4th week of July 2007
I've been hustling to get in the fall carrots and beets before the rain came. We have gotten several showers this week but a long steady rain that goes deep is still needed. Other fall crops that are going in the ground include snow peas, kohlrabi, cilantro and lettuce. My last plantings of beans and zucchini went in too, those always are at risk of an early frost but if they survive it's a pleasure to have new ones to the end of the season. 
The sounds of crickets and locusts remind me I need to start thinking about my cold frame planting schedule and it's time to start clearing the weeds out of the greenhouse.
I collected several perfect Stupice tomatoes from the plants I isolated, whirled them in the blender and let the mixture ferment for several days before collecting the seeds. My favorite snow pea, Carouby de Mausanne, are no longer available in the catalog so I also let some go to seed. I started pulling them before the rain and am hanging bundles of plants to dry in the shed before shelling out the peas. The garlic was left to dry in the sun for a day and then put in bundles to dry in the shed. An old ladder and a salvaged tv tower were hung from the ceiling to tie the garlic bunches onto. 
I need to decide how much seed garlic to set aside for next year (2000 cloves maybe??) and what varieties are my favorites - Music is a winner, Georgian Fire looked good, Chesnok Red was just too small, and a nice looking one that I've lost the name to will be temporarily named "Pink Softy" . Of course, there will be some room to try out some new kinds grown by the Colemans, friends who live around the corner and grew 50 garlic varieties this summer. Our garlic abundance will also be added heavily to our food and I can smell the wonderful aroma of the rice with chicken broth and garlic wafting from the kitchen.
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