Garlic Harvest

Continuing with the garlic theme, although this will be the last post until it's time to plant again. We'll have grapes to talk about soon. We harvested each of the four types of garlic, pickled some that day, and tied the rest in bundles in the tool shed to cure. This picture was taken the day we harvested.

After hanging like this for two weeks, the tops are mostly brown but still not completely dry. Another week or two should do it. We made pizza sauce with tomatoes and onions from the garden yesterday, along with two bunches of this garlic roasted in olive oil, and a bit of fresh basil. It made the best pizza sauce we have ever bottled! We also bottled a batch of salsa last week using the fresh garlic, onions, and tomatoes. We did have to purchase peppers this year but that was it.

We grew four varieties of garlic. In the background of the picture (click on it for a larger view) is regular garlic we actually purchased at the grocery store last fall and planted. On the left is elephant garlic, which isn't really a garlic at all but more like a leek with a large clove. On the right are two varieties of garlic from Germany and Italy. One is extra hardy and the other is supposed to have a hot flavor (salsa anyone??). These last two did not grow as large as the others so we're saving them and will re-plant early this fall to see if they do better. One last thing - the little tan nodes on the elephant garlic are supposed to grow a single very large clove the first year, and then divide into a bunch the second year. I can't wait to plant these!

History of Garlic

Above are photos of a couple garlic cloves from the grocery store, which we planted in a row next to the roses last fall. First, you break the bunches into individual cloves, then plant these a few inches apart in a shallow trench. No additional care was provided other than watering the roses next to them.

Harvest day. I included two planting day photos in this collage, a couple of them growing, and the newly harvested garlic. When the tops start to brown they are ready. Dig them up, wash them off, and let them dry for a couple of weeks before trimming off the tops and roots and then you have garlic. It's essentially free, easy to do, and if you don't want to wait for mature garlic you can harvest some early and use for cooking even before they start to form cloves. We tried pickling some this year as well (because I planted much more garlic than what is shown in these photo collages) and will report on that later. I will say it was a lot of work peeling individual cloves to make 12 cups of garlic for the recipe.

Perfect morning

I took the day off and went into the garden to pick tomatoes this morning. It was perfectly cool, and I heard the loud buzz of that special bee that pollinates tomato flowers. People who sleep in or don't venture outside until 9-10 in the morning miss a wonderful, inspiring time.

Full Garden

The garden is in full swing, and we are enjoying the flower beds planted last fall. One thing about gardens is they teach the law of the harvest - if you don't invest the time and planning in advance there is no harvest or flowers to enjoy. The trellis is new this year and replaces one that had lost the battle of the Arizona sun. It serves as a gateway into the vegetable garden. We also moved the Tangelo tree seen on the right of the photo. This was a major undertaking and only time will tell if it was worth the effort to move such an old tree.

We are enjoying carrots, beans, zucchini, garlic, onions, and tomatoes from the garden. The peas have come and gone already this year. The garlic is mature and I need to learn how to harvest it properly. It requires a couple of weeks to dry them and the apparent rule of thumb is that when the bottom third of the leaves are dry its harvest time. Pull them, shake of the dirt, let them dry in a cool place for about two weeks, trim off the roots and dried tops and you have your own garlic. We've been eating it fresh now for months. The ones we don't pull will divide and grow again in the fall producing next year's crop. It has been so fun and easy growing garlic and onions this way, and now we are spoiled because they are always available and we never buy any at the store.

Spring has arrived!

Spring has arrived. A tour of the yard today revealed Almond trees in bloom, sprouting beans, peas, and zucchini, blossoming strawberries, and swelling buds on the Apricot and Grapes.

The onions and garlic are growing quickly now that warmer weather is here, and the flowers we planted last fall are coming up - gladiolus, lilies.

Pomegranates

We have a 10-year old pomegranate. It is the Wonderful variety, which is what nearly everyone in North America is familiar with if they have ever grown this tree or tasted pomegranate juice. However, there are other varieties with significantly different characteristics. I read a book about them which related the story of Dr. Levin who brought a selection of varieties from his nursery in Turkmenistan when he came to America. These are now being preserved and propagated at U.C. Davis and only in the last 2-3 years have they become available in retail nurseries.

You have to give me a chance to wax poetic here - we are talking about a man who had hundreds of varieties of pomegranates under his care, all with different genetic traits developed in many different climates by people with a desire to grow this fruit. When he left Turkmenistan Dr. Levin brought of the best or most interesting (from a genetics standpoint) in order to preserve them.

Two of these varieties are Parkfianka and Desertnyi. There is one nursery in the Phoenix area that carries both. Yesterday I planted one of each in our yard. Parfianka always rates among the best for overall flavor, Desertnyi has citrus overtones.

Pomegranates are one of the perfect fruit trees for the Phoenix area. Deciduous, drought-tolerant, beautiful as a landscape plant, and the fruit can be eaten fresh or made into jam, or into wine, or juiced and bottled. Plus they have great health benefits.

Spring Garden

Tomatoes are in the ground. There is a slight historical chance that we'll get another frost, but only it's only slight and I find that an early harvest (before the high summer temperatures) is worth the risk. We have 53 tomato plants in the ground.

Additionally we have peas sprouting and have planted bush beans, zucchini, broccoli, and carrots. We'll see in the next week or so what germinates and what the birds leave alone. Often the birds make sprouting peas their breakfast so we are hoping the cooler weather will prevent this. So far, so good.

Garlic and onions are doing great and we are using them in sauces and marinades. The lower portion of the stem and developing bulb works great - you don't have to wait for them to be "ripe" and this way you can enjoy fresh onions and garlic year-round in our climate.

Roses are out of dormancy. Pomegranate trees are also out of dormancy. We pruned back the frozen bits of the lemon tree (temperatures here were between 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of days so we had major damage to the lemon tree). Vinca flowers also froze but they usually don't survive the winter unless kept in a warm spot. We have trimmed everything and see new growth starting so in a month or so things will be green again.