See you in the Spring!

Thank you all for your support, your feedback and smiling faces. This is what keeps me going!
I will be planting my garlic from mid-October to Thanksgiving. Then I will go through my mail pile, clean the house, see the dentist, get ready for Christmas and start again in January getting ready to seed plants.
I will sell lots of salad starters, "salad bowl" planters and basil and pepper plants from April to June.

Garlic Information and Color codes for Oct 2, 2010

• Inchelium Red- A softneck variety that is excellent for roasting.   One of the best-tasting softneck garlics with a mild,lingering flavor. Stores to Jan   RED       

• Chesnok Red- Excellent-tasting hard neck garlic, originally from the Republic of Georgia.  One of the best baking and sauteeing garlics. Stores through Dec.           PINK

• German Extra Hardy- Great sliced raw, an addictive garlic taste, with full flavor. Big, easy to peel cloves. Excellent in red sauce: put in at end of heating. Will keep through Oct. or Nov.  BLUE

• Persian Star- Spicy, exotic, and very flavorful. Try on salads, in dips or in pesto. Great with green beans and veggies! Slice thinly  and serve on crackers. Originally from Uzbekistan. Stores through December.       GREEN

• Shantung Purple- Extra-flavorful chinese softneck has 6-8 beautiful rose and beige cloves. Cook for a strong earthy flavor, or eat raw for a fiery heat you won’t forget! Sprouts in November, stays firm til January  PURPLE

• Chicago Italian- A great-tasting garlic with a spicy aftertaste when sliced raw.  Perfect for dips, pesto and   garlic bread (see back). Nutty and smooth when cooked.  Easy to peel. Stores thru October.   YELLOW

Last Day for WeeBee Farms is October 2nd!

There is still some garlic left this Saturday. I will be selling a lot of Jumbo Size heads of German Extra Hardy, which I had saved to plant, but don't have enough room for. These are $1.75 each. Buy them to eat or plant. I will also have some Inchelium Red which stores til January and Chesnok Red- the best garlic to saute with. I have a few Shantung purple which is very spicy and pungent, some variety bags and $5 bags of smaller heads.

German Extra Hardy is named for it's ability to grow well in cold temperatures. Last winter it got down to 17 below in December here, and it grew better than ever- with the help of a lot of snowpack and good moisture. It's my overall favorite garlic- as many of you know- because I eat it raw on crackers (sliced very thin) or for pesto, hummus, or mixed with Avocado. It's also perfect for fresh tomato sauce, put in at the end.
This garlic has huge cloves and is very easy to peel- which makes it a shorter storing garlic. It's best to plan on eating it before November.

Planting

Check out the planting instructions below.

Use Our Garlic For Planting!

Plant garlic in mid-October (earlier for high elevations.) Select largest cloves from largest bulbs.

How To Plant- Plant in good enriched soil in full sun. Separate cloves, plant each clove 2 to 2 1/2” deep, and 5” to 7” apart, with the pointy end up. Use only large cloves. Don't worry if the cloves are soft or have no skins. Mulch 2” to 4” with straw or grass clippings (no herbicides or pesticides.) Water very well after planting- we water for several hours.

Care & Feeding- Fertilize green shoots 2-3 times in March to May with fish emulsion or other high nitrogen fertilzer. Water well in late February and throughout Spring unless we have a wet winter. Keep well-watered in May & June. For hardnecks clip central seed stalk (called scapes) when they make a loop, or shortly afterwards (usually in June.)
You will usually see the green leaves poking up in February or March.

Harvest- Dig up when half of the leaves are brown, usually June 25- July 10. Shade immediately. Hang or put on ventilated shelves for 3 weeks to “cure”. They must have good air circulation and shade.

How To Store- Store at room temperature or cooler, out of direct sunlight. Cool basements and garages can work well for storage. The bulbs need air circulation, but storing in paper bags can keep them from drying out too much. Hardnecks generally store up to 5 months. Softnecks up to 9 months.

The Garlic is Selling Out Quickly- Last Market will be Sept. 25th or Oct 2nd

Seems like more and more people are catching on to the great flavor of fresh garlic and Labor Day weekend was crazy busy.
I am starting to run out of Chesnok Red and several other garlics, so if you want certain types to save for planting in October- this is the time to come.
Here's hoping for a nice weekend, with the fires completely out by Saturday.

Buckwheat Field

The garlic fields are rotated every other year. In between
garlic crops I plant Winter Rye, Oats and peas,
Buckwheat and other cover crops to improve soil quality and fertility

Rose de Lautrec Garlic

One of my favorite garlics, Rose de Lautrec (I call it French Rose) actually does not grow well in Colorado, since it prefers warmer climates. This year in particular it was really stressed out during the 17 below zero days we had in December. It had strange-looking bulbs with no cloves (like an onion) or turned into clumps of tiny bulbils. Although at my friend's garden in Boulder, where it's slightly warmer, hers did fine. So I am encouraging you to try growing it yourself from the little bulbils I've salvaged from it this year.

Use Our Garlic For Planting!

Garlic is fun and easy to plant in your home garden. It needs good garden soil, plenty of water and full sun. Prepare a plot now with some good quality compost, and start saving garlic to plant in October. The garlic we sell at market is good to grow here in Colorado. Anytime is good to stock up. Just store your garlic in a cool place in your kitchen - out of direct sunlight. Storing in a paper bag helps keep the moisture in, but lets it breathe.

