Allium sativum 2014

Last winter's early arrival prompted me get our garlic planted two weeks earlier than usual.  Earlier in the week, I planted sixty cloves of garlic in half of the garden bed at my parent's house.  Forty cloves of Sicilian Silver, which is a silverskin variety, and twenty cloves of an artichoke variety called Chet's Italian.

This afternoon, eighty-four cloves of garlic were lovingly nestled into the soil of our garlic beds.  Sixty-four cloves of Spanish Benitee and twenty cloves of Ajo Rojo.  Both of these are creole varieties.  All but Chet's Italian are new to us, and we're excited to taste them all.  They smelled fantastic.

This will be plenty of garlic to store and save for seed next fall; share with family and friends; and to cook with and enjoy until next year's harvest.

Getting rows ready for cloves.

Covered with leaves and straw to protect them from frost;
keep moisture in the soil; and deter weed growth.

Who doesn't want to see a photo of a cat lounging in a pool of sunshine
with pumpkins in the background?  The pumpkins were grown in our garden, even!

Visit Wright Garden Chronicles, check out the useful links there, as well as the recipe section.  My own recipes are included there.  Weee!

It's past your bedtime

Everything was planned.  Winterizing the house, yard, and garden.  Putting the garden to bed meant pulling up all the spent plants, clearing the beds of as many weeds as possible, spreading compost, and, finally, planting garlic cloves and then covering them with a hefty layer of leaves and straw.  The first week in November is the perfect time, or so I thought, to tackle these depressing-because-the-growing-season-is-over chores.  Gaia, however, had plans of her own.

The first day would be spent pulling up the plants that helped nourish us throughout the summer months, as well as yanking weeds from the soil.  This detail would be done carefully.  Knowing that several praying mantises called our garden home and had already begun creating eggs, I wanted to be attentive of what my hands and feet were coming into contact with.  No mantid murder or harming of their eggs is allowed at Wright Gardens.  No, Sir!

I thought it possible, too, that I could come across a dead praying mantis.  It had certainly been cold enough in the evenings to cause death.  Call it creepy but I was kind of hoping to find a lifeless mantid body so I could inspect it under our illuminated magnifying lamp.  To my surprise, I found a live male mantis!  He was moving very slowly and even allowed me to take him in my hand.  I suspect that he was near death and too weak to protest or simply flee.  After sharing the discovery with my beloved, who was equally excited to see this leggy creature, I placed him on a yarrow bush that was well out of harms way.

Returning to the garden, I continued pulling out "volunteer" dill and chives.  A handful of chives came out of the ground and with the removal, a dead praying mantis fell to the ground.  Initially, I didn't realize that it was dead and was fearful that I had harmed it.  But once I saw that it was dead, in my hand it went.  My instinct told me that it had not been dead for long.  Its body still felt soft rather than rigid.  All garden duties left my mind.  Marching toward the front door, I handed the mantid to John and asked him to put it somewhere safe from our cats.

A bit more work was done in the garden but it was beginning to get dark and I was tired, cold, and hungry.  Done for the day, I was satisfied with what had been accomplished.

Once inside and stripped of my dirty work clothes, I put a pot of soup on the stove for myself.  While the soup heated up I turned my attention to the praying mantis.  "Wow!" I kept saying to myself as I inspected its magnified body in complete awe.

Turning the mantid over in my hand so he was belly up, his rear legs, under the control of gravity, opened widely.  It crossed my mind again how pliable his body seemed and wondered how long the creature had been dead.  While fingering the the tail end of his wings, I noticed two slender antennae-like parts on either side of the mantid's body.  Rudders to help during flight?  I ran my index finger gently along one of them and it moved ever so slightly!  No, it must be my imagination, I thought.  Turning the mantid to one side to look more closely at his raptor forearms, one of them slowly started to open from a closed position, its abdomen flexed slightly, and then the other forearm began to flex.  The praying mantis was beginning to reanimate!  Whoa.  The warmth of the house, my hand, and the lamplight was helping to bring life back into this little fellow.  Cool!

Grateful to have had the opportunity to look at him more closely, I immediately brought him back outside to leave him in peace next to his companion on the yarrow bush.

Although my intention was to continue in the garden where I had left off the following day, Mother Nature decided then to begin ushering in winter weather.  It was windy, rainy, and the rain soon turned to snow!  Nooooo, there's garlic yet to plant!  Thankfully, by that same evening, the bit of snow that fell had melted.  Thunderstorms and high winds followed up the snowy weather for the next two days.  (sigh)  The first day it wasn't raining, cold as it was, I suited up and managed to plant approximately 25-30 cloves of garlic.  Phew!

To our delight, our predatory garden dwellers created many eggs in the garden.  Seven eggs in all were discovered.  One was even found attached to the side of a ripening tomato, and another attached to a stalk of celery.  The backyard is going to be filled with praying mantises next summer!  Perfect.

Stay warm, have fun shopping for seeds, and planning for next year's garden.

Garlic harvest!

