Busy Bees

Thank you for the kind words regarding the loss of our dear Samson.He was a very good pup and we miss him terribly.

Things here have been busy...one thing after another,it seems. School is back in swing,and with it,Boy Scouts. The Fall is always hectic with Scouts,we start our weekly meetings again,then have various fundraising that we do for the Troop.

I had an operation right after Labor Day -nothing serious,just taking care of some <cough> feminine issues <cough> which sidelined me for a bit over a week. I am now all healed and back in action. The one thing I learned when I was recuperating is that running a house and trying to do the outdoor chores is too much for Rick. Physically,it's not an issue. Mentally,he can't keep track and gets scattered. Because of his PTSD/TBI,Rick needs a schedule. Anything that crops up-even a visitor-will throw him off,sometimes for the whole day. With me laying in an Oxycodone haze, I wasn't thinking of reminding him of things. Dishes would go unwashed for a day or two,even though he would see them and know he had to wash them-but then he would forget. Mind you, I am not complaining,just sharing what goes on when someone has to deal with these issues. What I should've done was made a list of daily chores before I had my surgery so he could follow it. That would've been  most helpful for him.

Fall is finally here,and the leaves are starting to change. The days have been quite cool,even though we are going to get some nice warm weather this weekend.We are getting a lumber delivery tomorrow for the barn. The barn has been a slow process. Rick's brother was going to help when he got laid off for the season,but there is extra work at his job that needs to be done,and he is now working 6-7 days a week,leaving at 5:00 AM and not getting home until dark. Our friend George has been kind enough to help out on Saturdays when he can.We have decided that the roof will have to wait until Spring. The hayloft floor will be laid down upstairs,and then we will just cover it and make sure we shovel it off in the winter,so basically it will look like a box for now.

My garlic came out lovely this year. I have 50 hardneck plants. There is nothing better than fresh garlic!

I can't forget the Greek Oregano!! I

Our small apple tree was laden with fruit this year-we had 13 lbs of apples off one little tree!Now if I could only remember what kind of apple tree it is...the tag has vanished off it. Our Jonathan apple tree is about ready for picking too.

We have new member of the family. Her name is Meadow.When we first saw her,her eyes were a lovely green color which reminded me of a meadow (hence the name). It must've been the way the sun light was hitting them,because I have not been able to see that color in them since. She is a rescue dog that came up here to NH from TN. She is part Hound and part something else. She is a lovely little girl and is very smart. She is almost 3 months old. She will never take Samson's place,of course...and some folks may wonder at the fact that we got another dog so soon. Well, all I can say is that she has brightened our household--we really needed it.

How are things in your neck of the woods??

Garlic Planting

It's that time of the year to plant garlic for next year's harvest. We decided this year to replant everything we grew this year,with the exception of  a few cloves that we had already used. This coming year,if all grows well,we should have 50 garlic plants,so can sell some garlic next year.

Rick has been taking the compost out of our square foot boxes and putting it back into the compost pile,saving the boxes that have not succumbed to the weather as of yet. Our boxes have been hanging out in NH weather for four or five years now,so it's understandable that some have felt the strain of winter and rain. As I mentioned in a previous post,we are moving our boxes because they are in the are where our barn/grazing area is going to be. Since I had to plant the garlic now,Rick moved two boxes next to the strawberries and herbs and refilled them with compost. I took the heads of garlic and removed all the cloves. I had 50 cloves exactly.

Each clove should be two inches deep and 8" apart. The pointy part of the clove should face down into the dirt.

Push that little guy down two inches....

...and cover it up with compost

Give the cloves a good watering and then cover them with 2-3 of mulch. We used straw. You can use leaves,etc.

Now you wait until Spring when the shoots first start showing up through the mulch! Pretty easy,isn't it?

Garlic Harvest

We have  been discussing cutting back on some of the things we grow in our garden. Once again,most of our lettuce bolted before we could eat it. Our spinach did not do well yet again.I have tried onions for four years,and each year I may get one or two that are decent. We decided that at this point we need to cut our losses and concentrate on what actually does well for us. One of those things is garlic!

Yesterday I finally fully harvested the garlic. It had been sitting on my drying rack for weeks,more than necessary,but it didn't hurt the garlic by any means.

I laid out some newspaper so wouldn't make a dirty mess of the counter :

Cut the main stalk off:

The outer skin should be like thin paper. Take this off and brush off dirt:

Trim off the roots....

...and voila' ! Fresh garlic heads! They will not be as clean as those you get in the store,but do you really want them to?  I used some blueberry containers to store them.

Now I have to decide which ones to use as seed for next year's crop...planting time is in October!!

Do you have a crop that you have decided to stop growing because of lack of success?

Growing Garlic and My Great Find To Help Dry It

Last Saturday,Rick and I went to an auction with our friends,CJ and Kathy. I have been to an auction once,when I was very young.Rick had never been to one.

There is a period of time before the auction where you can look over what they are auctioning off that may catch your eye. I saw few things,but one thing I found I knew I had to have:a drying rack.

Technically,it's not a drying rack,it's an old shoe rack from a shoe shop. The narrow boards running across the length of the shelves were just the right width apart to cure my soap,and if I didn't have soap to cure,to dry out herbs and the like. Some nice baskets could store things...there is so much I could do with it. It was exactly like a I pictured in my mind. It also was on wheels.

I did get into a bit of a bidding war with someone over it,but I prevailed!!!!!

I am woefully behind on making soap-but I never really had a lot of space to make good size batches-I would have to clear off a shelf in the bedroom closet and use my kitchen wire cooling racks to cure it. Not very convenient.
I don't have soap right now,but I do have freshly picked garlic to dry out!!

Don't ask me what kind of garlic it is,because to be honest,I have no clue. I got some cloves from my neighbor last year and grew it. It's hard neck (meaning,it has a stiff stem in the center),that's all I know. That and it's delicious!! Soft necks have their green foliage dry up and can be braided.

Growing garlic is very easy.We plant our bulbs in the Fall ( early Oct).Put the cloves in the ground pointed (root) side down,about 8" apart and bury them 2" down into the soil. Put mulch over the bed-you can use leaves,straw,etc.We use straw. Hay has seeds,so you might want to avoid that.

You will get a few green shoots in the Fall,just make sure you cover them up with mulch.

That's it until Spring...they rest through the winter.

When you see green shoots coming up through the mulch in the Spring,it's time to pull back the mulch. I put mine in our compost pile. Give it some fertilizer (fish emulsion or whatever you like to use),some water,and some love!

As the garlic gets bigger,you will notice what is called a garlic scape-it's curved with a pointed white bulb at the end.Snip these off-it gives more growing power to the garlic bulb. (Soft neck garlic does not grow scapes). Some folks use their scapes-in pesto,as a vegetable,or in a flower arrangement. I never knew you could do things with scapes,so I have never tried it...perhaps next year.

The garlic is ready to harvest when the lower leaves turn brown. They should be dried in a single row in a warm,but not hot area.

As you can see, my rack works great!

MMMM...can't you just smell that marvelous garlic? 

The garlic is done drying when the outer skin of the bulb is like paper. It's then time to brush off the dirt( as much as possible) and cut off the roots.

Your garlic won't be as clean as the store bought,but you don't want that anyway! Garlic should be stored in temps around 55-70 degrees.Don't store in a bags,or containers.

Does anyone have any growing or storing tips for garlic? Please share!