What a difference a couple of weeks makes! Snow is gone, sun is out and this year's garlic crop is up. As with previous years, it looks like only two or three cloves didn't sprout.
This is something I really need to grow.
In the fall I am busy harvesting crops and forget about the garlic.
I know, I know. I have been wanting to try asparigus.A farmer forgetting a personal crop? Kind of like the cobblers children have no shoes? [emoji]128512[/emoji]
This signals the beginning of the season for me. The herbs are growing back, I turned the first bed and carrot seeds are now in the ground. Next up is turning the rest of the beds and getting lettuce, kale and pea seeds in the ground.
Not to mention the garlic scapes, one of the main reasons we plant garlic in the fall. Root crop. Radishes in spring, root crop. Tomatoes sure, jalapenos sure, tomatillos sure, peppers sure.
Now have a new puppy, part wheaton terrier part poodle (Whoodle?) Not a digger yet so root veg's may be safe, but tomatoes and jalapenos and tomatillos, the jury is out. Anyone interested in a red faced, hot breath dog with diarrhea?
Let us know the pesto recipe. I think between the wife and I we can do the pasta.[emoji]128515[/emoji]
I had garlic chives, Allium Tuberosum, as a nuisance weed at my old house. The cloves and heads were never as big as commercial garlic but the flavor is good and the tops can make great greens. They're like a "walking onion" where new bulbs form at the ends of the flowerstalks, which flop over and start new clumps. You can grind those little bulblets with salt, herbs, oil, etc., in a mortar and pestle or a blender
harvest and clean
The one I use is very basic.
1 pound garlic scapes, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
ground black pepper to taste
Whiz it up in a food processor and toss it with hot pasta. I also like to garnish with chopped parsley and a little lemon zest.
I just ordered a variety of hardnecks for planting this fall. We didn't plant any last year and kicked ourselves this year when we had to actually buy grocery store garlic. I am definitely going to try the scape pesto.
Braz