Most people love garlic for its pungent and sometimes spicy flavor, and the fullness it adds to dishes when it is used. Many claims are made as to garlic’s healing properties and immune booster qualities. I am a believer and a big fan of the Alliums in general (plants in the onion family). There are some rogues out there, those odd people who you can’t quite trust who for whatever reason hate garlic. In my house, those people will be disappointed (though still welcomed), since I add garlic to most dishes at a rate far higher than is generally recommended in recipes!
I am always happy to put my garden to bed for the winter after a long season of planting, tending and harvesting. Planting my garlic each fall is symbolic of that seasonal change…it is essentially the last thing I do before stepping aside for shorter days and colder nights.
Continue reading “GARLIC. ALLIUM SATIVUM. THE STINKING ROSE.”
Greetings Gardeners!
Amanda here reporting from our second glorious rainy day of this fall. I hope you were able to get a good harvest in before the rains- as I type this my house is filled with the sweet smell of roasting tomatoes which will become a bright sauce for the winter. (In case you’re wondering, I’m going to freeze it- not can it).
Amanda here- wishing you a happy fall.
Today, I’m going to share a few quick tricks and other ideas for preserving your bounty. My personal favorite things to preserve seem to be condiments- hot sauces, salsas, ketchup, krauts…for whatever reason (probably because it’s easy) condiments and teas are what I tend to focus on. I’m also a big fan of freezing things instead of canning because I don’t have a ton of time but we do have a chest freezer.
…but it’s only July!! How could we possibly be thinking about fall and winter gardening when it’s 99 degrees outside? When the sunflowers are blooming, you know it’s time to plant seeds for your fall garden.
It’s finally time! After a seemingly endless winter, now is the time to get plants in the ground! Depending on where exactly you live, you may want to wait a few more weeks to put the frost sensitive plants out, but for many people you’re in the clear. Woohoo! This point in the season is a time of explosive plant growth- peaking at the summer solstice and then waning through the remainder of the summer into the fall.