garlic

Garlic Harvest

SabineJuly 15, 2018Leave a Reply

Today I pulled all of my garlic. I had a bunch of softnecks but the heads seem smaller than last year. I had planted about 30 cloves in the fall and maybe harvested about 20 heads, so I will plant seed garlic again this fall and not seed from my own garlic stock. I got some very nice big hardneck volunteers from three heads that I had left in the ground by accident last year. They are currently spread to dry and I will gently brush off the dirt after a day or so and hang them to ventilate for a couple of weeks. For the hardnecks, I will cut off the stem and store them in an open ceramic crock or basket in the pantry. For the softnecks I will attempt a braid again.

Today, I also harvested carrots and Swiss chard and pulled the last of my lettuce, cleaned and weeded the plot and sowed more kale, golden beets and bok choy.

Nice big hardnecks right after harvest (Red Russian).

Softnecks right after harvest (Transylvania)

Garden Pizza

SabineJuly 13, 2018Leave a Reply

Pizza last night with all toppings form the garden (except the cheese of course). I made a garlic scape pesto (with scapes and basil from my garden) and topped it with fresh kale from the garden (chopped and briefly massaged with a bit of olive oil and salt), fresh mozzarella slices and shredded cheese. Yum!

I only have a limited amount of scapes this year as I primarily planted soft-necks. In fact, all the scapes are from hard-neck volunteers that I left in the ground last year.

Garlic scapes right before harvesting about two weeks ago (I kept them in the fridge until now and they were fine).

Garlic scape pesto.

Just before going in the oven.

Eating from the garden in the middle of winter

SabineJanuary 28, 2018Leave a Reply

It is the end of January and a few days ago, I finished the last of the hot peppers I grew in a container on our porch. I had harvested them in November and stored them in the refrigerator. I was surprised how well they kept. I was sad to see them go, but I got a fuzzy feeling cutting them up and adding them to a tasty beef chili. Nothing better than cooking with home-grown veggies from the garden. In the middle of winter no less. I also still have home-grown carrots in the fridge and of course lots of garlic in the pantry. I think the garlic will last me all through the season.

Planting Garlic

SabineNovember 5, 2017Leave a Reply

Today I planted my garlic. This year for the first time, I used soft-neck garlic I grew myself. I planted three rows, maybe 30 cloves total. In previous years, I usually planted FEDCO seed garlic. I love planting garlic in early November. To me, it means continuity, the planting of hope for the next season when now everything else in the garden is winding down. In a few weeks, the new garlic shoots will appear before winter comes and they will be the first plants to come up in the spring.

I also harvested Swiss Chard and flowers and took out a rogue rose bush that occupied valuable gardening space.

Plot in early November: carrots, radishes, parsley, Swiss Chard, leeks, kale, chicory and flowers.

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SabineJuly 30, 2017Leave a Reply

Two weeks ago, I harvested most of my garlic. I had planted a ton of softneck garlic last fall, but I realized in the course of the spring and summer, that I had a few hardneck volunteers popping up in clusters all over my garden. Those came from plants that I had forgotten to harvest last year or where the stalk had broken off and I had not dug up the bulbs. They produced several small heads very close to each other as they all came from the same garlic head.

Garlic right after harvest

For curing, I normally spread the garlic in a single layer in the sun for a couple of hours, just to dry off the dirt. I then gently rub off the dirt, leaving the skin intact and hang the garlic to dry in a ventilated place. A cool place would be ideal, but that is really an illusion for the humid, hot summers here in the Northeast.Dried and cleaned

I found that our back hallway is a fine place, especially in the cool summer mornings and evenings. The hallway connects the kitchen with the back porch and we usually leave it open, even during the night. I leave the garlic there to dry until the leaves and stalks are very papery, about two to three weeks. Then, for hardnecks, I cut off the stalks and store them in a basket in the pantry. This is my first year growing softnecks and my first attempt at braiding garlic (see above). Space-saving drying places -1Space-saving drying places -2

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Friday Harvest

SabineJune 23, 2017Leave a Reply

Mixed spring greens and sugar snap peas. These will go into a salad for dinner tonight. I will add some cucumbers and maybe mint and a citrus dressing.

2. Dandelion greens (Cicoria) and garlic scapes. With some basil (from the store, as my plants are still too small) , some pine nuts, grated Parmesan and good olive oil, these will make a nice pesto for later this week.

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May

SabineMay 25, 2017Leave a Reply

It has been a cool and wet May here in Boston and my vegetables are loving it. This morning, in the drizzling rain, I put in pole beans and bok choi and also direct-sowed basil – an experiment. In the past, I have always started basil from seed indoors and then transplanted.

In my garden I have currently growing: rhubarb, scallions (already harvested those two twice this season), strawberries, radishes (almost ready to harvest), carrots, parsley, leeks, beets, kale, chicory, Swiss Chard, bok choi, Brussels sprouts, garlic, peas, arugula, potatoes, pole beans, basil, spring greens and flowers. For flowers, the tulips have faded, but I also planted dahlias, nasturtiums, sunflowers and zinnias. And the borage keeps coming up everywhere of course, as does the mint and the lemon balm.