Home Grown Ginger Root!

A garden is a pleasure. Fresh tomatoes in the summer, along with the usual cucumbers, squash, peppers, and plenty more and maybe a cantelope. Herbs all around. Baby lettuces, mustard and arugula nearly year round! But then there are the unusual things to grow that are great pleasures. Asparagus, Shallots, Garlic, Spring onions. How about Ginger! I use it in stir fry dishes but I may have to explore. Perhaps some ginger syrup for ginger ale.

This is the recently harvested plant out of the pot. The Ginger has been babied in a hot frame. A root section about this size was left in the pot to continue on. A close up of the harvest is also shown.

I store my ginger by freezing it and when it time for stir fry I scrape off what I need with a knife.

The shots were taken in my bed of garlic, which are coming along nicely. You have to plant garlic in the fall to get a good sized head.

Harvesting for the year

Summer has been hot but busy with projects inside and out. Tomato season is here and we are getting plenty to eat, and some to put up too. With tomatoes you need herbs for seasoning. I like to dry oregano, basil, thyme, and parsley for cooking year round. I collect the stems in bunches and hang them in my soundside gazebo for drying. It is shady with plenty of air circulation for good drying. That is where I dry my garlic and shallots as well.

Once dried I bring in the stems and strip off the leaves and bottle them up. It's so neat to pull your own herbs out of the spice drawer to season your tomato sauce, stews, pizza! etc.

My platter full of oregano leaves is more than plenty for a year of seasoning.

Garlic and Pearls

My test planting of the purchased garlic bulbs from Johnny's Seeds was a huge success. I bought a stiffneck variety, 6 heads, which gave me 27 new garlic heads. The heads are very large and I can't wait to try some after I finish off this last head of grocery store garlic in my kitchen. I will keep some for planting and perhaps try another variety next year as well.

My shot shows a few of the harvested heads along with a clump of pearl onions which was also a new try this year. The pearl onions did very well, they are intended for a few recipes of beef bourgignon but I will try them in a salad first.

Time to plant Garlic!

I have grown garlic for the past couple years, using my extra grocery store bulbs. Even so, the flavor and texture of what comes from my own garden soil are way better than the store bulbs.

This year I took the next step and purchased some "seed" garlic. This garlic is specially produced to plant. I chose a stiffneck variety called 'Music', 2 packages with three bulbs in a package. I got about 30 cloves (check out how nice and big the cloves are!) and planted them in a prepared raised bed.

The cost was about $1 per clove, so my experiment is pricey, but hopefully the results will be worth it.

Double duty

I love sunflowers. I have some super tall ones in my garden this year. They are so pretty and also serve the birds and bees and frogs in other ways. Here's one of the newer Cardinals that love to sample the seeds of a drying head. I have been questioned over putting flowers in the vegie garden, but I insist. I don't mind sharing a bit with the birds. Flowers brighten up the green space, attract the pollinators, and simplify some watering.

Plant Sitting

I'm plant sitting for a friend who didn't have time to get some things in the ground before vacation time. Well, it's been easy. We just set them in the vegie garden so the watering is automatic. Here is one that's bloomed (Echinacea) and it's so pretty that I am going to have to add it to my garden next year.

Blue Skies with Sunflower

I love sunflowers in the garden. This one is reaching way up into the blue.

Black eyed Susans

One plant last year gave us several plants this year. Saving seeds is an easy way to keep what you like. We save vegetable, flower and herb seeds.

Dragonflies

Dragonflies are everywhere. I think they have consumed all of the biting May flies. Sit outside and they will light on you, perhaps considering the adage "How do eat an elephant? One bite at a time!"

Lilies and Gardenias

My orange and yellow lilies are just opening. I think it's early, I remember late June as the time for these lilies. The garden is full of dragonflies (perhaps due to the May flies that were right on time!) The temperature is unusually hot. A cold front may allow us to open windows tomorrow (please! we are still painting!) The gardenias are blooming and they are fantastic for cutting and bringing inside. It just takes a few, the fragrance is so strong.

Bee on Lavender

Bumblebees are all over my lavender plant. The lavender plant has overtaken my sage so I need to replant/seed the sage in another spot. I've been busy spring cleaning and painting ... well, I'm cleaning ahead of the painting. It's a refresh of the home which is just what lavender gives us,a clean and somewhat soapy refreshing smell!

Squash Blooms

The squash plants are sure looking good this year. We are looking forward to fresh yellow crooknecks and green zucchinis. If you have a Joy of Cooking book handy, the recipe for zucchini casserole is delicious. I double the sauce to make it extra good.

Shortcut

A bumble bee takes a shortcut to the nectar of a torn Foxglove bloom. Usually the bee has to crawl way up into the bloom to get to the same spot. Foxgloves are perfectly designed for the bumble bee.

Sugar Peas

A shot of my sugar peas growing. I prefer Sugar Ann's but I believe these are Sugar Snaps. String the pod and cook it whole. I stir fry them in a bit of olive oil. I was introduced to the Sugar Ann's long ago by the late owner of Aggie, the famous highway horse. This was back when she had a little highway stand. I stopped for strawberries but got a bag of peas and a cooking lesson on the peas as well. I was hooked! I believe her recipe included a bit of garlic in the pan and although I love garlic I love these peas nice and clean. They are even good raw in a salad. I eat them standing in the garden. Thank you MQ!

Lilies and Hippeas

A crush of lilies and red streaked hippeastrums in my garden. The pitchfork is not for them, just left after a daffodil thinning.

Pretty Hippea

One of my hippeastrums, isn't this a beauty? The bloom is huge! I have had this one for quite a time. It was a gift from a former neighbor as a thank you for feeding the cat when they were traveling. My dogs came along on the walk over and were trained to not chase the cat (good dogs!). The cat was treated to some cooked fish on occasion and purred its pleasure back at us. The flower is a reminder of those days.

Foxglove up Close

The spires of the Foxglove are reminiscent of fairy tales. Here's a closer look at the blooms. I read somewhere that blooms were perfectly designed for bumble bees. It looks like the bees fit right in (wide body blooms). We certainly depend on the bumble bees for pollination of our vegetable garden, so anything to make them happy is great. I love the speckles on the inner flower.

Peonies in my Garden

A glimpse of my Peonies. They are mostly closed heads and I love them at this point. Nice ball shaped flower heads with a touch of the fuschia bloom color reach for the sunlight. One has started to open. It will expand to dinner plate dahlia size. The foxglove and roses fill out the view.

Neon Orange Calendula

Wow, what a pop of color! This herb, Calendula, has edible flower petals. I love the color. It has overwintered well outside in a large pot.

Arugula Seed Pods and Sprouts

Arugula seeds form in pods along the stems of the plant. You can see the little green pods here. They will dry and turn brown and spill out lots of tiny seeds. And with those seeds you will get the sprouts of new plants. This herb does very well in our area. I just noticed the wonderful graphic detail on the underside of the flower petal (near center of top photo). It's very art deco!