time is upon us... Time to bring this old thread from last year back to life and show us what ya got. Tomatoes aren't ripe yet, except a couple cherries, but Sofia and I harvested some baby carrots today...used the Northfield EZ open 85 to chop off the ends. Big ol' spear blade works great for that kind of thing.

Anybody else doing any harvesting yet? Who's got some nice plump tomatoes? cukes? peppers? beans? anything?

[Dinadan]

I am on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. My Asian pears are ripe right now. Figs too. Only problems are the heat, the birds, the squirrels, and the raccoons.

[philco]

Can't say I've used my knives much in the harvest process but I've sure used my ESEE 4 and a Canal Street Pinch Lockback for a lot of slicing work as I process my veggies.

[313 Mike]

Can't say I've used my knives much in the harvest process but I've sure used my ESEE 4 and a Canal Street Pinch Lockback for a lot of slicing work as I process my veggies.

Is that ESEE 4 a full flat grind? What are ya slicing and processing Phil?

[philco]

Mike, the ESEE 4 does have a flat grind. I've used it to lop through some zucchini, slice up cucumbers for pickling and to cut the ends off corn. I've used the pinch for lighter duty dicing bell peppers and slicing yellow squash, and for coring out tomatoes, chopping onions and cilantro that were about to become salsa, and for slicing okra that was headed for the skillet.

So far I've canned 40 quarts of dill and bread and butter pickles, three quarts of salsa, and nearly filled my small freezer with the other goodies from the garden.

[jerryd6818]

I put out one tomato plant this year and it's a good thing I did. My normal tomato source, a neighbor from the old neighborhood, Cousin Roy, said his tomatoes are a total bust this year. He's getting ready to pull them all up.

I got the plant I stuck in from the local grocery store and it's called Big Pink. Anyone ever hear of that variety before? It shouldn't be long now. It has a couple of dozen tomatoes on it and the bottoms are turning "white" (a much, much lighter shade of green).

[gino]

This Gec has the perfect size blade for cutting tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers I grow in my garden

[313 Mike]

Dang Phil, you have been busy! 40 quarts of pickles? Outstanding.

Jerry, glad to hear you have a 'mater plant going this year, never heard of the Big Pink, is that an heirloom variety? post some pics when they ripen up!

Gino that Ben Hogan is a nice one...I have a spear point ebony model that I use for food prep quite frequently, that long blade makes it a great slicer

[philco]

Gino what's the closed length on that GEC ? It looks quite a bit like the Canal Street Pinch Lockback I've been using.

[TripleF]

You got the life Mike!! I envy you!

Enjoy!

[gino]

Gino what's the closed length on that GEC ? It looks quite a bit like the Canal Street Pinch Lockback I've been using.

Phil I believe its 4 1/4 closed

[313 Mike]

Here are a few Sweet 100 Cherry tomatoes I picked this evening. I had a low hanging ripe red on the Early Girl plant, I went to grab it and it was gnawed out hollow! Some doggone little critter keeps chewing up my low hanging fruits. I think it's a vole or something similar.....

[treefarmer]

Due to knee surgery, this is the 1st year in 40 years we haven't planted a garden. We did however put in several types of pepper plants. Usually the banana peppers are put up as pickled peppers, but they have been on their own and got pretty big. So I cut a dozen yesterday and stuffed them with venison sausage, rice, chopped mushrooms, chopped onion, chopped up colby-jack cheese and sour cream. Used my 1970 Case Trapper for the work. Turned out great, stuffed peppers, ice tea then cheese cake and coffee for dessert.
Treefarmer

[313 Mike]

Great looking Banana pepps there Treefarmer! ...and that recipe sounds fantastic. Venison and chile peppers, two of my favorite things, then you add in some cheese too? Are you kiddin' me? That's how you make a Wisconsin boy happy right there.

Fine looking old Case too by the way...that main blade looks like it's seen some use!

[treefarmer]

Mike, I tried real hard to wear that knife out in the early 70's. It was my 1st SS knife and I couldn't figure out how to sharpen it. The hinge pin finally broke and it sat in a drawer for about 35 years. Had an issue with some gal at Case about fixin' it and Elvis interceded, got it fixed in 2011. She sees light duty now and then and I finally learned to sharpen SS .

Strange thing, you could clearly count the 10 dots before the repair but when it was returned they are not visible . It's the same blade, never did quite figure that out. One other thing, this knife has one SS spring and one CV spring. There are pictures of it somewhere on the forum.

We usually have grated mozzarella to mix in with the sausage and rice but this time we only had colby-jack in a block, so grated it and it worked very well. They sure make a good meal if you ain't in a hurry .
Treefarmer

[Dinadan]

Mike - nice looking knife but real nice looking cherry tomatoes! I love tomatoes but I have had very poor success in growing my own. No voles here, but plenty of bugs. I did not try this year.

My pears and figs are doing good, though.

[313 Mike]

Hey dinadan, I love pears! Not much better than a perfectly ripe pear. Can't say I've had fresh figs before though...I like them in Newtons, that's for sure! That is one fine looking Seahorse whittler as well, love that it's basted in pear juice....

[313 Mike]

GEC Ebony with some fresh picked plump habaneros. Should make a nice batch of Habanero Mayo...perfect condiment for my Tomato sandwiches, if the doggone tomatoes would ever turn red for me!

Love me some habaneros....

[philco]

Mike do you have on rubber gloves when you harvest those lil devils ?

[313 Mike]

Mike do you have on rubber gloves when you harvest those lil devils ?

Not for harvesting...but definitely for chopping! No danger from handling the outside...the fire is all on the inside

[313 Mike]

Harvested the last of the peas today...fresh shucked peas are sure tasty!

Anybody else having any luck? Jerry, how are those Big Pinks coming along? Junebug, you got a patch going this year?

[IMBand]

Mike......man those look good!! And so do your pics.....
That knife you posted with the peppers is really cool, is that a #15?

IM

[313 Mike]

Mike......man those look good!! And so do your pics.....
That knife you posted with the peppers is really cool, is that a #15?

IM

Thanks Trevor, Yep, that is a #15 Farmboy, Gabon Ebony, all steel construction, clip and long spey secondary. Works out nice, clip blade for utility work, long spey for food work.

[Dinadan]

Great looking peppers and peas, Mike. Not to mention the GEC and the Case. I have never tried Habanero Mayo. I love open face tomato sandwiches: I always use Hellman's Mayo. Do you add the Habanero to a bought Mayo, or make it all from scratch?

[313 Mike]

Great looking peppers and peas, Mike. Not to mention the GEC and the Case. I have never tried Habanero Mayo. I love open face tomato sandwiches: I always use Hellman's Mayo. Do you add the Habanero to a bought Mayo, or make it all from scratch?

~Buy a big jar of Hellmans, and scrape it all out into a large mixing bowl.
~Pull on some gloves, and carefully mince up the Habaneros as fine as possible with a chef's knife
~Scrape up the pulpy minced Habaneros with the edge of the blade, and add them to the mayo.
~Take a wire whisk and whip it all together really well so the Habaneros distribute evenly.
~Use a spatula to scoop it all back into the jar, and stow it back in the fridge and it's ready to go.

It actually gets hotter as it sits in the fridge and the habbies release their fire into the mayo....real good stuff.