August 21 Garlic List- See you Saturday!

• Inchelium Red- A softneck variety that is excellent for roasting.   One of the best-tasting softneck garlics with a mild,lingering flavor. Stores to Jan   RED       

• Chesnok Red- Excellent-tasting hard neck garlic, originally from the Republic of Georgia.  One of the best baking and sauteeing garlics.Stores through Dec.           PINK

• German Extra Hardy- Great sliced raw, an addictive garlic taste, with full flavor. Big, easy to peel cloves. Excellent in red sauce: put in at end of heating. Will keep through Nov.  BLUE

The garlic is drying

Garlic Harvest Time- Back July 31st

It's time to harvest the garlic bulbs and then let them cure for 2-3 weeks- and perhaps squeeze in a little camping trip.
We'll be back at the end of July or first week of August with some great looking garlic bulbs.
Remember it's time to harvest your garlic when about 1/2 the leaves turn brown- including the lower ones that have fallen off already.

Pepper Plant Sale! Garlic curls are here!

Sweet Red and Yellow Bells, Sweet Italian, Pepperoncini, Poblano, Anaheim, Thai Hot, Bulgarian Carrot Chile and so many more...

We will have beautiful, healthy pepper plants for $2 each this weekend (the 2 1/2" size). If you can find room for 5 in your garden they will cost you only $9. It's not too late! And, we have some big healthy peppers available in larger pots for $4.

Garlic "Curls" (officially known as scapes) are ready. There will be lots and lots- bring your own bag and we charge $1 for a handful. They are only available this weekend and next weekend. What to do with them? Chop them and sautee lightly in olive oil, serve over pasta, mixed with veggies, in eggs, beans, tomato sauce. Or, chop them raw and mix with egg salad, potato salad, hummus, green salad or salsa. Try grilling them on the grill, too. Store in the fridge and they will keep about 3 weeks.

Does your father like basil? Consider getting him a ceramic pot with Karen's favorite type of basil- Dwarf Greek- for $6.50. This basil is the very sweetest, is easy to grow, and can sometimes overwinter on your windowsill when summer is over.

Creekfest Craziness, Squash, Peppers and Cucumbers

Come from 8am to Noon- We are at the far South End, Near Abbodanza

Saturday May 29th Creekfest will be near and around the Farmer's Market. Creekfest is usually a very crazy day but I will be there selling vegetable plants from 8am to noon. At noon is when the "corndog crowd" takes over, the noise levels get too high for my ears and I pack up my van and walk away from the crowds to a quieter place.

I will be bringing lots of warm-weather vegetable plants: Zucchini, Straightneck summer squash, Cucumber plants (Lemon, Muncher, English and Pickling) Some pepper plants, Tomatoes (Patio, Carmello, Sunray, Sungold and more), Basil (Profumo, dwarf greek and Tulsi)

I am phasing out the cool weather plants, but will have a couple of salad bowls, some lettuce, kale and chard.

Please come early on Saturday to beat the crowds. My spot will be at the far South end, on the East side, 2 stands up from Abbodanza

Lettuces Galore!

Come by on Saturday, April 17th to see the colorful lettuce starts we'll have for you to plant in your garden. I have Romaine (Freckles, Parris Island Cos, Crisp Mint, Red Romaine, Rouge d'hiver), Butterheads and much more. (See the list below of all the lettuces and descriptions)

Salad Bowls! It's just the right weather to have one of these on your deck before the heat hits. Remember that lettuce can take a lot of cold- 20 degrees is fine for them, but heat and full sun can make them bolt quickly and turn bitter.

Peas! Caley will be selling pea plants after 10am. We have 7 varieties of Shelling and Snap Peas including "Tom Thumb" an heirloom from the 1800's that grows well in small containers. You can bring these to the table to use as a centerpiece- let your guests eat them right from the plant!

Garlic! We will have a little bit of garlic, too. Some bags of small cloves for Spring planting of garlic greens, and a few leftover heads for eating or planting. The big crop won't be harvested until July, and is about 4 inches high now.

2010 Spring lettuces from WeeBee Farms
	Australian Yellow	looseleaf	tasty, bright yellow/green
S	Bronze Arrowhead	looseleaf	Gorgeous, taste test winner
	Buttercrunch	butterhead	very sweet and crunchy
S	Canasta	crisphead	red tinged, very sweet
	Crisp Mint	romaine	compact, upright, excellent flavor
S	Flame	looseleaf	taste test winner, heat tolerant
S	Freckles	romaine	a favorite!
S	Grandpa Admire’s	butterhead	mild, tender heirloom, takes heat

Salad Bowls

See you April 17th!

It's been a longer winter than usual- the garlic poked up January 29th last year, and not til March 1st this year. It looks good, so far.
I've been busy seeding plants in the basement, to get ready to sell starting on April 17th.
I will have lots and lots of salad bowl planters, lettuce, kale, chard and other yummy greens for you to plant in your gardens or planters. Caley is 7 now, and has become quite the businessman; always thinking of things he can grow and sell at the market. He plans to have some pea plants to sell in April, some Kitty grass and some eggs from our chickens.
I will have a little bit of garlic for Spring planting. Mostly small cloves to plant in groups to harvest for Spring Greens. You sprinkle the cloves in the garden, cover with about an inch of soil, and water. You can harvest the green shoots several times before they run out of steam. These are great in soups, eggs, salads- everything!