...these are the top setts off my serpentine garlic. It's almost a shame to harvest them; they're so odd and pretty. The little 'Kremlin dome' at the end of the stalk contains tiny little new garlic bulbs. If the garlic were left in the ground and the stalk to dry, eventually the 'dome' would split, and the dry stem would topple over and shatter the little cluster far and wide. Each little bulb would then become next years underground garlic cluster, send up a tall stalk, form setts....and so forth. When I harvest my garlic I hold the unfinished setts in water until the capsule splits. When the cluster is ready to shatter I scatter them wherever I think they might look interesting in the garden. That's all there is to planting this kind of garlic!
Unintentionally arty shot of baby Hazelnuts!
This year I just may put up a scarecrow or some tin cans on strings or something...last year the crows robbed me blind and I WANT BAKLAVA DAMMIT.
Baby 'Early Girl' beefsteak tomatoes!
HURRY HURRY HURRY HURRY HURRY!!!
Baby 'Connecticut Field' pumpkin for grand kids Jack 'O Lanterns!
Ditto 'Small Sugar' for daughters pumpkin pies...only the fruits were too bitty to photograph.
YES MJ I SAID BITTY YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH ALREADY.
Speaking of MJ; stand back, girl...the pumpkin vines are headed your way. Fast.
Baby acorn squash!
According to my Yummy Biker, these seeds were from the most delicious acorn squash he has ever eaten. So I saved the seeds from it and grew it. When they come ripe and I serve it up to him he will have no idea what I'm talking about. None whatsoever.
Baby sunflower!
This is from the 'mixed' row. It could be anybody, and blossom out any color, too. I'm hoping it's a double selection called 'Teddy Bear'.
Baby 'Bradford' pears!
Remember the pear tree that used to give me only one lonely pear every year? Not any more. I like to see these come on...they start out sticking straight up into the air, with the spent blossom end pointing up toward the sky. They look like little hot air balloons. As they get bigger they turn downward and the entire limb takes a half-twist with them. Then HUNDREDS OF CROWS LAND ALL OVER THE THING AND TAKE BIG NASTY VICIOUS SNIPS OUT OF ALL THE FRUITS AND FLING THEM ALL OVER THE GROUND AND CRAP ALL OVER EVERY THING AND TAKE OFF AGAIN.
Baby potatoes!
Actually the baby potatoes are under the plant there. Under the dirt, under the plant. Out of shot. Never mind.
Baby blueberries!
Gazillions of them. I have two blueberry shrubs and the branches are just sagging, heavily laden with fruit. The long, cool spring wasn't a bust for everyone out in the garden, anyway. In fact, this shot was taken after I harvested this afternoon...
Ripe Blueberries!
This is about a quart and a half of big, fat, roly-poly blueberries, cleaned and stemmed. Last year I took three harvests off my plants and I'm expecting to get at least that much this year, providing the robins don't get there first. Oh yes; I've caught them out there teaching their robin children how to rob the bush; fling yourself flapping straight into the center of the thing and then gobble the fallen berries all up off the ground until you're too fat to fly. I've tried it. It works.
I love that you are a total gardening GEEK. I am getting jealous, not that I need yet another hobby I can't find time for.
ReplyDeleteW2: I am. it is SAD and EMBARRASSING. I love it. I love it so much I want to kiss it AND marry it.
ReplyDeleteEverything is up close and brilliant green and in 3-D!
ReplyDeleteIt's like the House of Wax of the vegetable kingdom!
And it's headed my way!
I thought you wanted to kiss and marry whats-his-face Mr C. You are so fickle.
Beast wants bitty.
And is that sheet music that your garlic is reclining on? What sort of composition does garlic prefer?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNow I am really confused by the garlic.
ReplyDeleteI had never really thought about it , but had assumed that the garlic corms were like the bulb bit in the ground like onions that was harvested.
Have I got this completely wrong ?
The rest of the fruit looks way cool except the pears.
