Greetings! I hope everyone is thoroughly enjoying this beautiful weather. Day after day is so perfect and bright and shimmering!

I just wanted to announce that there are still some spaces open in our "Building a Sustainable Herbal Apothecary" course, which starts this Saturday, September 28th!

Our first class session will be focusing on cleansing and detoxifying and building liver and digestive tract health through herbs. We'll be discussing not only which herbs work well, but also how to grow them and how to store and utilize them as medicines and foods.

Here is more detailed info on the course:

Building a Sustainable Herbal Apothecary 5 Session Course  

Registration form and Pay Pal options are also on our Workshop Webpage!

NOTE: If you want to register for the course, please send me an email (info@midsummerfarm.com) and let me know (because the class starts in 2 days, you can bring your registration form and check with you on Saturday).

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Seed-Garlic Sale!

 
Our Fall Seed-Garlic Sale is
scheduled for:

Sunday, October 13th
from 9 am to 2 pm.

Seed-Garlic can also be purchased by appointment October 11th through 14th. Please email me (info@midsummerfarm.com) to arrange a day and time.

Plant each clove about 4-5 inches deep, and in mid-December, cover with another 1-2 inches of heavy leaf mulch or compost. (By waiting until mid-December, you allow the ground to be 'open' for sun and warmth.) Try to apply the mulch right before a rain in mid-December. The cloves should form good roots, and about 4-6 inches of green arial leaf part should grow before the weather gets too cold.

Hard Neck Varieties for we will have this year:  

Music - A beautiful medium hot flavored garlic. Porcelain variety with good storage.

Spanish Roja - One of our favorite Rocambole varieties. Classic rich garlic flavor.

German Red - A very spicy rocambole - vigorous and loves cold weather. Bright red wrapped cloves.

Metechi - This is the first time we're trying this porcelain variety - it is supposedly very large and beautiful with lost of purple striping.

Kilarney Red - This is also new for us, it one is known for its great growth despite cold and wet weather. It is rocambole variety, similar in flavor to the German Red, with salmon/peachy inner skins.

All varieties are the same price - sold in 1/4 lb packs for $7.00. I'll have some mixed packs as well.... And they are all certified organic.

Seed-Garlic is actually the same as Eating Garlic. If you come by the farm to purchase Seed-Garlic from us, you could also just eat it!  

You could actually plant the white garlic you buy at grocery stores too - although if they aren't organic, they may be sprayed with some sort of anti-sprouting agent. Also, the white bulbs at most grocery stores is a soft neck garlic variety, which are better grown in California. The hard necks grow better around here, and we get our seed garlic from certified-organic garlic growers.

PLANTING GARLIC   

We usually plant our garlic mid-October. It is a very simple process - put toes (or cloves) into a 4-5-inch-deep hole or ditch; position them root-side-down and pointy-sprout-side-up; cover with soil. Before winter is upon us and the ground freezes, you should have between 3" and 5" of green top showing above the ground. If you don't get much green, don't fret, they usually catch up in the spring anyway. If you dig the cloves up in a month or so, you'll find a large mass of healthy roots - that's what you want to get the garlic through the winter so it starts forming a large bulb early next spring.

No wild animals or birds will bother the garlic, but chickens will dig them up if they can get to them. Right around Thanksgiving, I like to check them, pile the soil up around them, and pat the row down. In mid-December, I cover them with about 1-2 inches of heavy leaf mulch or compost. I also like to check on the garlic a couple other times throughout the winter - if we get a lot of temperature fluctuation and not much snow, the toes may be heaved from the soil. If you find them heaved, and the soil is unfrozen, push them back in and pat the soil and mulch over them. The more root they establish in the fall, the less likely they will heave.

SIZE OF THE TOE  

Many people will swear that the bigger the toe, the bigger the resulting bulb. I really don't know. I don't bother planting the really small inner toes, as they are really not fully developed. So I only plant the mature outer toes with strong shells. And there are so many factors that influence growth throughout the course of the year, I really don't know if I've seen any true evidence that the bigger toes led to bigger bulbs....

 

SCAPES   

I would still plant garlic even if I never got bulbs. I adore the scapes you can harvest in June!  You only get scapes on Hard Neck garlic - the scape is the "hard neck" ...

In the spring, a tough round stem starts to grow from the center of each garlic you planted. This is the scape - it forms a fabulous curly cue and a small garlic bulb on the end. If you leave the scape on the garlic plant, it will form a mini garlic bulb on the scape and you can eat that mini bulb as you would a regular bulb of garlic. However it is small, and if the plant is allowed to grow that aerial bulb, it will feel finished with its reproductive cycle, and not bother with growing a big garlic bulb under the soil. So most garlic growers cut the scape off once it has curled.  

The scape is delicious!  It has a mild, fresh, green, garlic flavor that happens to go fabulously with other spring flavors like pea shoots, morels, nettles, and asparagus. I chop it up fine and lightly sprinkle in salads, and I chop them into 1/2 inch size pieces and sauté them. So I'm thrilled when I harvest the scapes; when I harvest the bulbs in the late summer, it is a total bonus!

And from a cut flower perspective - if you put a bunch of scapes in a heavy vase, they'll keep growing and twisting longer and longer, creating an amazing twirling display!

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THE GARLIC GROWING CALENDAR:

~Plant toes in Mid-Fall in a spot where they can overwinter safely.

~Around December 21st, apply mulch before a rainy day

~3rd week of April - get a head start on weed control!

~June - harvest your scapes!

~June 21st - All energy in the garlic plant switches to bulb growth. Leaves start dying down.

~After the Fourth of July - garlic is basically ready - not much more growth of the bulb will occur. When half the row is turning brown/yellow, then on the first set of nice dry days when the soil is dry, pull the garlic up. Don't wait too long, the papers start deteriorating if left in the ground too long.

~Each some fresh out of the ground, but cure most of your bulbs for storage by spreading or hanging in a open and dry area out of direct sunlight. This curing process develops the flavor distinctions between the varieties.

~Labor Day - peak flavor

~October - Replant toes for next year's garlic.
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SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS ON GARLIC   Garlic is a great companion plant for almost everything but peas and beans. (I usually plant all alliums away from peas and beans.) The only issue is that it is in its spot in the garden for a very long time, and you're planting it at a time when you're also cleaning up and putting in cover crops, so it becomes difficult to spread it around the garden. I usually plant my garlic all together in a single row that I can take care of easily. I then use onions and scallions that are planted in the spring, as companion plants, inter-planting them among the vegetable plants and flowers. (Note - you can also plant shallots now, same as you would garlic!)
 

Garlic also repels a lot of pests and is considered a super food - healthy and supportive for all animals and birds to eat.

I have been reading some very interesting things on making garlic tea sprays for preventing fungus and blights on vegetable plants like tomatoes and squash, which I am planning to try next year in case we have another super wet late summer. (I currently use a horsetail tea for that purpose, and it works well. But I'm thinking combining it with a garlic tea may make it even more effective.)

Garlic is different from most other alliums - one of the most dramatic is that it is safe to feed to your dog, despite the fact that onions are actually poisonous to dogs. But don't think that feeding your dog garlic, will keep mosquitoes, fleas, or ticks off the dog! That really is a myth. I think it may help keep bugs away to a degree from humans, but not from dogs. The garlic smell that would repel bugs, comes out in the perspiration ... humans can perspire from the entire skin surface, but dogs only perspire from their noses and pads on their paws. And note, if you're not sweating, then mosquitoes won't be repelled no matter how much garlic you consume each day!

But remember garlic is an important super food not just for repelling insects! Garlic has been celebrated as one of the most important medicines in the East and West for over 5,000 years. I can go and on listing all the fabulous effects it has on various ailments... 

Garlic as a super food - a nutrient dense element that can be added to the diet making the person consuming it healthier.

Garlic is addictive - the more you eat, the more you want - and you find yourself throwing more and more into everything you cook! Enjoy growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating it!  

And as the days get colder, I want to share my recipe for Garlic Broth - it not only delicious, but is a serious anti-bacterial tonic that I drink regularly to prevent colds and flues and is also very effective for treating almost any sort of infection.

I drink a warm cup a day to prevent a cold; and when I have a cold, I make a big pot and sip it continuously through out the day.

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RECIPE: Aigo Bouido (Garlic Broth/Tonic)

Adapted from an old Provençal recipe. This is a great anti-bacterial brew.

Ingredients:

6 cups of water

salt to taste

2-4 bay leaves

A couple sprigs of fresh sage

A spring of thyme

10-12 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp of Olive oil

slices of semi-dry French bread (OPTIONAL)

2/3 c of freshly grated gruyere/swiss or fontina style cheese (OPTIONAL)

Directions:

Combine water, salt, bay, sage, thyme, 2 tbsp of the Olive oil, and garlic in a large pot.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover with lid slightly ajar, and simmer at least 15-30 minutes. Discard herbs and pass broth and garlic through a sieve. I usually press the garlic against the sides of the strainer with a spoon and then scrape off the garlic mush into the broth. The more the better!

You can drink as is - or make it fancy (think French Onion Soup) by placing 2 slices of bread in each bowl, sprinkle a little Olive oil and grated cheese on each slice. And then reheat sieved broth, gently pour over the breads, and serve. If you're using it as a tonic in treating a cold or respiratory/sinus infection, do not add the cheese. The cheese, being a dairy product, will make any congestion or mucus worse!

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Fall 2013 Workshops at Midsummer Farm

Workshops at Midsummer Farm: Classes are taught from a strictly Holistic and Organic standpoint. Class size is kept small to ensure individual attention. Fees include all materials and supplies needed. Children are welcome; children under 5 are free. If more than one person from a single household is taking the workshop together, the second person may deduct $5 from the cost of the workshop. Many classes take place outside in the gardens and are weather-permitting. Participants must register in advance. Cooking classes are hands-on and tasting is encouraged. NOTE: times and dates of workshops are subject to change.

Soups and Broths Workshop

Backyard Organic Poultry Rearing Workshop

Making Homemade Dog & Cat Food Workshop

Making Herbal Salves, Ointments, and Lip Balms   

With a focus on organic, fair-trade, medicinal herbs and spices, we'll construct a variety of healing and soothing salves and lip balms. We'll also discuss different types of healing herbs, what they can do for us, and where to get them. You'll never want to be without a jar of Anti-itch salve made with white willow bark and plantain or Dry-skin healing Calendula salve made with self heal and chickweed once you see how fun they are to make and how effectively they work. Workshop takes place in the kitchen at Midsummer Farm |Cost is $48 | registration closes 10/18/13 

Making Homemade Dog & Cat Food Workshop

Making Great Vegetable Purees!

NEW!!! Using Herbs with your Pets Workshop

Saturday, November 9th 2013, 10 am - 12 noon
Natural Pet Rearing with a focus on using herbs as a way to naturally care for your cat or dog. We'll be discussing Herbs as Superfoods, Herbs for preventing parasites, Calming herbs, Anti-inflammatory herbs, Allergies and herbs, Skin problems and herbs, and more as well as an Herbal-based whole food supplement mix. Workshop takes place in the farm kitchen | Cost is $48 | Registration closes 11/6/13

Making Herbal Salves, Ointments, and Lip Balms   

Making Homemade Dog & Cat Food Workshop

If you haven't been to our farm yet, we're located at 156 East Ridge Road, Warwick, NY 10990. And welcome!   

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