Last year garlic

I can't remember what happened to the garlic during our first year of growing, however, I do remember the second year. We had a bountiful harvest. After giving some away, there were still plenty left and we weren't able to finish them before they turned bad. So around spring time I guess, quite a number of garlic bulbs had turned into dark brown colour. For some reasons, they didn't sprout, but the clove had become so hard and dry that it was quite impossible to cut. They ended up in the compost. ;(

Last year was our third year of garlic growing. As of now, they are still in good shape. The picture shows the remaining garlic that we harvested last year. Aren't they still pretty looking? And tasty also. So what had we done differently last year? Well, I guess we cured them in the open air under the patio longer than last year. That's it! We'll do it again this year!

hanging tomato plant

Yes, finally we're giving it a try. The roma (Bush) is going up. We always want to try the hanging style, but we prefer growing things in the ground. However, the backyard is getting pretty crowded this year, with the garlic occupies quite a bit and the leftover leeks from last year also. There is not much space left on the patio either. Naturally, we've moved into the sky...

I've also started some seedlings and put the seedling trays in the cold frame on the patio: cucumber, gai lan and wild arugula.

Today's temperature: high 16C, low 5.8C

Sowing

This week is supposed to be rainy and cloudy with chances of sun...sounds like a perfect timing for seed sowing:

Beets (seeds from last year):Early wonder tall top
Snow pea (Mr. Big from last year):
Veg Gin (Gai Lan): I didn't know that West Coast seeds carries this one. So I'm giving it a try!
Carrots: Bolero and Flyaway
Wild Arugula
Radishes: French Breakfast
Mesclun Blend (from last year)

We also got some tomato plants from Mark's mom.
She got the seeds from her UK's trip and started the seeds in her greenhouse. I've planted three of the six (cherry, blood, apero).
The rest are stayed in the coldframe on the patio for now.

The carrot seeds that were sown last month were sprouted for quite a while. Unfortunately, they didn't last long. As I was trying to see how the progress was, I couldn't find any of them at all. Guess they became the meal of the unwelcome insects. So frustrated. We'll have to set up something when the new sown seeds start to sprout.

An update from the potato front: the black fabric got pushed up by the strong potatoe plants. They do grow fast! Time to unveil the patch. The plants are beautiful. Meanwhile, some smaller potatoe plants are growing quietly in the potato bin. The potatoes must be self-seedlings themselves. I can't wait to see how many potatoes we get this year.

Planting potatoes

Mark got some potatoe seedlings from his mom. Since we are growing the garlic in the backyard this year, we decided to use the front patch as potato field. The patch has been in resting mode since the garlic harvest last year. After we planted the potatoes, we covered the patch with the black fabric again to avoid cats' visit.

Last week, we dug through our potato bin. This is all that we've found. I think Mark dug a few up at a time with his dinner throughout the year, so we never know how many potaotes there were in the bin. I do have a feeling that the yield isn't that impressive. Good experiment though.

Snow in March

As I look outside, I see snow covers everywhere and everything. It is still snowing.

We had a warm and sunny morning yesterday. However, the temperature started to drop in the afternoon. My neighbour said it felt like it is going to snow. He was right. It started at about 5.40pm and we were getting big snow flakes of about 3-5cm. After about half an hour, the snow stopped and the sun came out.

When we woke up this morning, it was snowing.

How will it affect the garlic? We'll see.

new crop

Today we planted broad bean seeds. We sowed some in the fall, they sprouted, but were killed by the harsh weather. I planted the seeds with the seam side up, hopefully that is where it starts.

On the garlic front, I took the fabric cover away on Feb 14. The picture here is taken today. We decided to grow the garlic in the backyard instead of the front this year. We haven't decided what we're going to grow in the front yet. Our front yard is frequent by people and their pets, so choosing what to grow over there is going to be difficult.


The mache are tiny little greens but they are strong enough
to put up with the tough winter without cover. I harvested some today for our salad.

Today's dinner (all produces are from our backyard):
roasted beets and parsnips
stir-fried carrots and frozen green peas
leek with homemade chicken stock
green salad

Mark is going to have sausage too. Ok, this is not homegrown, but locally made from a Italian grocery store. We also brought Parmigiano-Reggiano from this store and we're going to shave some on the green salad.

Backyard archaeologist

Today we decided to dig out some parsnips for weekday use. I know, it is better to pull them out right before cooking time. However, by the time we get back home during the week, it is already dark and we are tired, and we're not really in the mood to struggle in the backyard pulling out those goodies.

We put down the parsnip seeds around late spring/early summer last year. Yes, they survived the snow storm and new leaves started to come out again. (other veggies weren't that fortunate) When I removed the top soil, the huge crown was revealed, and it is such a beauty! I knew right away that it is going to be a struggle to take it out. In order not to break the root during the process, I carefully loosened and removed the soil bit by bit, twisted the parsnip a little, got rid of a little bit of soil, and repeated the process again and again, very very carefully.

As it turned out, the parsnip is 16" inches long and 4 1/2 in diameter. It is in fantastic shape! We also took out the two that were just adjacent to it. Oh yes, three huge yummy goodies! There are still two in the ground. We've left them in peace for now.



The chili seedlings have been sitting by the kitchen window for about a month now. The growth rate has slowed down dramatically after they sprouted. We have noticed aphids on them. What a drag! Since they are too fragile to be sprayed with stuff (like soapy water), we simply use our fingers to remove them. Of course, they come back; and we keep removing them.

This picture was taken on Feb 14. As of now, they look more or less the same, except that there are these unwelocming inhabitants.