While the patio contractors were busy laying the patio, I was preoccupied with harvesting the garlic, pulling weeds, and observing how things are growing in general.  The wonder of life never ceases to amaze me.  Take a walk through the garden with me...

'Ebb Tide' rose in the early morning sun.

Damsel fly having breakfast.

Homemade trellis for the cucumbers.

'Black Icicle' tomatoes

A tiny watermelon.

This tiny, slender, coiled, pink worm made me smile.

She's a beauty!

72 bulbs harvested of the 77 cloves that were planted.

Delicious and beautiful.

Three additional photos of the patio progress at the end of Day Two have been added to the bottom of the "Patio install - Day One and Day Two" post.  Check 'em out!

Garden planning info

This year's growing season may be over but now is the time to begin planning next season's garden. Compiled below is a list of gardening catalogs and web sites that I favor.

For the past three years only heirloom seeds and plants have been grown in Wright Gardens.  No hybrid seeds or plants.  The references below reflect the same standard.  Less grass, more food!


Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - They sell only open-pollinated, non-GMO/GE seeds.  Included on the Safe Seed Resource List.

Botanical Interests - High quality seeds, many heirloom varieties, and a large variety of organic seeds.  No GMO/GEs.  Botanical Interests have signed the Safe Seed Pledge and are included on the Safe Seed Resource List.

Edible Landscaping - No herbicides are used on their plants, and none of their products are derived from or contain any GMO/GEs.

Filaree Garlic Farm - Certified annually by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, all of their garlic is certified organic.  Filagree Garlic Farm grows most of the garlic they sell and purchases the rest from other small, certified organic farmers in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.

Hood River Garlic - Hood River Garlic is a small, certified organic garlic farm located in Oregon's Hood River Valley.  They have been certified organic by the Oregon Tilth since May 2002.

Native Seeds/SEARCH - Offers seeds best suited for the Greater Southwest region (U.S.).  Included on the Safe Seed Resource List.

Nourse Farms - Berry plants.  No GMO/GEs.

Richters Herbs - They pledge not to knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants by signing the Safe Seed Pledge.  Richters Herbs is included on the Safe Seed Resource List as well.

Seed Savers Exchange - Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.  Included on the Safe Seed Resource List.  

Select Seeds - Rare and heirloom variety of flower seeds and plants.  Included on the Safe Seed Resource List.

Victory Seeds - Rare, open-pollinated, and heirloom seeds.  Included on the Safe Seed Resource List.

Hollingsworth Nursery - Peonies are all they do.

Moss Acres -  A beautiful lush green and the perfect solution for a shady area in your garden.  Moss is perfect for terrariums of all sizes, too.

Peony's Envy - More peonies.

Schreiner's Iris Gardens - High quality rhizomes that produce spectacular flowers.

Simply Succulents

Weeks Roses

Area calculator

Mother Earth News - Vegetable Garden Planner

NCDC: Freeze/Frost Maps

Uncle Jim's Worm Farm  - Indoor and outdoor composting supplies.  And, of course, worms!

Don't forget garden tools!

77

Typically, the number 77 makes me think of a Trans Am.  It is a classic muscle car that was featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit.  A gleaming black car with sleek lines and gold accents.  However, today, the number seventy-seven equals the number of cloves of garlic that are planted in Wright Gardens.  Nestled two inches beneath the surface of the soil, covered with a thin sheet of shredded leaves, which is then covered with a six-inch blanket of straw.  For those keeping count, this is seventeen more cloves than were planted last year.  Some garlic cloves were even planted within the main raised garden bed.

In addition to the same three varieties grown last year (Chet's Italian Red, Chesnok Red and Georgian Fire), a fourth variety has been planted - Spanish Roja.  This variety was purchased from Hood River Garlic and is organic seed garlic.

This description included with the garlic seed:

Spanish Roja - Rocambole hardneck variety.  Originating from the Pacific Northwest, in Portland, Oregon, makes this varietal a great choice for the Northwest and other wet winter climates.  Rocamboles are known for their rich, versatile flavor, that is more sweet than hot.  In U.S. taste tests, Spanish Roja is at the top of the charts.  A well rounded flavor either raw or cooked, an excellent choice for pesto and pasta dishes.  If curing period is prolonged, a greater storage life may be obtained.  6-11 cloves per bulb.  45-60 cloves per pound.  Late harvest.  Stores 6 months.  Recommended for zones 1-7.

Of the fifty-five garlic bulbs that were harvested this summer, even with sharing with family and friends, and setting aside four choice bulbs of each variety for planting, we have had plenty to use for cooking.  In fact, we still have several bulbs remaining that ought to last us for another month or so.  Next summer's harvest should bring us through the winter, which is what we're aiming for.

Kale, collard greens, leeks, and many herbs are still a vibrant green and growing in the garden.  Otherwise, all other spent plants have been removed from the garden bed.  Before the end of the week a layer of newspaper will be spread over the surface of the bed, and then a layer of mulch spread over the top of the newspaper.  This is meant to help smother weed seeds as well as simultaneously add nutrients to the soil.

Brussels sprouts: I love them but they won't likely be grown in Wright Gardens next season.  The reason for this decision is because the plants haven't grown compact sprouts.  Not anything close to resembling a tiny head of cabbage.  The plant itself (this year as well as last season) was strong and healthy, but no sprouts.  Sprout research is in order.  

Have fun planning your garden!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

It's 7:07 p.m. and I'm sitting in the backyard.  It's lovely out here.  A gentle breeze is blowing while the sun sets, a few of summer's first cicadas are playing their music, birds are chirping, and a dozen or so bumble bees are busy gliding from flower to flower in the patch of fuchsia colored bergamot next to me.  The sprinkler rocks back and forth giving the garden bed and blueberry bushes a much needed drink, too.  It's such a relaxing way to end the day.

Yesterday afternoon the garlic was harvested.  It now hangs in bunches from the rafters in the basement to dry (or cure) for the next two weeks.  The harvest was bountiful and yielded eighteen bulbs of Chet's Italian Red, nineteen bulbs of Georgian Fire, and eighteen bulbs of Chesnok Red.  Yes, that's fifty-five bulbs of garlic!  The basement reeks of the sweet and slightly spicy perfume of garlic right now.  Once there were about 10 bulbs of garlic resting on the lawn, the scent of garlic hung in the air in the backyard.  The aroma grew more pungent as more bulbs emerged from the ground.

Chet's Italian Red

Georgian Fire

Chesnok Red

Garlic recipes will soon be added to Wright Garden Recipes, so stay tuned.  If you're not already on that mailing list to receive an email when new posts are made, visit the blog and sign up.

A storm rolled through town yesterday.  For the most part, it consisted of high blasts of wind and produced some pretty amazing, if not ought-to-be-on-alert, looking clouds.  I snapped several photos of the clouds and although they have nothing to do with Wright Gardens or gardening, I'm including a few here anyway.

Happy days.  Sweaty pits.  Dirty feet.  Bountiful garden.

http://wrightgardenchronicles.blogspot.com

http://wrightgardenrecipes.blogspot.com

Spring 2012 in full swing

June 6 will mark the third year John and I have called our home Home.  For many reasons spring is always an exciting time, but owning our own home makes this time of year all the more special.  Each fall we plant a variety of bulbs in the front flower beds.  Come springtime we have a more colorful and diverse bed of flowers.  It is wonderful to see what all the new additions look like.  We haven't quite achieved the ever-blooming flower beds that we've imagined for so many years, but we're nearly there.

This year we're able to focus our attention on the backyard, now that major improvements have been completed with the house itself.  The Master Plan is to turn a good portion of the lawn into raised beds where food can be grown.  Last week we planted three blueberry bushes.  Plans for three additional raised beds are in the works and will be built within the next couple weeks.  One bed will be for melons (watermelon and cantaloupe), another for squash (Butternut and pie pumpkins), and a third for strawberries.

The raspberry bush that we planted two years ago is doing great.  It produced a few dozen raspberries last year but now that the bush has quadrupled in size, we hope to have twice as many delicious ruby fruits to nosh on this year.  At the end of this month we will be adding two black raspberry plants to Wright Gardens.  Tasty.

The purple lightning tree we've been longing for will soon be delivered and planted in our yard!  We visited a local nursery earlier this week and selected the tree from six that were available.  It is in a 15 gallon container and roughly 7 feet tall.  I agree with John's assessment, it has good arms.  For those of you wondering what the heck a purple lightning tree looks like, the proper name for the tree is Eastern Redbud.

In the early spring, when the tree flowers, tiny magenta flowers cover the leafless zigzag branches.  The bark is dark brown, almost black, so the end result (to our eyes) looks like purple lightning.  After the tree has finished flowering the tree produces medium sized heart-shaped leaves.

A new gardening helper is our landscaping cart.  John isn't as thrilled about the cart as I am but I'm so happy to have it.  The cart can carry up to 550 pounds and is easily steered around the yard.  The sides of the cart can fold down for easier loading/unloading, and came with a snap-on liner so smaller media such as gravel, soil and mulch can be transported as well.  I even plan to use this cart when there is a large haul of groceries to bring inside, or those times when I bring home two or three 40 pound bags of cat liter.  Wheels!  What a nifty invention.

Chet is curious about the cart.

Finally, we finally have a clothesline!  The posts were permanently put in the ground on Tuesday and, after giving the concrete ample time to set, I installed the cross-bars and strung them with line this afternoon.  I have wanted one of these old school heavy-duty clotheslines for many years and now, just like my Great-Grandma Anna, we do.  Two loads of laundry hung on the line to dry this afternoon with ample room to spare.  Ah, it's the little things in life...

Hello, radish!

A falcon flying over the house

What'cha doing, Mama?

Garlic Row

Red Parrot tulip

Yellow Parrot tulip

Nearing harvest time for garlic

It may look like your garlic is dying from lack of water or too much water or... something, but it's doing just fine.  If the stalks look solid and healthy and only the fronds are beginning to brown and wither, this is a sure sign that the garlic is nearly ready to harvest!  Fret not.