Harvesting Garlic and shallots

Garlic is planted in fall and harvested once it has stopped growing and started to dry

I cleared the racks so we could place it on shelves and let it cure once harvested.

Ken packs up all the plastic tubs we have for onion and garlic harvest and takes the Farm All B out to the field.  This is the start of using the tractor for the harvest.  we will use it again for the rest of the onions and later for winter squash

Then we bring them in and set them on shelves on the rack

Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  the CSA box this week has tomatoes, lettuce and salad greens, green beans, cucumbers, onions and garlic, cabbage or Chinese cabbage, and basil.

Field and Farm Notes.  A friend came for a few days and helped with two projects: he and Ken got the leaking roof off and a new roof on the shed where we store boxes for CSA and on line order boxes.  This may sound small, but building projects are easily set aside when planting and harvesting are more pressing.

The big news is RAIN.  Over an inch on Monday.  Great news for all the fall crops

Our friend also helped harvest the rest of the shallots, Walla Walla onions and garlic.  This is a job of bending and lifting.  The aroma is GREAT!  Nothing like fresh garlic -

And he helped Ken with transplanting.  Some of the beautiful shots are from his smart phone.  Thank you.

Garlic on the racks curing

From the Kitchen.  And with company I had more one more appreciative eater!  It was so nice to hear compliments on the food.  I often think my job is easy; when one starts with good food, the task is just to avoid ruining it!  We ate of summer's bounty.  Meat cooked with garlic, eggs with sauteed green peppers and green onions, and grilled tomatoes.  I like to cut the small firm tomatoes lengthwise and cut out the core and set the cut side down on a griddle just to caramelize the cut side and warm the tomato.  It is an old trick I learned from Ken.  We also had sliced tomatoes with home made mayonnaise, cucumber salad with onions and yogurt dressing

Our friend had not had umeboshi, a great Japanese condiment.  So I steamed some green beans to al dente, and topped with umeboshi vinegar, sweet wine, tamari, sesame and toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.  Tasty.

'Til Next Week, Judith

Re Roofing the Old Shed

Ken has been here a long time.  So long that many things need maintenance and repair.  One shed that Ken had built decades ago from "what I had around at the time."  The roof had been leaking and it was a decision: repair of let fall down.  A friend came and helped repair.

Ken and I emptied the shed.  Much to the kitten's enjoyment

Then the men took off the roof

And sawed lumber for structure 

and tin on top.

Now it does not leak.  And I have the opportunity to sort and toss what I don't need in the shed

Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden! This week our CSA boxes have potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and salad greens, cucumbers, green onions or Walla Walla sweet onions, garlic, cabbage, the first beans, basil and parsley.

Field Notes.  After a damp spring, we have moved into dry soil conditions.  Ken is irrigating the garden by the house and the fall crops in the field. 

The egg mobile has been moved and the soil outside the mobile high tunnel prepared so  Ken could start planting the area outside the mobile tunnel.  After the tomato season we will move the mobile tunnel over those crops for fall.

With cool nights the heat loving crops are later this season. Ken has been wrestling with the tie up twine on the tomatoes.  It looked fine to use for a second season, but it has been breaking so Ken has to get out new twine and tie them up.  Our theory is most farms throw out twine and plastic after each season.  We prefer higher quality supplies we can reuse.  So the search is on for multi-season twine.

With August the days are noticeably shorter.  The annual crops are pushing to produce, and so picking things like tomatoes and cucumbers require frequent picking.  The first crop of beans that struggled with cool and damp conditions is starting to produce!  Ken is watching the corn as well.

This year Ken ran an experiment with an early potato variety.  Early potatoes are not as productive as the late season varieties, so we have avoided them.  They have been more popular than expected with the on line orders, so we plan to do this again next season. Please share your opinion with us, too!

From the Kitchen.  Two favorites this week.  These potatoes have soft red skins, and do not need to be peeled.  Just scrub, cube and boil.  They require less cooking time, so I usually check them after 7 minutes.  The parsley in your box would be a great topping along with butter or sour cream.

Ah, tomatoes.  Most people wait for months for "real" ones, and we believe a fresh tomato grown in good soil is well worth the wait.  I have made mayonnaise for tomato sandwiches.  And tomatoes pair well with the basil in your box.  Like all the heat loving crops, it has grown more slowly this year.

We have lots of cucumbers and if you want to make cucumber pickles, NOW is the time.  Email or call me.  'Til Next Week, Judith

Moving Chickens

Ken built a potable chicken coop I call the egg mobile.  It is near the house in winter,

and this year it has been in several locations near the mobile high tunnel for the summer.

Ken just moved the egg mobile to a new spot and the chickens are pretty excited about new pasture

Bees in the buckwheat

Ken plants several different crops as green manures.  This season he planted old seed and buckwheat in the space where the egg mobile is located during winter.  This planting is the tallest, healthies buckwheat either of us can remember.

And the bees have found it.

The whole area is abuzz 

Even dragonflies are in the buckwheat.

How wonderful!

Summer Flowers - August

So much is blooming right now!  There is the buckwheat that Ken planted

and the elecampane that I planted and has self seeded.

Then there is towering Joe Pye weed fronted by daylilies

and the wild goldenrod and self seeded malva. 

These tiger lilies are ready to open

And in the garden are sunflowers wrapped with morning glories and many annuals that Ken planted for the bees