Friday, July 20, 2007

Great Garlic




























Rick pulled the first garlic the other day. The leaves are starting to wither so we can probably pull all of them this weekend. I want to see if I can braid them to hang them to dry. This first bulb was used in a simple pasta with herbs and olive oil. We were blown away by the favour and fragrance. Just amazing. For our first experience with it, garlic has been a resounding success. Aesthetically too, they've been a real treat. The scapes earlier in the season were beautiful curls and now the bulbs are a pleasing pink. Considering that Rick and I basically don't make a dinner without garlic these are definitely plants worth growing again.

Mammoth Collards















The thing that grew the most when we were away were the collards. They are ENORMOUS. I haven't ever grown them so big. So the first day back, I picked about 30 leaves and made a big batch of "cabbage" rolls. I actually find collards are much easier to work with than cabbage leaves for rolls. You don't have to try to peal them off the cabbage head - I always tear half of them when I try to do this. All you have to do with collards is cut the stalk off and blanch them. The picture above is right after the collards have been blanched. They turn such a rich green and are very malleable for rolling. I fill my "cabbage" rolls with a mix of kasha, rice, onions, raisins, garlic, hot pepper, parsley, oregano and almonds. I find the dark nuttiness of the kasha is a great combination with the collards.
I made enough to fill one large and one small pan of rolls. We had the small that night with a tomato sauce and the large pan went into the freezer for another time.

After



So, this is what the garden looks like after two weeks away. I was actually a bit surprised it wasn't bigger. But apparently the weather in Toronto hadn't been all that hot (unlike where we were!) and it had rained a lot. Plus Alex had done some weeding in the lettuce area to keep things under control.
The nasturtiums have really burst into bloom. You can see them in the lower left corner of the right photo. Though in the front yard, they are still quite small with only a few blooms. I guess they are not getting enough sun there. The leeks are also all in bloom, which the bees love. They are such beautiful mauve globes and make great cut flowers.
Nonetheless, there is definitely noticeable growth. The collards and kale in particular were surprisingly huge and the garlic is just about ready to harvest. The yellow zuchini has wound its way around the gargage wall and there have been a couple edible cucumbers (the first ever not lost to squirrels!) I've spotted two or three ripening cherry tomatoes, but they haven't really started yet.