Garlic Harvest

It's finally here! The long-awaited garlic harvest has started. There are approximately 12,000 garlic plants on the farm, and they are all getting ready to come out of the ground. We took out about three quarters of a row today, and there are about three rows more to do over the next few days. We've been taking the plants out of the ground a single variety at a time. This is partly for organizational purposes, so we can keep track of which plants are which. But it's also because each variety mature at a slightly different rate. Once the plants have four completely dry leaves on them, they're ready to be pulled. This is done with a pitchfork and a little bit of elbow grease--the soil around the plant is carefully loosened with the pitchfork, which then lets you grab the garlic by the neck and pull. While the occasional bulb was munched on by a vole or came out a bit misshapen, most of them looked great. After collecting a bunch of about a dozen plants, we bundled them with a bit of twine, with enough extra to hang them by. The bunch then got set gently into a wheelbarrow and covered with a bit of cardboard to prevent sun damage to the plants. Here's what the field looked like before harvest:


Once we collected all of one variety, we went over to the barn and started hanging the plants from nails in the ceiling, three plants per nail. After we finished hanging a variety, we labeled what it was and how many plants there were. Here's what they look like hanging up:


As the plants dry in the barn, the skins will harden and the oil in the cloves will become a bit more flavorful. Within three or four weeks, the garlic will taste like what you are familiar with buying at the store or a farmer's market.

After the garlic, I did a little more wheel hoeing and onion weeding. Then it was on to cooking dinner. Patrick and Colleen weren't around, which was too bad because I think this is one of the best meals I've cooked to date. I made a Mediterranean zucchini dip with three zucchinis, two onions, a can of diced tomatoes, a dash of cream, and the juice of half a lemon. I let it cook down until it was nice and hearty. I also made a mint-yogurt-tahini sauce, a roasted garlic dip, grilled vegetables, and some toasted pita bread.

Finally, my last task of the day was to feed the egg-laying birds and collect their eggs:



Let's end with a nice view of the mountains and some purple flowers that I don't know the name of: