The Garlic Is Harvested

Blueberries, Blueberry Pie, currants, garden, Garlic Harvest, Reflections, The Farm, Watering, Weather,

The garlic harvest is complete and our new barn is serving it’s purpose.

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This photo is the loft area full of Chesnok Red garlic. Each bundle has 25 garlic bulbs. The other two varieties are hanging in the downstairs area. The garlic will hang for about three weeks before we begin clipping and cleaning it to prepare it for market.

Having the barn proved to be such a blessing. We were able to pace ourselves with the harvest. My husband primarily did the digging. He would dig one or two rows a day and move it into the barn. I mostly did the bundling. He pounded the nails into the rafters and hung the garlic and I tied the garlic nooses. Just kidding they weren’t really a noose, but I pre-tied loops in each end of the strings and the string was wrapped around a bunch of garlic then one loop was pulled through the other loop and the string would tighten around the garlic. The loop on the long end was used to hang the garlic from the nail.

At times, especially in the extreme heat, the work was grueling, but the process went pretty smoothly. We make a good team. 🙂

Besides harvesting all that garlic over the past two weeks we have spent time picking both blueberries and currants. Both have produced great crops this year. This has been our largest blueberry crop so far (we have picked over 3 US dry gallons) and I have put most of them in the freezer to be used throughout the year in pancakes and banana bread, but as a special treat I decided to make a blueberry pie.

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When I was making this pie I realized that this was the first time I have ever made a blueberry pie. I will confess that I used a premade, store bought, crust but the pie was delicious and it didn’t last long.

The other thing that we’ve spent a lot of time doing over the last two weeks is watering the gardens. Rain has been very scarce here this summer. The first three weeks of June were completely dry, then on June 24/25 when the rains finally came. Over those two days we probably had three or more inches of rain. While it made up for some of the deficit, all that rain at one time damaged some of our plants, specifically cabbages. We then went into a hot dry spell and our next rain fall did not come until July 16. That day our rainfall was probably less than an inch. We had a little bit more today and the forecast is for more tomorrow. Feel free to say a prayer that the forecast is correct. We are.

 

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Since the garlic was harvested and there was rain in the forecast my husband spent the day yesterday preparing the garlic field for next years crop. The garlic field has been tilled and seeded with rye grass as a cover crop.

Even though the garlic harvest is done I don’t expect our pace to slow down as there are so many things that need to be done. If we do get a good rainfall we can the spend more time weeding (always easier after the rain). The grass needs to be cut and my husband will be checking the bees and hopefully harvesting honey soon. The list is way longer than that and probably longer than I realize, but I’m sure you will read about some of it as time goes on.

I also hope to get back to posting more often and some of the posts I have planned include a second post about things we are harvesting (if you missed the first one you can find it here), a post about honey, and as I mentioned in a previous post I will be sharing my thoughts about natural skin care.

Thanks for reading and until next time – Be Well.

 

26 thoughts on “The Garlic Is Harvested”

  1. Oh goodness, I am now completely homesick for the farm again. I had some herb gardens all around the house and made potpourris and bath scrubs from both fresh and dried herbs. I really miss that most of the time, but I’m realistic enough to know that the MS has advanced so much that there is just no way I could live out there now. Power chairs are nice to have but they just get very picky about where they will allow you to drive them. Tried a 4 wheeler once but ended up in the middle of my garden, much to my kids delight! I wouldn’t trade those days or those memories for anything!

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    1. I love growing herbs and they are so useful. I use some in my soaps. I use them in cooking, or make infused oil, or medicinal tinctures.
      I love that you at least tried a 4 wheeler. I am curious about your MS. Have you tried any natural therapies? Diet, exercise, Herbal supplements? The reason I ask is because last December I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I am managing well thus far. I was happy when the Doctor told me that there are no medications that help with the type of tremors that I have because I don’t like to take medications. I find that I do best when I eat right, get enough sleep and get outside in the sunshine. I am also taking some supplements that seem to help. While I don’t dwell on it, it is scary to think about what the future might hold.

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  2. Has the rain picked up at all in the last couple of weeks down in your area? We are so dry here in southeastern Manitoba – our grass is so dry in some spots that it hurts to walk on it. We’re watering our gardens sometimes twice a day, depending on the heat. There’s a thunderstorm in the forecast tonight – we’re hoping it gives us a good downpour.

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    1. Hi Christine. Yes we have had a few good rains that have helped a lot. It seems like we get a lot at one time then nothing for a long time. The uneven watering has caused our tomatoes to have splits in them but they should be fine for making sauce. We are just grateful they are producing.
      I hope you get your rain as well.

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  4. I’ll have a piece of that pie; thank you.
    I was wondering why do you dry the garlic with the greens still attached? Is it just because it’s easier to dry them that way? Or is there a hidden meaning behind it that I am not aware of?

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    1. Sorry the pie is long gone.
      It is easier to dry the garlic by hanging them in bunches than to have room to spread them in a single layer somewhere to dry. It is also thought that more of the flavor is retained in the bulb when drying with the greens still attached. I haven’t experimented with that so I’m not sure if it is true.
      I will also be making garlic braids with some of them. Not only are the braids attractive they keep longer this way. I proved that this year when I had some bulbs of garlic from last years harvest that we drying up and turning brown about 8 or 10 weeks ago but the braided garlic of the same variety still has healthy white cloves when I peel them.
      Great question.

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  5. That pie looks amazing!!! Fresh desert is definitely part of healthy lifestyle lol. I can’t wait to read about the skin care and honey. Summer is busy though we all totally understand about not posting as much. Being outside instead of bing cooped up indoors is much better, counter balances the pie 🥧

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