Orange and green and something in between
We are growing a few new things at the moment. Sugar snap peas, which were an overwhelming success, none of them made it to the house or even a few meters away from the plant. Garlic, because we eat the stuff like its essential for air to enter our lungs, and we all know how important air is to living. Interestingly, I had never considered growing it before, as I always thought it will be quite complicated and definitely not for someone without a green anything on their body, let alone a thumb. But paying $30 per kilo for garlic does something to a person, something that inspires them to grow it themselves.
It turns out its not that hard. We basically bought a bulb of organic garlic – to avoid them being sprayed and killed – and then broke it into cloves and stuck those in the ground. So far it seems that they are doing great, and Mr.Blab admitted to digging into the roots the other day and seeing quite a big bulb growing there. I cannot wait to try them.
And carrots.
I got a pack of various carrot seeds and now we seem to have orange and white ones. The white ones, well, suck. I dont know if they didnt like the amateur care they got from us, or they just generally suck, but that is what seems to be happening. The one we tried a week ago was stringy and bitter. The orange ones, on the other hand, have been wonderful.
Trust me. Ignore the visual.
And there is something so wonderful in having the carrot whole, with its greens still attached. I always liked that about baby carrots and now we get to enjoy it fully – in its whole bushy glory.
I loved taking these photos, and I took a lot, believe me.
But then my model decided to just go and do something more interesting.
Like eating the prop with his sister.
And looking at this set up, I find it amazing and quite self-gratifying that I, me, grew both – the model and the prop.
…and the sister, while we are at it.
Yes, that was me blowing my horn. I bet you didnt see that end for this story ;)
We have grown garlic for a couple years now – its super easy and DELISH!! Warning – its really really potent so be cautious when you use it the first time :)
I like potent, its wonderfully adventurous on my taste buds.
So do we have to leave it to dry a bit, or can it be eaten straight away?
I think our seasons are a bit different but this is how we do it…
-Plant in the Fall, before the first frost (October)
-Harvest in Mid Summer, when the ends of the greens begin to brown a little (July)
-Hang to dry in the basement (or somewhere with low humidity) for about 2 months.
Be sure to save at least one bulb to replant too! Potent is good, and yummy too :) It will definately keep the vampires at bay!
Oh, no, I have to wait two months? Are they inedible before that or its just that my mouth will burn to shreds?
I had no idea WHY we were drying it , so I did some research. It looks like you need to dry the garlic in order for in not to rot. This website says you only have to dry it for a week though so I guess we were really extra cautious!
http://www.garlic-central.com/garlic-growing.html
A week I can live with, but no more.
And i know that if you want to store it you should make sure its dry and airy, but I doubt we will have any left after the first week or so.