My Garden – Mon Jardin – Mi Jardin – Mein Garten – Daily Adventures & Thoughts

No matter the language, my garden is my paradise. To watch the lovely birds that nest in the trees and bushes. The bees, butterflies are such a joy to see.

Tag Archives: garlic bulbs


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Friday, July 12, 2013

Busy times for everyone at this time of the year.  Watering our gardens, ensuring that all of our veggie plants are growing well.

Me .. well .. I’ve harvested my garlic crop.  I think that I dug them up a few weeks early, but that’s where the impatient side of my personality kicked in!  The garlic cloves that I’d planted so carefully last October, in neat little rows had fun moving around during the fall, winter and spring.  Sometimes there were 3 garlic bulbs growing together.  There was a variety of sizes, from small to medium to huge .. so that was all right!

Well .. look here .. what is this strange object in the midst of my garlic beds??

017Ok, I was having fun with the timer on our camera … hadn’t used it before and wanted to see what I looked like in my lovely garlic bed.  Don’t ask how many times I had to reset the camera and run back and quickly look relaxed .. oh, it was fun.

Our Mr. Duncan is the epitome of cool and I recently watched him as he sauntered up the back stairs. .. note the flaring ears as I called to him .. hey, Mr. D ….

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whaaaaat …… I’m busy .. lady.

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I’m babysitting some plants for a friend and was quite upset a few weeks ago, when this lovely specimen was nearly a goner.  You can’t tell by this photo .. but I’d not watered this plant for a while and was sickened to see that most of the leaves were brown and crinkly.  I watered with a liberal dose of EM and look here .. magic!

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My lovely garlic crop, nearly all dug up …21

Garlic placed on makeshift work tables (2 work tables with framed lattice in between …resulting in a lot of space to work with.  And I found an easy braiding recipe and will share those photos next time.  They look rustic and I’m quite proud of them.

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Random beauty . .a surprise flowering rocky rose

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A surprise little beetle .. looks like a ladybug .. alights on a garlic ..

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It was walking for miles on its tiny little legs .. quickly scurrying up garlic stems ..

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I watched as it travelled endlessly … and finally  it went to the ground.  A huge universe open for adventures … one that is hidden from my eyes ..

11And then … far far away …

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I had set the sprinkler on at the back of the yard .. left it and later on heard the joyous chirps of the Bush-tits and Chickadees …  quietly went over and tried to see what was going on, what were they doing?  So difficult to see them in all this greenery.

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Look .. the tiny little darlings were having a fantastic time .. showering in the tiny drops of water .. grooming themselves .. I was able to take a few photos …what a wonderful time they were having …made me smile and feel happy too!

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Lovely little darlings, aren’t they …its moments like this that adds a big sparkle to the magic of gardening …

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Well .. that is just a tiny bit of what has been going on in my life … and so I am donning my gardening costume, brewing another cup of tea and racing outside, to make some bamboo climbers for my Cannelloni beans to grow up against.

Out into the sunshine …

🙂


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Enjoying the wonders of the skies as I toil in the garden .. eye candy for the gardener!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

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Basking in the warmth of the sun, I find myself out in the garden again.  Only this time, for the past few days, I’ve been busy, busy, busy.

Pruning the buddleia’s that have been taking over the sidegarden.

Pulling out the annuals that reseed themselves year after year, claiming nearly every inch of the garden beds.

Clipping, bagging and transporting the superfluous garden branches etc.

Joy at finding garlic bulbs that were growing, hidden away among the plants.  These I will dry and replant in the fall.

Taking lots of time to just look up at the sky.   Feeling much happiness at the ever-changing vistas .. cheering me up constantly.

Listening to the tiny chirps of the chickadees, nuthatches and bushtits as they cavort around the yard.

Cavort .. not a word I would usually associate with these tiny birds, but they do seem to be to be such little sprites of cheerfulness.  They really brighten up my world and I am so glad they visit.

The bushtits seem like little whorls of energy, filling the trees with their twittering sounds as they gather together on the branches before flitting away to visit another yard.

