Friday, July 18, 2014

Early Summer Harvest

Hullo!! I was planning to spend a relaxing day in my lawn chair today - it is sooo hot out! But apparently "we" had other plans. I wasn't beary eager for this...

But Daisy Dog whispered that there might be something at the end of all this... for me!

OK... so we are harvesting garlic today... which can be a tricky thing.

You need to figure out when it is ready... the bottom third of the leaves should be wilting... like these.

And a couple of the top ones should be wilting... but not all the leaves! The leaves connect to the paper layers that cover the cloves... so you need to have some green leaves.

You also shouldn't water for about a week or two before you harvest. We had rain about a week before... so this should be good.

Then I got to supervise the digging up of the bulbs...

You need a shovel...

And you get under the bulb area...

And poof!! There it is!

They sure have long roots! You can brush off some of the dirt but don't wash them... and be careful with brushing as the bulbs are beary senstivie at the moment... And apparently they can get sunburned too...

So don't leave them lying out in the sun... unless you are taking a picture with a stuffie... of course!

The bulbs need to be tied up and cured for a while before they will be ready. Bundles of 8-10 is good... and in an airy place. Our pal Richard suggested the shed...

They sure smell garlicky!

There we go... a bundle of garlic!

I can't wait to cook with these!

And... surprise... we had accidental garlic too! Last November, before we got our compost bin up and running, we put the kitchen scraps into the flower garden and... this spring there were some strange bulbish looking things which wilted around the same time as the real garlic. Sure enough... some of the kitchen scrap garlics planted themselves!!

Next... we harvested some of the lavender...

And thinned the beets... these sure are cute.

And picked sweet peas - they are so sweet smelling!

Oh... and harvested some peas, shucked them and then blanched them and put them in the freezer...

I am a beary tired bear after all that supervising!! Luckily Mama had a honey drink for me! Whew... Now I can sit back and put up my heels and enjoy the evening.

10 comments:

  1. Wow! You did a lot in your garden today Sandy! You sure are a great help..and we're sure it's much better organized with you around! Ben is going to make ZooKeenKnee muffins; they are great for breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh it was a beary big job but that's what stuffies are good for! Mmmm... those muffins sound yummy! Our ZooKeeKnee plants are just making flowers now...

      Delete
    2. We are already harvesting ZooKeeKnee! But it seems some of your plants are ahead of us. Ben uses some garLeek, bazeel and toMaytoe to make a yummy thing on little slices of French bread called BrooShetYah, do you make that? We think you might like it.

      Delete
    3. Oh, brooschetha is the bestest! Yummm... One of our zookeeknee is 3 inches long... but there are still lots of flowers. And the squash is making flowers too. We are not sure what type of squash it is though... a grand experiment.

      Delete
    4. You have been busy in the garden. Do you know what kind of squash it is yet? That honey beer looks beary good.

      Delete
    5. Thanks Little Fox. No, we have no idea what type of squash it is... the seeds came from friends so it is a bit of a mystery. The honey beer was scrumptious!

      Delete
  2. WOW! What a great garlic harvest! Daisy was certainly right about there being a treat for you at the end - that looks like a nice cold can of honey lager.. mmm! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, it was a great garlic experiment... and it was nice to sit back and put up my feet and relax!

      Delete
  3. That garlic looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing your harvesting experience with us, out here on the interwebs! How fun! - Miri

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Miri! It was definitely an experience... I think we are safe from vampires in the garden shed...

      Delete