Good afternoon veggie lovers!
We harvested all the garlic today, a little over 4,000 bulbs. It looks fabulous!
This is the first year we mulched it, and the first time we fertilized it (with an organic dried chicken manure) the spring after planting. The mulch meant that even with extensive drought, and serious heat, we only needed to irrigate it once, and we only had to weed it once instead of the usual 4 or 5 times. The extra fertility is likely responsible for so us having so many gorgeously hefty bulbs.
Some of you may be wondering when the new potatoes will be ready. Well let me take you on a bit of a potato journey...
Last year our normal organic potato supplier, Homestead Organics, went bankrupt. We scrambled to find another option, as it's a challenge to source organic spuds. We found a place in Alberta and they shipped our potatoes through Canada post. At least they tried. One box of 4 showed up and then nothing for two weeks (thanks COVID). When they did arrive they were rather pungent.
By the time we got replacements and planted them we were behind schedule. Once they did sprout, then began the great potato beetle attack of 2020. These bugs are relentless, but luckily Brian is too, and he valiantly scouted, and squished, then when they became more numerous, shook them into buckets for a watery demise.
All this to say: the potatoes are coming, they actually look great, they'll just be a little late this year. We'll dig some test hills for dinner this weekend (a farmers version of job "benefits"), and hope to pop them into your boxes starting in early August.
That's all for now folks, happy eating until next time.
Tamara
