Looking back on the last couple of weeks, I’ve come to see this part of the season as a major pivot point in my gardening year. Two major crop groups have experienced season ending harvests. In the legume family, we harvested and pulled the last of the peas. In their place, we planted beans, one row of French Green Beans (Haricot Vert) to enjoy fresh and four rows of beans for drying.
The other major plant group to experience this transition were the root crops, specifically, Allium crops such as garlic, shallots and onions. This process is still taking place, one variety at a time. First, it was the garlic harvest. Then, the Walla Walla onions. This week I harvested the shallots. The Red Onions are starting to exhibit their readiness for harvest. In another week or two, the yellow storage onions will need to be harvested. I’m feeling lucky that these harvests are about a week apart.
Harvesting the Shallots
This week I pulled out all of the shallots and left them out to cure. We grow them because our daughter-in-law is allergic to onions. Shallots don’t seem to bother her at all, so we try to have some on hand. We are planning to visit Lauren, Justin and Vivienne soon, so I will bring them a nice bag of organically grown shallots.
Starting Leaf Crop Seeds for Fall Harvest
When I first started gardening, I would start seeds at the beginning of the season and that was it. Now, it seems that I’m always starting something, either in the ground or in soil blocks. The technical word for what I do now is “succession planting”. Every year my goal has been to extend the season as long as possible. This week, I started lettuce, cabbage, kale, frisee and bulb fennel seeds in soil blocks. I moved the tray indoors where I have more control over the environment, especially heat.
Starting The Fall Carrots in the old Garlic Patch
Now that the garlic has been harvested, there is a large void in the garden. We can’t have that, right? I planted carrots and golden beets in that space. Standard operating procedure these days is to use pelleted seeds. They are so much easier to handle, so planting goes much faster; my ancient legs appreciate that. Seeds are planted 1″ apart in rows 12″ apart.
Harvesting – What It’s All About
When it comes to food, fresh is best. That’s why I garden. I love to eat good food, simply prepared, enjoyed fresh. Here, in pictures, is what we are currently eating:
This post is making me hungry. Here’s hoping that your garden is doing well. I would love to hear from you. How’s your garden doing?
All the best,
Greg Garnache
