Our vegetable garden has been fairly catastrophic this year. Aside from a decent harvest of peas and some nice lettuces, much of what we have planted has been eaten by critters, rotted by excessive rain, wilted by excessive heat, or inexplicably stunted. The radishes never took off, the broccoli hasn’t produced a single floret, the eggplant looks like an bad bonsai experiment — utterly lacking in buds to boot — even the basil has been chewed to a lace and ribs, and do you know ANYONE who can plant zucchini two years in a row and only have ONE, that’s right, ONE SINGLE SOLITARY, zucchini to show for it? That’s just pitiful.
Helping out with garlic harvest at Restoration Farm (in 100 degree heat!?!)
Well, I could go on, but that might jinx the tomatoes, which actually look quite good, except I think my watering has not been consistent and there could be some blossom end rot in my future.
So, I will look on the bright side and say that not only did our garlic produce lovely scapes earlier in the season, but we are also drying a healthy bunch of our own garlic bulbs, planted last October in our raised beds from a head that I reserved from Restoration Farm last season.
Accentuate the positive…our homegrown organic garlic is beautiful and heady with fragrance. My friend Vic Muñoz calls them terrestrial jellyfish for their look!
So, no recipe today. Just a deep breath, thanking goodness that I am not depending on my crop to feed my family. A celebration of what has gone right. And a resolution to keep trying. Because knowing how to grow your own food is important and because perseverance is important and because everything takes time to master.
Wish me luck with the fall vegetables, some of which are already planted….
Hot, Cheap & Easy 
About the same here in the Boston area. I planted a week after our average last frost date and had 2 weeks of temps in the 50’s. Then it was dry for a month, then it rained for two weeks. All my radished bolted, tomatoes are spindley pathetic things. I’m all ready looking forward to next year.
I have harvested my garlic and it’s no bad but less than last year.
It’s comforting to hear I am not the only one! Less comforting to think about how food prices are going to soar as a result of the climactic conditions!
I love garlic soup!
so does my mom! I need to try it. Recipe? anyhoo…I think we’ll plant twice as much garlic this fall….
If you enjoy gardening, you’ll love this article. How to easily prepare for dynamic, organic crops: http://68anda6pack.com/2013/07/12/forking-good-exercise/
Thanks Old Dog, for the visit and for the recommendation.
congrats on the nice garlic! it looks lovely 😉
Thanks! I think we will do much more of it come October!
That garlic looks lovely….the garlic they sell in the supermarkets in
Puerto Rico comes from China but occasionally you can get organic garlic
(from California, i believe): growing it oneself would be even better!
I don’t know how well it would grow in PR,,,it overwinters here!!!!
I planted a huge variety of stuff in Atlanta, quite a few years ago and was dismayed to find lots of it eaten just after the shoots came up. I never did catch the critter who was eating it.
You’ve got some great looking garlic and good luck with the tomatoes 😉
Thank you for the commiseration and kind words, my friend! I soooo want to be a terrific grower and I am so not! But little by little….