So many things going on this week but two things were the
highlights. First, being able to harvest
the last of my Purple Dragon Carrots and second was harvesting my Red Chesnok garlic.
I sowed my seeds for the “Seeds of Change” organic Purple Dragon
Carrots in the middle of March. This was
about a month before any summer crops were ready to plant where I live (Zone 8). Our last frost date is April 15, even though
we didn’t see much frost at all this spring or winter. I harvested on June 20, 2012, about a week
after the package said maturity would be.
This variety of carrot is a fun change from the standard orange carrots
we all grew up on. The outside color is
purple and the inside has a ring of orange and a yellow center. I find they are very crispy and have a very
sweet flavor. I actually used them to
bake carrot bread. The recipe I used was
in the June issue of Yoga Journal magazine but the web has tons of similar
recipes. One thing I loved about growing
carrots was THERE WERE NO PESTS, which is so rare in gardening.
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| Me with my Purple Dragon Carrots |
The other highlight was harvesting my 18 heads of Chesnok
Red garlic. It’s a hardneck so I harvested its scapes a few weeks ago and
harvested the bulbs this week. I got
these bulbs along with 3 varieties of softnecks from Seed Savers Exchange. My softneck varieties include Broadleaf
Czech, Lorz Italian and Inchelium Red. I
am still drying my softnecks and have added my hardnecks to the mix. They are hanging in my dining room with a fan
blowing on them. I am enjoying the smell
of garlic in my kitchen/dining area. It
smells yummy even when I am not cooking.
My bulbs are a little small but I think it’s because I had to transplant
them in April to plant my summer veggies.
I now know how long these guys will take from planting to harvest so I
have a designated spot for them this November where they won’t have to be
transplanted mid-season.
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| Chesnok Red garlic drying |
If you have great recipes for garlic scapes, garlic, carrots
or anything else that is currently in season, please share. Also, let us know what is going on in your
garden this week.
See ya in the garden!
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