Sunday night Steve asked: “Do you have a plan when you wake up for what you need to do in the garden? Or do you just go out there and see what needs to be done?”
I explained that at this point in the season there are three things to do: “Harvest, weed, and water. Then head inside and preserve.” That’s pretty much what is going on out there! I do need to plant the fall produce, and with great sleeping weather and highs in the mid-70s, this is the week to get the turnips, spinach, greens, and “winter” carrots in the ground.
I’ve been enjoying the purples this summer. It’s been the best year we’ve ever had on the prairie for purple coneflowers (Echinacea). I’ve spotted at least four varieties, distinguished by their cones (flat or domed), their petals (round and sticking straight out or long and narrow and drooping down like grey-headed coneflowers) and color (lavender or an almost phosphorescent pink/purple).
The variety with the dramatic giant cone and long petals is a wonder.
On the preserve side, I’ve been making pestos: regular basil pesto, carrot top pesto, and Thai Basil pesto. For that one, I’ve used peppers and Thai basil from my favorite container. I like to try colorful (hot) little pepper varieties, and was drawn to this Chinese five-color pepper by the promise of purples. I planted Thai basil in the same container, and it has recently taken off. Thai basil plants have a slightly purple hue to their veins and the backs of the leaves, and put up purple flowers when they go to seed.
I’ve been pinching them to keep them going, but I do enjoy going out in the morning and seeing the purple jewels of peppers and the little purple flower buds of the basil. It’s spurred me on to make some of the pesto that will keep us through the winter.
Then there’s the garlic experiment. I’ve decided to try to grow some garlic from bulbils, the “seed” that garlic produces. If you don’t cut the scapes, the garlic plants will flower and produce little cloves (called bulbils). Like growing potato from true seed, this is not a quick process. After drying the bulbils, I’ll plant them in a little patch at the same time I grow my other garlic. Next year I’ll get little grass-like plants and what is called a “round,” a large clove. In fall 2016 I plant the rounds, and only in 2017 do I get actual heads of garlic. Those heads will also be small, so the idea is to plant those (at this point the crop is multiplying) and in 2018 eat the garlic!
I let some scapes go on a purple-striped variety that was producing strong stalks. (I’m not sure what the name of this variety is, but possibly Chesnok Red or Music.) Once the flowers opened, I pulled the plants and now they’re drying. I’ll get to eat the heads of garlic and will put the dried bulbils aside for October. I left some in maybe too long because the paper casings weren’t opening. These might produce tiny little heads instead of a single round, which adds a year to their full-size development but means they’ll multiply the first year!
This will be the ultimate test of my patience. We’ll see how it goes.
Great post, thanks for sharing!