4th week of July 2008
It's time for pulling the garlic. With 2000 bulbs in 11 different varieties to keep straight, I need to keep things organized and well labeled as we go. Some of the softneck types that I pulled first were dry enough to be braided and in the picture you can see some of the hardnecks laying out to dry before I hang them in bundles in the shed to further cure. Garlic is definitely a fun crop to grow and experiment with. Now I will need to figure out how to sell my abundance - some will go into "Garlic Sampler" baskets with the garlic cards I made with homemade paper this winter, our chicken customers will receive complimentary rosemary and garlic for one of our suggested recipes and the rest I'll hope there are plenty of garlic aficionados needing them.
Today we started pulling out the pea plants and preparing beds by adding compost for fall carrots and beets. The trick is always keeping those beds moist for the first week as the seeds germinate. I'm hoping the thunderstorms that are predicted will help make that job easier for us. I'll also put in the last planting of green beans and plant a double row of fall peas this week. They never grow as beautifully as the spring planting but they are definitely a treat. My planting schedule also notes that it's time to start some cold frame items like scallions, bok choy and parsleya along with a new batch of lettuce.
Our family enjoyed a "vacation day" on Saturday in Holmes County at the Family Farm Field Day. It is an event held on an Amish farm with about 90% of the folks in attendance being Amish with all kinds of demonstrations, seminars, pasture walks and children's activities. It was a very hot and humid day so sitting under a tent listening to seminars was not a bad option when the breeze was going. I enjoyed hearing the owner of Mustard Seed Market talk about the value of buying local foods and then a panel that further shared on that issue. I came home with a handful more of excellent quotes to add to our book, One Forkful at a Time: Getting Started with Local Foods, which is in the last stages of first draft writing and being considered by a publisher for acceptance. Olin attended a cheesemaking seminar and went on a pasture walk, Elizabeth took in a goat keeping seminar and the rest of the children enjoyed the petting zoo, microscope activities and the playground area filled with lots of Amish children.
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