Here's the third part of our Growing Garlic series. Part 1 is an overview of growing Garlic. Part 2 covers harvesting the garlic scapes - which we turn into Pickled Garlic Scapes. Now we're moving on to how to harvest and cure Garlic. Your Garlic has now been growing all spring and summer. You've removed the Garlic Scape that is on each plant. Right about now, you are probably … [Read more...]
Growing Garlic – Part 4 Knowing Which Cloves to Replant
Here's the fourth (and last) installment in the How to Plant Garlic series and this one focuses on choosing cloves for planting. The first article can be found here; Part 2 here; Part 3 here. Here in Canada, we plant garlic in the Fall before the ground freezes. This lets the garlic cloves settle in and even grow a few roots. Then when the cold weather comes, the cloves go dormant for the … [Read more...]
How to Make Pickled Garlic Scapes
In this second installment on Growing Garlic, I'm going to share a fantastic Pickled Garlic Scapes recipe. In the first post, I gave an overview about the process involved with growing Garlic. Garlic is one of the easiest garden vegetables to grow! Here in the Cariboo, the Garlic Scapes come on hot and heavy in early July. Since we have almost 300 garlic plants in the garden, we basically … [Read more...]
Make A Personalized Seed Starting Schedule
At this time of year, my mind starts to fixate on seeds for the upcoming garden. Not that I can do anything about it; it is way too early for me to get any seedlings started indoors. I do, however, check my seed starting schedule to see when I can get those first seeds started. Sometimes I will feed my urge and start some perennial flower seeds and … [Read more...]
How to Build a Greenhouse For Under $200
Want to find out how to build a greenhouse? Since we live in a cooler climate, we NEED to grow tomatoes and peppers under covers and a greenhouse works perfectly for us. Although we can't grow enough tomatoes to preserve a lot of tomato sauce, we can fit enough plants in here for fresh eating. There's nothing better than picking cherry tomatoes right off the vine and popping them into my … [Read more...]
Canning Homemade Sauerkraut
Ever wondered how to can Sauerkraut so you can enjoy it all winter long? Recently I wrote about our Cabbage harvest and using some of it to make Sauerkraut. Water bath canning Sauerkraut is pretty easy; a beginning canner can preserve cabbage with confidence. It's an easy way to preserve some cabbage and Graham loves it along with perogies and sausages. Read here to … [Read more...]
Growing Garlic – Part 1
Garlic is so very healthy for us to eat. It doesn't hurt that it's pretty easy to grow on a small scale as well. Garlic takes up such a small space that you can either plant a big bed of it in a corner of your garden or tuck a dozen plants into a pot and keep it on your deck. In our climate (cold winters) we plant our Garlic in the very early Fall around mid-September. If you live in … [Read more...]
Baking Your Halloween Pumpkin!
What do you do with your Halloween pumpkin once the day passes? Some people toss them into their compost pile, others simply throw them in the garbage can. But why not think about baking your Halloween pumpkin? Some communities have a Pumpkin road, some long road out in the outskirts where people bring all their Pumpkins to dot the sides of the roads. That … [Read more...]
Random Pictures of Busy Busy Days
We have been hopping here in the Valley. Sure, we take the time to sit on the porch and just relax, but our days are quite full. It's a busy time of the year here, the Garden is producing like mad (a good thing). I'll get back to writing regular posts just as soon as I can. Until then, please bear with us - our fingers are busy doing other things than typing, it seems! The Gman looked … [Read more...]