Saturday, July 17, 2010

Garden surprises

I have been in the garden...for days. Quite literally, the weeds have taken over my garden. Im not even going to show you just how many zombie weeds are in there. Just know, its not good. Not good at all. I pull one and return the next day to see 3 in its place.

Aside from that tho...Im happy to say that the apricots have been going strong for the past couple weeks.

The green beans are super yummy.

The garlic was planted by the previous owners, so I dont have any idea what kind I have, but I do know that this particular one came from a group of hard neck garlic.

Hence, the scape you see. I left the scapes on this season. Not for any real reason other than I just didnt cut them off.

Imagine my surprise when right next to the little hard neck garlic I found...I unearthed this puppy.

Look at the size of this guy.

Now look at the little guy.

The size of that big guy just amazed me. And he wasnt the only one in there. I think I came away with about 10 of those big guys. The main difference between the 2 heads of garlic (besides the size) was that the smaller guy scaped and the bigger guy did not. So, is the bigger guy a soft neck? Did the absence of a scape make the garlic larger? I just have no idea.

A little further away in the garden, I was checking on my lovely tomatoes. All of which came from my friend, danni. She started them from seed and then took care of them for me as I was making my big move across the country.

This particular tomato is called Itty Bitty.

And itty bitty it is.


The tomato anyway.

The actual plant on the other hand is a huge sprawling thing.

Can you see how different it is growing compared to my more upright tomatoes?

This gardening season has been full of surprises for me. And even tho the weeds are making me crazy...I am in love with all the fresh produce that I am harvesting every day. It makes me very, very happy to be able to walk to my garden and bring in such plentiful bounties.

8 comments:

Farmer Jen said...

Oooh, save a few of those big garlic cloves with the "paper" still on them to plant in the Fall. They might grove big garlic heads for you to harvest next summer!

Your apricots look amazing!

Weeds have totally (and I mean totally) taken over my main raised bed garden. I must go out there tomorrow and find my veggies again amongst the weeds.

Sarah said...

that's a great garden! I know nothing about garlic other than it tastes good. I've never tried to grow any. But I'd like to try sometime. Weeds...that's part of the package I guess. Mom says weeding is great therapy. As a kid I hated it. Maybe it will be different as an adult. But somehow I don't think so.

Danni said...

And your apricots are *delicious*...I'm still enjoying the ones you brought to me. They are a nice fruit that actually has quite a lengthy "shelf" life and doesn't immediately rot (like raspberries and strawberries) after picking.

The itty bitty tomatoes are courtesy of my friend Sarah over at "It Blows Here": http://localfoodblog.blogspot.com/. Her family really loved their itty bitties last year and I'm looking so forward to trying them myself this year!

Sheryl at Providence North said...

I like your blog!
I am planting garlic for the first time this coming October. I am happily anticipating a great harvest next year. I love the way the braided garlics look hanging in a country kitchen!

Nothing beats fresh tomatoes right off the vine!

Diane said...

Oh man..I wish I was there to taste some of those green beans..do ya think they'll be finished by the time I get there? Go out there and slow them down somehow for me!!
It all looks amazingly healthy, and delicious..Maybe I'll have fresh off the tree apples to look forward to..besides the fact that I'll be seeing my grandkids!!!! Can't wait!!!

Carla said...

Beautiful apricots!! There's something so cool about growing fruit that's $5 a pound in the grocery store and tastes like cardboard.

Your elephant garlic looks amazing, too. Don't forget to tell us how it tastes.

sunset pines farm said...

it all looks so great!!!!
That garlic! Yum!

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

Your apricots looks beautiful! And that garlic without scapes is really big! Was there any noticeable difference between the big one and the little ones? Those itty bitty tomatoes are adorable - and I bet they are yummy too. Your garden seems to be really doing well there.