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Our vegetable garden seems to be growing before our eyes! Every day there is something new to see or taste.

For a while now, we have been snacking on plump pods full of sweet green peas, and little woodland strawberries. At mealtimes we are enjoying lots of tasty vegetables from the garden. These are the tastes we dreamed of as we saved our pennies for the purchase of some land, and as we dug garden beds and hauled mulch and manure. The fruits of our first year’s harvest on the Farmlet bear the sweet taste of dreams realised. This food is fuelling us for more work in the garden, and firing us up to embark on further projects.

Squash down low, beans climb high

About a week ago, I dug our first potatoes of the season — a New Zealand heirloom variety called kowiniwini. After putting some of the potatoes aside to take to my parents, we used the rest to cook a special meal, made almost entirely from ingredients grown here on the Farmlet: Potatoes, zucchini, sugarsnap peas, green beans, green onions, and dill. We sauteed the vegetables in butter made here on the Farmlet using fresh cream from a nearby farm. The salt and pepper came from the shops! As time goes on, we hope to be eating many more meals comprised almost entirely of food grown on the Farmlet.

Harvest meal

We were delighted to be able to supply new potatoes for the family Christmas dinner yesterday, as well as green beans and zucchini. Being able to share good things from the garden with family and friends made this Christmas extra special and joyful for us. We wish you all the very best this festive season.

Happy Solstice (Summer or Winter, wherever you may be)!

We planted our garlic six months ago atop rows full of semi-fresh fish guts. If you doubt the power of fish guts, the garlic we harvested is two to three times the size of the seed garlic we started out with! (And no, this is not elephant garlic/leek.) Some of them look like medium sized onions!

I knew, in theory, that growing garlic should be easy, but neither Becky nor I had ever tried to grow it. There’s nothing quite like making it happen for real! We both had a sense of great accomplishment as we pulled these precious bulbs out of the soil.

Becky and I stood there, looking at our bounty. I couldn’t believe it, actually. This is the best garlic I’ve ever seen and this was just our first try! Our cows were looking back at us from up in the paddock—probably wondering what all the excitement was about—and I could hear our goatlings bleating happily away nearby. I had a sense of well being that was so deep and profound that I don’t ever recall having such an experience in the past.

Garlic as religious experience? Hmm… 😉

Well, enough yammering about it. Here’s an extra big picture to make your mouth water:

Harvesting heirloom garlic

We’ve read several theories about drying and preserving methods for freshly harvested garlic. What do you guys think: Take the roots off, or leave them on? If you take them off, when?

I planted lots of chamomile around our vegetable garden this spring, on the assumption that it would make a good companion plant. It does seem to be doing well at attracting bees and other beneficial insects. We think the chamomile is a very pretty addition to the garden.

Harvesting chamomile flowers

The main reason why we planted chamomile is so that we can make our own chamomile tea. I have begun to harvest the flowers and dry them. Harvesting the flowers takes a bit of patience, but it’s a beautiful job. The scent of the chamomile is wonderfully calming. I hope that even in the middle of winter we will be able to enjoy cups of tea flavoured with these lovely spring flowers.