thursday already?

What a beautifully cool, rainy night. One that existed solely for sleeping.
I did. Deeply.

Woke to more rain. Close to 2" all told.



We convened in the front barn and took inventory. Seems we had quite a bit left over from Tuesday's distribution. Loads ready for harvesting though.
In the office we mulled over options for the day (including starting late in the afternoon as the rain was supposed to continue until then).
We settled on capping and cleaning more garlic.



Good rainy day work. And if the rain were to cease (which it did), we could get right to harvesting.

By the time the rain stopped we had been joined by Martha and Judy (good thing we chose to work). So, with the rest of the morning we harvested Leeks and Red Onions. Harvesting Leeks is a cross between harvesting Scallions and Onions. You pull them from the ground gently as you would a bunch of Scallions. Shake the dirt from the roots making sure to do so away from other allium plants as moisture/soil falling in between the layers can lead to rot. Remove an outer leaf or two for cleanliness (like scallions) and the remaining leaves are chopped to an arrow shape like onions.



Need a very sharp knife for this one. Wash gently and place in bin for storage.

The red onions are harvested and washed just like the others (except more beautifully... says me).









Lunch was up next. Which reminds me, I had Okra for the first time last week. Just like Purslane it has a mucilaginous texture inside which I think may be a turnoff for some. I quite like it. Very healthy for you.

After lunch we harvested some 330 Summer Squash/Zucchini (3 beds in use right now). Once the plants start producing, the fruit are ready every 2-3 days. Full grown too!! Amazing. Gotta get them while they're 8-14" inches. Much tastier than when they blow up to baseball bat size... and they do.

We moved on to cabbage afterward. (nts: Tendersweet, Farao, Super Red have fared well).



While we have 3 active Beet beds, we decided it best to hit the one in Y as they've yet to be fully thinned. But before we bunched them, we picked beans as they were just getting a little too big for comfort. Glad we did. They taste great. Another day or two and they would've gotten tough and flat-tasting.
Beets were right after.

With the day done and my clothes matted with dirt, water, sweat and onion juice, it was indeed shower time. Thank goodness for running water, eh? Much better and ready for tomorrow.

Oh yeah, wanna see the 3 Sisters Field?? I do.



















Oooooo. And this at sunset. I mean.. really.



Dig.