Time to Harvest the Garlic

Recent family events have put the garden on hold and there has only been time to water and grab a few items for dinner.  The garlic has been waiting patiently for its turn to be harvested and today I finally had the time.

I've been allowing the ground to dry up which will help the garlic bulbs in their curing process.  The dry ground made it easy to pull up the bulbs which I stacked in 2 piles to keep the varieties separate.  They mostly look a good size - not like last year's production which was a bit on the small size as that bed hadn't received the SeaSoil that this bed did.

Once the garlic had been all pulled up, I separated them into 4 sections and tied them with twine with a loop at the top.  This year I've hung the bundles on the end of the woodshed to dry in the shade.  They'll be out of the sun, but get lots of drying breezes.  It's important not to leave the bulbs drying in the sun, but to get them into shade as soon as possible.  This is the opposite of onions, which you cure in the sun first, then once they have nice papery outer skins, bring them inside to finish curing.  And for both garlic and onions, never wash the dirt off.  Allow it to dry completely for a few weeks and then you can trim off the roots and tops, and then brush away any remaining dirt.

The Three Sisters Garden is growing apace!  Four butternut squash seeds are certainly taking up a lot of room and are even starting to scramble down the bank towards the pond.  I see lots of little squashes forming on the vines.  The corn is tasseling out nicely and flowers are forming on the beans.  The two old wooden beds will definitely have to be replaced this year as the wood is rotting out.  A good project for winter.