The self-seeded annual is gorgeous!
Garlic and onion harvesting today @ 11am and 4pm. Fun for kids to pull out aromatic bulbs. Pls RSVP if you are interested so we can plan to social distance responsibly. Send a note to Cvearthlab@gmail.com, to me, or post a comment here. Thanks! -Denise
Garden winterization is overdue! Some gardeners will be outside this afternoon to clear, clean up and pack up the garden for the cold weather season. Feel free to pitch in! We’ll also be planting daffodil bulbs around the play area; probably around 130pm.
Do you have any pots in the raised bed area of the garden? We’re cleaning these out and storing them before it snows. Please note that any unclaimed pots and containers will be discarded after December 1st. Thanks!
Here’s a close up of the Egyptian walking onion baby bulbs that Benji’s science teacher gave us. They come from her sister’s garden upstate. Also known as tree onions, these perennials are described as “walking” because of the unique way they self-propagate. Instead of flowers, they produce onion seeds or “top sets” at the top of the plant. When the plants mature the heavy seeds cause the plant to fall over and re-root itself; the seeds seem to “walk” over to other parts of the plot. Of course I didn’t read any of this before I transplanted several bulbs into a large pot (former home to an unsuccessful small tomato seedling).
About 10 bulbs are sitting in a cup next to the garlic planter. Let’s figure out what to do with them! According to EgyptionaWalkingOnion.com, when new top sets are planted they will grow throughout the spring and summer and develop tall green leaves and bulb/root growth in the ground, but they will not develop top sets in their first year–just roots and leafstalks. This makes me think we might plant some onions in a place they can linger for a while. If we don’t pull out the bulb, they should regrow, develop top sets next year and then replant themselves. Maybe the garlic planter would make a good home? Only half of it seems to be producing anything; we can plant garlic somewhere else in the fall and perhaps use the planter for the onions? I’m open to ideas. -Denise
After we harvested half of the garlic crop in June, I dried the garlic for about 3 weeks. It’s ready to try! Let’s divvy it up after this evening’s harvest.
Mini-Garlic Harvest!
When: Sunday, June 16 6:30pm*
How: With shovels and our hands
Why: We need to pull out some of the garlic so it can dry for 2-4 weeks before it is consumed.
More details to come.
For more info, check out these posts RE garlic planting and growing.
*Typically, garlic is dried for 2-4 weeks before it is eaten, but we might want to do some sort of tasting tomorrow so we have something to compare with when we sample cured garlic in July.
Update: Here are some snaps from the actual harvest.
Arushi picked a winner
We used a shovel to lift the earth and protect the bulb
Nice garlic pull, Benji!
Concord Village EarthLab 