Clean Garlic

I am back...and I finally got around to cleaning my cured garlic!! I harvested it back in mid-July, so it had been curing for a good month! Since I used some of the garlic heads/cloves immediately, I now have 11 nice looking heads for storage, which I hope will keep into the winter.

Organic German White Garlic, hardneck

A while back I saw this article on thekitchn.com about onion storage and vegetable keepers. I thought these three bags were great, as I was trying to think about what I would do with all the garlic and potatoes I was going to get from my garden! However, time passed and they stayed on my "wish list." Fast forward a few weeks when I had to go to Crate & Barrel to get a wedding shower gift for a friend. I was just going to get her the kitchen composter that she registered for but next to the composter on display were...the storage bags! I had forgotten that Crate & Barrel carried the garlic & potato bags! So, I decided to get one of each for the bride-to-be...and one of each for me!!

my new storage bags!

cute images on the bags

Harvest Monday: Lots of Garlic

I had a great harvest yesterday! The biggest news, is that after almost 9 months, I harvested my garlic! My pickling cucumbers, sunsugar tomatoes and sungold tomatoes are producing really well. My sugar snap peas are almost exhausted, as the plants are starting to die back. Growing impatient, I picked a few carrots. They were tasty, but all very small. My cabbages are almost all ready, so I picked the largest one...coleslaw is on the menu for this weeks' meals!

I now have 11 heads curing for future use. About six heads had various problems with them, however I am hoping to use a few of their cloves in the near future. Overall, I am very happy with my first garlic harvest. The bulbs averaged about 2" around, pretty close to the size of the original heads of the cloves I planted in November.

Harvest Monday: First Tomatoes!

Gorgeous! As the sugar snap peas keep coming, I excitedly picked my first tomatoes of 2010! Three bright, orange Sungold tomatoes were ripe for picking on Sunday morning!

I also harvested a mix of all my lettuces, sugar snap peas, a forgotten garlic scape and three tiny strawberries.

Plot update (6/28/10)

Introducing...the Garlic Scape

They are so cool! In all its curling wonder, I experienced garlic scapes for the first time as my German White Garlic gets close to maturity! Since this is a hardneck variety, it produces a scape, a long, thin shoot that is initially curly. Scapes will eventually straighten out, harden and produce a flower - taking some of the plant's energy away from the bulb. Harvesting them before they straighten serves two purposes - a culinary delicacy & encouraging bulb growth.

On Sunday, I picked 17 scapes (out of 21 cloves planted last fall). I know that at least two plants are on the smaller side, but I should doublecheck how many plants there are!

I had heard that many people use scapes in stir-fry, on pizza, or make pesto. I am hoping to try pesto later in the week, but tonight I used the scapes as a pizza topping! I first cooked the scapes for a few minutes in the oven with a little salt & evoo. Then I placed them on my pizza (homemade pizza dough, sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese & homegrown basil).

yumm........it was delicious!

Note: as pretty as the curled scapes look on the pizza, it was very impractical when trying to cut and eat it! I ended up cutting up the scapes in smaller pieces and putting them back on each pizza slice!

Spring Renewal

I am back from a blogging hiatus. The hiatus was not something I planned, but the short, cold, dark days seemed to decrease my motivation to blog [or at least publish, as I started about a dozen posts.] However, spring is officially here and I welcomed it with open arms. Being that it was sunny and 70 degrees in Boston on Saturday, it would have been hard to ignore it! Birds were singing, EVERYONE was outside and new growth has popped up around the city!

On Saturday I attended the 35th Annual Gardeners Gathering. This is a spectacular, free event open to all local gardeners. Gardeners ranged from community to container, young to old, and new to master. It was great to meet other local gardeners and share tips.

Before it started I visited my plot to check in on any spring growth. This was the first visit in well over a month. Growing were...

(Yarrow, Garlic, Crocus)

Although I missed planting peas on St. Patrick's Day, I got them planted Saturday. I planted the same variety as last year - Sugar Snap. They were just so tasty and easy - with no preparation needed to eat them! With the days getting longer I look forward to visiting more often. I still have a lot of work to do to finalize my 2010 garden plan. However, two definite new additions (and experiments) this year will be potatoes and corn!!

Garlic Planting Day

My goal of planting my garlic this weekend was accomplished as my order arrived on Friday. However, although it was incredibly warm on Saturday (70 degrees), it was unbelievably windy! The winds were blowing everything around like crazy so I decided not to attempt planting on Saturday. Fortunately, today was a beautiful day, sunny & 60 with less wind!

A little bit more about my garlic. After checking the garlic inventory of the more popular sites, I decided to order from The Garlic Store. They are a small company based in Fort Collins, CO. (I only bring up that they are in Ft. Collins because I lived there for a short time after college and absolutely loved it!!) Anyway, my 1/2 lb. order of Organic German White Garlic (a hardneck variety) gave me 3 bulbs/heads.

It looked great...especially once I broke the bulbs open to find out how many cloves were in each! The cloves were very easy to break apart, fragrant, and although I did not try, also easy to peel.

Each bulb had 7-8 large cloves, giving me 21 to plant. (I held back one on the smaller side to eat!) I have heard of a few variations on how to plant garlic and was very impressed with Daphne's method. However, I decided to start with the most basic and easiest way of planting...au naturel! I was going to leave the skin on each clove and just plop them into the ground.

After loosening up the existing soil and adding a bag of compost to the bed I created to plant the garlic, I made 21 holes, about 2 inches deep and 4-6 inches apart. I put one clove in each hole, "tip" up.

Next, I covered the holes back up with the soil. To protect the garlic from the upcoming New England winter, I used what I had around me as mulch...leaves and grass! I covered the bed with about 6" of leaves and added pieces of the 20' reeds from the surrounding Muddy River bank.

The final result after placing a plastic netting over it so the wind wouldn't blow everything away...

I can't wait until next year and hope that I have all 21 heads of garlic!!

A Shot in the Dark

Tonight I placed my first garlic order! However, the combination of being late to order and not knowing much about each variety, I took a shot in the dark. I ordered a 1/2 lb of Certified Organic German White from The Garlic Store. This variety seems like a good place to start. I am definitely a garlic fan, but also always buy whatever I can find in the grocery store. As long as the garlic comes, I look forward to planting this weekend!

Caring & Preparing

I continue to care for my last remaining crops that are still growing...mache, peppers, bush beans, scallions, cabbage and celery.

mache; Mandarin Peppers (unripe)

Here is an updated shot of my plot. I now have two of my 'boxes' covered since we have had many nights in the 30's, frost watches and snow. Unfortunately, I ran out of odds and ends to weigh down the plastic, so the middle box is on its own for now!


In preparation for garlic planting I cleared and created a spot in my recent addition. I still have to order my garlic so I will be limited to what is still in stock. However, I am hoping for a hard-neck variety at least. I have searched Johnny's, Seeds of Change and The Garlic Store. I definitely need to plant soon though-especially if the temps are going to stay below average!


On a final note, I just checked Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest out of the library. I hope to have a 'review' soon!