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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Fall Harvest

I love living here, but there's a few things I miss, like a nice vegetable garden.  Living in an almost-desert at 6,880' elevation and with howling winds, gardening is a challenge.  This year I decided that perhaps an underground vegetable like potatoes would do better than the pitiful tomatoes, etc, I've grown.  Here is my entire fall harvest -
The only thing that grew halfway well for me was an accidental garlic.  Being too cheap to throw a withered old clove away, I shoved it into the veggie bed, and I'll be darn, it grew.  It didn't produce a nice big bulb, but it grew.  So this year I decided to try garlic.  As a long-time reader of The Skoog Farm Journal, I know that garlic is planted in the Fall.  I prepared my garden bed, and off to the local garden supply store I went.  The clerk told me that they didn't have garlic just yet because the soil was too warm for planting, but they would have it Friday.  So back I went Friday, and selected one of each of their hardneck (cold weather) varieties.  And I picked up their handout, "How to Grow Great Garlic", for evening reading.  Imagine my surprise when I read "Plant your garlic cloves in autumn allowing 4-6 weeks of growing before a hard freeze."  What???  We don't have 4-6 weeks of growing before a hard freeze.  We don't have 4-6 days
I've planted my garlic, but I don't exactly have hope in my heart for a bountiful harvest.  I'm guessing my garlic harvest will resemble my potato harvest. 

12 comments:

Lori Skoog said...

It's not your fault! It's where you live...trust me. Ha ha ha! That photo is priceless.

fromsophiesview said...

Now that would make a mighty hearty potato salad, now wouldn't it...NOT! Too funny Terry...we haven't grown much in the passed years because of rot and disease...I've got my fingers crossed for the garlic!
Ron

Jim said...

LOL! This looks like my green bean harvest this year!
I grew garlic here for a few years and had great success. Just a suggestion....cover the garlic cloves once they are planted with a good amount of straw....this should protect them until that hard frost hits and also give them a chance to grow a little before winter.
I LOVE that photo of those very lonely potatoes!!

Calm, Forward, Straight said...

Mmmmm - nouvelle cuisine! ;D

Is there any way you could build a cold frame? Maybe attached to the south side of a building? I use salvaged old windows layed over a raised wooden bed. Straw or some other deep mulch is a good suggestion too.

Mary said...

Your potatoes are hysterical! Good luck with the garlic...

Dreaming said...

Thanks for providing some comic relief after a long, tiring day! I loved your harvest. I'm so sorry.... gardening is so awful here. And this year, it was so darn hot, on top of everything else.

Oak Creek Ranch said...

I've had harvests like that! Your picture made me laugh. I've had mixed results with garlic. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. Keep trying stuff. Something has to work!

Alison said...

Oh look, micro-potatoes! That will be the new trend, I'm sure. I hope your garlic does well; it's been the easiest crop I've ever grown. You just ignore it for 6 months! Even if you don't get big bulbs, it's still mighty tasty compared to supermarket garlic.

Kate said...

Oh my god those potatoes are hysterical! You get an A+ for effort.

sonia a. mascaro said...

I hope you have good luck with the garlic...
I don't cultivate vegetables here too. There are around many hungry ants that eat all my vegetables and I give up for now...

Anne said...

Well, you tried, my Dear!
Hugs,
Anne

allhorsestuff said...

Yes! What Christian said! Raised beds, with an A frame window treatment, soaked hoses!
Whoa, those are lows, Burrrr!
Your bounty of 3 spurs cracked me up!