Definitely a Long Awaited Harvest

Back in October I planted my first ever bed of onions and garlic. Something about the sheer size of elephant garlic intrigued me, even though I knew it was mild in comparasion to some of the popular California choices and varieties available. So I bought 1 pound (that would be 1 whole bulb and like 2 cloves) and planted with my onions. You can search back to my October threads and find pictures.

Well today I got to harvest that long awaited garlic.

It is now 'curing' in a basket on the north facing porch to protect it from the sun. The hot sun really changes the flavor of garlic, and as I've been told it is not pleasant. It needs about 3 weeks to be cured enough for storage. I should be able to keep it up to 8 months as I've read. However, as large as these cloves are, I don't know if any will be left. I LOVE garlic!!!

Also, my endless summer blue hydrangea finally has blooms on it this year. I had none last year due to a boo boo on my part thinking I needed to prune it. Well, it only blooms on branches set the previous year, so I cut everything off that had a bud on it. Boy did I feel dumb.

I also harvested a bit of my baby lettuce from my 'salad bar' bed in the front yard. Its so hot here in the south most greens have been done here, but I have a bed in the front yard and it had shade from 1pm to 4pm and the cool season veggies seem to like it. So I'm going to add more cabbage and lettuce all summer.

Well, it looks like rain this weekend, but if it holds off I will be selling jams/jellies and cut flowers at the new sustainable living Farmer's Market in Fuquay on HWY 401 in front of Kohl's at the Landscaping place with all the rocks in front. If you are interested in visiting my stand, I will be there from 8am until 1pm. (Given the rain isn't bad) If I am there I will take photos to come back and share here on Sunday. Take care!