Garlic Harvest

Duck Creek Farm display

Last week I took in the Saturday morning market on Salt Spring Island in beautiful British Columbia.   It's kind of changed over the past thirty years )))) . Back then, our market product was Bon Acres Corn. We were up at a dark five o'clock, heading down to pick in the lower field....baby kiddo in stroller hugging a fresh cob to chew on. The truck loaded, we were off to the "new" Salt Spring Saturday Market and usually sold out by eleven. Heh..I was a spring chick to gardening back then and a new mom! Fond memories.......
It was great to see local produce still being sold, Garlic ('Allium Sativum'), being one of the most popular farm products. The braids went by weight...$48.00 for a wicked heavy one. Don't they look beautiful! Lots of variety..Portuguese Red, China White..

 

Braids from Bright Farm on Tripp Road certified organic.

While we've had a sort of nursery bed of garlic growing in our plot for about ten years, it wasn't actually until last fall, I transplanted some of the small bulblets 'in the green' to the raised bed.  Pulling them out a few days ago, was a revelation....it worked...we had proper garlic bulbs! 

Our Garlic Harvest

The only difficulty so far, is finding a dry place to cure them where their smell can't overpower. Living near the sea, and with all this rain, everything is damp.... to cure, the bulbs need good ventilation! I found a Canadian site, for buying and curing garlic and the info there has helped tremendously. Now I'm anxious to try some named varieties....success has gone right to my head!

Wedding and Garden Update

Oh..it was just Great getting away! The wedding was marvelous...the cake simply beautiful and delicious. The bride and groom chose "hot" vibrant colors for their flowers and decoration which truly shimmered in the British Columbia August heat.

A variety of vibrant flowers to decorate the tables.

Returning to Nova Scotia.....well, don't think it stopped raining here the whole time I was away. Poor tomatoes, poor flowers. It was a jungle out there and most of yesterday was spent clipping and cleaning the beds and tidying up the trellised tomatoes. I am of the belief, that plants do not need sunshine to grow...just rain ;-) ! But if we are ever going to get ripe tomatoes...we need some hot summer sun.

Trellised tomato jungle!

There is magic in all that rain though...the day lilies have never looked so amazing, and at this time of year, that's a real plus for flower show. I managed to clean up the long bed on the summerhouse side and today will tackle the tomato plants inside the veg garden, pull out the 'gone over' lettuce and do a general thinning out of plants.

The cleanup continues.

The summer squash have taken over; beets need pulling (and roasting); beans are coming on gang busters.... back to eating from the garden with gusto!

Beans Fortex, Purple Podded and Golden