Pears annoy me
I dont know why
***dances about in a pear related rage***
Oh what beautiful fotos. I miss fresh ripe blueberries so much! It's a shame in the store they are too expansive to buy. Guess I'll have to stick with cherries.
ReplyDeletemmmm yummy! If only I weren't so cheap when it comes to watering my yard. I could have a garden....if I had a servant or a gnome or something.
ReplyDeletemj: Mr. C is a vegetable. a big, long, fat, delicious...zucchini-like vegetable. that owns a restaurant. I grew him in my garden under a mushroom. I did. a special mushroom. a mushroom that will attack you. lord I need coffee.
ReplyDeletedangerPanda: DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR SITE HAS BEEN HIJACKED???? ive been trying to get there for a month now and its not THERE, its been taken over by a link trap. FIX IT AT ONCE!
*brandishes mr. C like a green sceptre of doom*
Beast: nope, you have it right. you harvest and eat the bulb that grows under the ground. but yeah, the capsule the setts grow in at the top of the stalk looks a lot like a garlic bulb too. garlic just has a lot of survival strategies going. it is deceptive and WILY.
mone: yeah..frozen or canned just doesn't cut it, huh. thats why i finally gave in and bought a couple of commercial 'Earliblue' shrubs.
gale: or a servant that IS a gnome. you could name him Steven and keep him chained to a cinderblock in the garage and feed him roadkill and train him to hook up your hose to the neighbors' faucet.
I didn't know you could fly. I am in total awe. I only have very vigorous black berry bushes, fortunately they are the seedless variety so I shan't savage them other than to don gloves, long sleeved shirt, hat and bucket for the appropriate harvest. Retro
ReplyDeleteI wish cheese would get on with her guest post already... we are going to have a serious gardenoff here...
ReplyDeletegreat pics and everything looks great!!! we just harvested out twelve foot tall sunflower two days ago, the head on it was starting to roll over at two feet across!!!
I have to say , with Mr C's penchant for sunbeds .A butternut squash would be more appropriate for the perma tanned restauranteur
ReplyDeleteSalivary glands workin' overtime here...
ReplyDeleteThose plants are going to grow into gigantic carnivorous little shop of horrors thingamabobs and start singin Feed Me!
ReplyDeleteProlly not until mid August so you still have plenty of time to plan your escape.
I love your garden. I love your enthusiasm!
ReplyDeleteI still like crows, though. The cute one at the zoo says "hi!" to me every morning.
Its inspirational and a joy to read your gardening posts.
ReplyDeleteBlueberries just aren't that big a thing over here + quite expensive.
****sneaks in****
ReplyDelete****draws hilarious faces on the tomatoes***
***Stick cut out figure on the squash so it looks like a big green willy****
***places amusing gnomes in the toilet Planter
***sniggers***
***sneaks off***
I have tomatoes and one pumpkin growing, I grow Dill to watch the ladybirds fuck on it but they were odd this year, mostly orange ones hardly any reds.
ReplyDeleteThe crows here are too busy raiding nests for baby birds, where is west Nile when you need it?
i fixed fried green tomatoes last night and they were mouth watering...i have missed out this year on pumpkin blossoms though as i didn't plant...maybe i could go steal a few blossoms...:)
ReplyDeletethat garlic looks lovely...can you grow it inside? is it just an annual?
to save our bradford pears, we got this net thing from the local co-op. it allows the fruit and stuff to keep growing, but prevents the birds from getting to it. drives 'em nuts.
ReplyDeletewe've got peas growing out the ying-yang. we pick like 6 buckets a day and by the afternoon you can't even tell we've picked any.
even though it's so dry down here, it seems like everything is growing - except my lantana. but that's probably b/c it's trying to grow in red clay on a slight incline.
I have zucchini marrows, pumpkins, cabbages all kinds of beans tomatoes peas potatoes, onions and shallots ... all sorts of floweers including sunflowers and such like ... I wish I could take piccies!!
ReplyDelete