For those who missed yesterday's post, we put up a reminder of being prepared. Click HERE for that.
Remember last weekend we started the process of drying the garlic that we harvested? We were nervous about just leaving it in the barn to dry (hanging up) but we really had no other choice.
They are doing GREAT! There was no moisture. We were afraid they might be humid or damp but nope, dry as can be. They take several weeks to cure like this. I trimmed off the dried crispy leaves to allow for even more air circulation. You can see the papery husks starting to cure and dry. It's fascinating to see it happening in real time, ha.
Oh and the barn had a wonderful garlic aroma. If you like that of course.
Anyway, so far so good. Really pleased with the progress and super excited to have another DIY learning experience under our belts (so far).
And the garden surprised us with a nice harvest of veggies.
Four tomatoes - I had to pull a couple that were touching the ground and we didn't want to let them rot before next weekend. Any easy way to speed up ripening? Or just the usual, a sunny windowsill?
Two yellow squash - our first ever.
Five more cucumbers - I'm sure this weekend there will be 10 more cukes, ha. I swear those things multiply like rabbits. And they stay camouflaged.
Eight banana peppers - 2nd Man has used a few in cooking but for now I'm chopping, seeding and freezing them for a canning project later on.
There were two eggplants but we're going to give them another week to grow.
Starting to get some results from our once a week harvesting. This weekend will be herbs again for sure and then whatever else pops up.
How exciting to get such a wonderful bounty of fresh grown veggies.
ReplyDeleteTo ripen green tomatoes, I would always ripen mine in a paper bag.
Here is a link for different ways you can ripen up them green tomatoes.
http://twomenandalittlefarm.blogspot.com/2018/06/garlic-and-veggies.html
Do what works best for you
Thank you! I've heard of the paper bag method but haven't tried it. We'll see, hope we have lots to try different methods on, ha.
DeleteThat's a nice harvest! I've been ripening green tomatoes on my windowsill ever since the raccoons discovered some ripe ones in the garden a couple of weeks ago and continue to visit each night looking for more 😡 BTW, soaker hose kit works great, thank you for blogging about it!
ReplyDeleteHey there! Hmm, you actually give us an idea. We only get out there on the weekend and not all the tomatoes are ready then and we don't want to lose them. Maybe it would make sense to bring them back and ripen them here during the week. Do they have same great garden flavor? Darn raccoons!!!
DeleteGreat to hear about the soaker system. It takes some fine tuning here and there and make sure they are good and tight. Occasionally we'll have a blowout when a soaker hose gets a crack in it. When they are covered with the straw though, that seems to happen less. But overall, it's been a garden saver for us, with this long distance gardening, ha.
I am still a sunny sill ripening type of gal. Nice harvest!
ReplyDeleteThat's what we've done this week. And they look great!! Thanks!!
DeleteI am so fascinated to watch your garlic process. I hope it comes out for you, and then we can all learn by your work, haha. And yep, like Anne said, windowsill gal here too. Works wonders. Amy
ReplyDeleteThank you, we are crossing our fingers and toes here, ha. So far so good. At the risk of boring everyone, we'll still have updates throughout the process just to help those others that might find it useful. Windowsill vote from you! ;-)
DeleteBeautiful pictures of your beautiful harvest! Your garlic is such a great success!
ReplyDeleteTo ripen my green-ish tomatoes, I put them on the kitchen counter in a single layer in those rotisserie chicken containers - they have elevated areas on the bottom which are good for air circulation. I have read that putting an apple in with the tomatoes speeds up the ripening process but I have never tried that method. The apple gives off ethylene gas which is a ripening agent.
Thank you for that. It's great success for what little we have done. but hey, we learn with each season. What works and what doesn't. Great idea with the rotisserie chicken container, we like that! I've heard of the apple thing now that you mention it. Well we just put them on the window ledge and they are bright red. Hope they taste just as good, ha.
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