Summer, to me, doesn't really start until the harvesting of the garlic. I think our heat contributes to their early maturity, and while most people may be harvesting their garlic in July and August, mine are usually ready by the end of June. Being sporadic with the watering may also encourage them to ripen earlier. I planted about 150 good sized cloves and about 200 smaller cloves. There was, of course, chipmunk depredations, a little bit of winter-kill, and some were so small that I have chosen to let them mature bulbils on scapes instead of trying to force them to grow big bulbs. One could certainly tell the difference in the quality of the ground (I don't think I would call it "soil" still yet). The sand amended with chickie-poo/chickie-bedding created compost had overall healthier and bigger bulbs - even from cloves that were not top sized.
1/3 garlic harvest curing.
Average size, about 2 1/2" diameter.
Garlic Scapes producing
bulbils for tiny new garlic plants.
Close-up of a scape and
its bulbils.
Summer is also when all the critters come out to hunt. Taken too close with my phone camera, so it is somewhat out of focus, but this dragon fly spent some time chasing gnats and then alighted on an old sunflower stalk from last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment