This weekend I harvested the garlic.
Truth be told I probably should have harvested it the week before. I didn't because the weeds had gotten so thick around them that I could no longer see the stalks or see that they had already turned yellow! How sad is that?
I decided to look at this like a treasure hunt.
Truth be told I probably should have harvested it the week before. I didn't because the weeds had gotten so thick around them that I could no longer see the stalks or see that they had already turned yellow! How sad is that?
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| Just a wee bit over-grown. |
I decided to look at this like a treasure hunt.
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| A nice size bulb. |
With a little effort and carefully placed digging my garlic treasure was slowly lifted from the soil and separated from the weeds.
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| About half way through the garlic patch. |
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| Farmer D with a very full garden hod. |
I spent some time separating the bulbs into the two different types, snipping off the roots and braiding the bulbs to hang for curing. A note to myself for next year - the green stems braided much easier than the yellow ones! Needless to say some of my garlic braids are less than beautiful, but the garlic will taste just fine!
Though my harvested bulbs were not that large I think I did pretty well for my first garlic harvest. After weighing we have a little over ten pounds of bulbs. Farmer D thinks we have enough to keep the vampires at bay! (Or family, friends, complete strangers...)
I'll finish curing them and then hang them in our store room or process some of them right away for dried minced garlic, garlic powder or garlic salt. Come October I'll pick out the largest 4 bulbs of each variety and plant them for harvest next year.
Maybe I'll even keep the bed weed free... maybe.
I'll finish curing them and then hang them in our store room or process some of them right away for dried minced garlic, garlic powder or garlic salt. Come October I'll pick out the largest 4 bulbs of each variety and plant them for harvest next year.
Maybe I'll even keep the bed weed free... maybe.