And the chickadees .. the yard will be quiet, until, suddenly, I hear the little nasal chirps .. seeming to say “I’m here .. I’m here”.  They are so sweet.  And smart.  When the bird feeder is empty, they will tap their tiny beaks against the sides of the feeder as if to say .. “hey up .. this needs refilling”!

I’ve been noticing the variety of leaf shapes in the garden also.  Tomorrow I’ll post the pics I took yesterday.  There are reasons why nature has chosen the shapes she has for the many food plants.  I don’t know the why’s and wherefores, but, perhaps, something else to study up on.

Yesterday, being so hot .. I spread out some containers of dried seaweed … to dry them out further so I could crumble them up and thus take up less space in the downstairs area.

Then, finally, time for the 5 yards of Miracle Mulch to arrive … and so for a few hours last night, I spent the time filling up wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow .. taking each load to the side yard, to topdress the bare garden soil.   This lovely mixture can also be used in the veggie garden .. which is lovely.  I know that the 5 years will quickly disappear ….as I carefully spread it around on all of the sidegardens.   Lovely to look at and perfect for retaining the moisture in the soil.  And .. no tree bark .. just fine branches, leaves and twigs.

So .. that will be my day today .. all day . .shovelling and moving the mulch.

Time to get started, methinks!


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Friday arrives and with it ….besides some shopping . .I’ve been playing with the garlic in the garden, yum, yum

Friday, June 1, 2012

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So .. the end of the week has arrived, so quickly.  Many things to do  .. errands … before I can allow myself to play in the garden.

Out and about, recycling all set out … shopping .. it’s been awhile since I’ve just randomly gone out shopping for this and that .. from a list.   And I re-discovered that it was a lot of fun.  Spoke with a variety of people.  Enjoyed the positive energy of some very helpful sales clerks in some stores.

Some people just bring a shine to your day and that is what I found today!  Positive attitudes and so very helpful .. so many of us start off that way and along the way, the lustre just disappears.  For whatever reason.  I’ve worked hard to keep mine polished, though!  Just feels so much better to me.

London Drugs at McKenzie & Quadra was a good example.  I was looking for a pressure cooker on sale and the lovely cashier searched and found the one & verified the cost against the flyer.  Now, how many employees would even take the time to do that?

And then, Home Depot at Colwood .. another bright energized young lady was ever so helpful when I was looking for, first .. plant pot saucers .. and then, when I was looking for some unusual vegetable plants, well, she led me to the section with Bok choy .. and chose a lovely 6-pack of this vegetable.   As I spoke to the cashier, I discovered that the energized person had just started work there this week.   Keep that positivity going …..

So, finally, at home.   Eventually, to the garden.

Moved all the potted up garlic starts over to the “garlic bed” .. and began to plant them.    Then, when I’d planted  .. maybe .. 30 or so .. I looked again at the garlic bulbs planted up in tubs and thought .. well, the root systems are so intermingled .. why don’t I just leave them bo .. for the summer .. and so I did that.

I must admit that I’ve become quite enamored of garlic.  All that magic power from a simple bulb, culminating in a vigorous growth of strong green stems and finally a lovely fat garlic bulb!   And … ta da .. yesterday I clipped some garlic scapes .. . omg .. so delicious and so garlicy.

Tonight I made some garlic scape pesto (many recipes online) and then mixed up some almond kale chips, adding lots of garlic and the scapes.

I found out that the hardneck garlic grows scapes and so I’ll leave the rest of the scapes to grow into longer lengths.  Then I’ll clip them and will either make pesto or perhaps I’ll just freeze them to make into various recipes later on.

As usual, I’ve walked around the yard, taking photos of the developing flowers .. enjoying the changing conditions of the yard.  So much beauty.

Tomorrow I’ll share my latest plants and also how I’ve reshaped a little section of the yard, using boards, bricks, hay, Alpaca manure, compost and all the lovely things one can add to a garden.

It’s been a fun day!