Garlic

Everybody loves garlic! This week and last week we have been picking and drying the 2010 crop. This year we grew a lot of garlic: a soft neck variety (Italian pink) and five different hard neck varieties. Sadly, I misplaced the planting schematic for the hard neck garlic and I can’t remember what varieties went where. Such is life. I do know that we have lots of garlic and it is beautiful.

This year, with this hot dry spell, we have been laying the garlic on the ground to cure. But because rain was in the forecast, I felt impressed to err on the side of caution and get the garlic into the barn and, more specifically, into the rafters to finish drying.

I had a few helpers to pick up the garlic so that we could transfer it into the barn. Maddy and Stephen are becoming good workers. Andrew is learning to drive the big farm truck, an important job for a 12 year old on our farm (we are working on shifting the big behemoth and getting used to the two speed rear end). We must have picked up 3,000 heads Thursday. Was I ever happy for the help – of course, Stephen and Maddy never turn down a bumpy farm ride on the back of Big Green (the farm truck)!

I will be adding garlic to your box of good in the next few weeks.

I am super excited to visit with each of you at our farm festival on August 21^st.