Garlic Growth

When I first planted my garlic, I thought they wouldn't sprout until Spring. Then, I learned that sprouting a couple of inches would be fine if protected over the winter.

Now I'm hoping a couple-few inches will be okay as well.

The garlic in the raised bed is growing like mad. Most all of the cloves have sprouted, although there are a few that don't want to be seen as over achievers and seem to be holding out, which is fine with me as long as they sprout in the long run. There will be no freeloading in this garden bed, my dears.

I'm planning on giving them a good layer of straw for the winter (Shoot, do those shoots need sun during the winter!?). Our nights can be low, but the days are usually not too bad. Very seldom will it stay below freezing all day long. I hope these guys man up and bulb up come summer.

I'm more worried about the three left over cloves I put in the small container on the deck.

They're sprouting as well. I can put straw over the top, but I know it will get colder than the raised bed will. You can grow garlic in much harsher winter conditions that we have, so I don't think the soil freezing will be a problem, it's the freeze and defrost on a weekly basis that has me nervous.

It's exciting to watch them sprout. At least I know they have a chance.

The morning comes early, although actually it's a bit later, however no one has yet to see fit to let my daughter know. It's been a week for goodness sake. Adapt already. At least we're all ready to leave the house on time.

Sweet gardening dreams.

Harvest Monday

No pictures of today's harvest, but I did pull two carrots, also well formed, long, but not so thick. They were maybe a finger to a finger and a half in width, but keep in mind, I have scrawny fingers, so this isn't very big, but I was needing me some carrots. I wonder if I planted more now if they'd do anything being that we have a relatively "easy" winter. Yes, we have nights under freezing, but the days rarely stay so. Our extension service says we can plant carrots in Jan/Feb.....think it's worth a shot, especially if I keep them covered with straw? Now that I've actually found the joy of the garden carrot, I'm hooked!!

I also pulled two tiny kohlrabi, one white and one purple. I would have pulled a third white, but I think it got "watered" by the dog recently, so I left it alone. Not much I can do with two runty kohlrabi, but they needed thinning, and I can shave them with some ranch dressing....I think...

The morning comes a bit later these last few days....I wish someone would tell the children that, however.
Sweet gardening dreams.

I Have Proof!

The carrot went in her mouth.

It took several attempts on her part. She seemed uninterested, so I tried to take the carrot away from her. This was met with a insistent, "I can do it. I can do it," and barrage of arm flapping, feet pumping, and multiple evasive maneuvers on the girl's end. She would then fuzzy eyeball that carrot like it was about to sprout wings and take off with her Dora the Explorer doll. We performed this dance multiple times. She really wanted to take that bite, but just couldn't bring herself to do it.

She finally did it. It wasn't so much a bite as it was a scraping of teeth on orange flesh, but she took a bit off none-the-less.

And promptly spit it out and fed it to her brother before I could stop her.

But I do have proof that vegetables did grace the lips of that child.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, y'all!

I just hope GA can hold FLA to a fifty point spread. I know they'll beat us, but if they beat us by more than 50 points, I may just have to go drown myself in the water fountain.

Carrot Craze

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

And again.

And again

And eventually you'll wear Mother Nature down.
I present to you: My First Carrots Ever
Once I pulled the huge one on the right, I got overzealous and pulled others. I'll leave the rest for a while and see if they fatten up.

I'm stupidly happy.

Black Radish Delight

Today my dad and I took off the trellis which brought down the remaining cucumbers and the sugar snap peas. Last week's frost in conjunction with the little worms boring holes in the cucumbers have brought an end to the season at last. I'm happy with the second planting. It really only produced one large wave of cucumbers, but it was one more wave than I would have had if I didn't plant them, right? The peas never produced a pod. Peas are just a bust for me.

Thanks for your help, Dad.

We pulled two of the largest black radishes to have as an appetizer before dinner.

First, we washed them and then cut off the tops (careful, they have very small, fine hairs that can really irritate your skin) and then the bottoms.

Next, Dad cut them in half and then in thin slices.

Sprinkle them liberally with salt. The salt helps to cut the spice of the radish. If it's too salty, you can rinse off the pieces later.

It's best to put them in a bowl with a rounded bottom because the salt will draw out the water from the radish. Let the radish slices sit in the salt until they sweat like below.


Eat the slices with cheese and rye bread....I didn't have rye bread in the house and apparently offering my father white bread was sacrilegious, so he just stuck with the cheese.
Eh, these weren't really hot at all. The spring ones were much hotter. Then again, they were much larger as well. I still have 4-5 in the ground, so I'll let those grow a little longer and see if they get any bite to them. I was hoping they'd get larger than the ones in the spring, but it was too hot to sow them for a long time and some started bulbing above ground, which is a no-no, so out they came. I'll certainly plant them again this winter/spring, but only 4-5 to a sqft to let them grow as large as they can.

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

For EG...

You played it to the end, my friend.

At least you got a touchdown.

I'm already breaking out the funeral attire for our game next week. It's not going to be pretty.