Gardening in a Kilt (Buzz Kidder Canvas)

[BoldHighlander]

The garlic is growing well. I've got regular garlic and elephent garlic out there.

My grandfather always grew the largest elephant garlic I ever saw. He always sent some to me via family members. He passed away this past September....this spring will be the first in that I can remember that there won't be any elephant garlic coming up from him

[Bugbear]

My grandfather always grew the largest elephant garlic I ever saw. He always sent some to me via family members. He passed away this past September....this spring will be the first in that I can remember that there won't be any elephant garlic coming up from him

Well... It's not so big at the store usually. Too bad you aren't going to grow your own now.

I like to grow mine in a bed with lots and lots of compost and some sand. In fact, I like to grow it in a raised bed with just compost, like forest mulch, and sand. This year though, I have them in the regular old dirt because i've removed all my raised beds. We'll see how they do.

[BoldHighlander]

Well... It's not so big at the store usually. Too bad you aren't going to grow your own now.

Oh I plan to Ted
Unfortunately someone plowed under my Grandfather's garden before I could dig up any for transplanting

The last batch I had going a couple years ago at my old house, a skunk came along and helped himself to them!!

[Barry]

The garlic is growing well. I've got regular garlic and elephent garlic out there. I've always got a good patch of chives going too.

I grow garlic too and it usually does well, as do onions. I'm not familiar with elephant garlic. Is this native to USA? My chive patch ebbs and flows depending on the weather. For me it is essential for potato salad.
Its too cold here for olives otherwise I would grow that wonderful trio: garlic, olives & tomatoes. I just have to pick up olives from the deli along with Mozzarella.

[Bugbear]

I grow garlic too and it usually does well, as do onions. I'm not familiar with elephant garlic. Is this native to USA? My chive patch ebbs and flows depending on the weather. For me it is essential for potato salad.
Its too cold here for olives otherwise I would grow that wonderful trio: garlic, olives & tomatoes. I just have to pick up olives from the deli along with Mozzarella.

I forgot to say that olive trees grow quite well out here. The fruiting kind have been banned for new plantings because their polin is a major source of allergy problems, but there are so many that have been growing here for years that it doesn't make any difference. My neighbor has a fruiting olive and it leaves olives all over his yard, as well as, the birds dropping them everywhere. I think I do have information somewhere on how to pickle them, but I'm not up for that. The funny thing is when the people who don't understand olives go running up to one of the many olive trees around, and start trying to eat the olives streight off the tree. Ick! It's lik our sour orange trees lining the roads and so on, not so tasty.

Ehh, what can I say, I took a bite of that bar of soap when I was a kid, so live and learn.

[robthehiker]

My neighbor has a fruiting olive and it leaves olives all over his yard, as well as, the birds dropping them everywhere. I think I do have information somewhere on how to pickle them, but I'm not up for that.

You pickle birds? Interesting but I'll stick to pickled eggs. Hmm, I guess eggs are just really, really young birds...

[Bugbear]

Elephant garlic looks like a giant bulb of garlic made of giant cloves. The bulb can get up to the size of a softball or grapefruit, but not always that big. The plant looks like a large garlic, but partway through it's growth, it sends up a stock from the center that grows a very weird cluster of flowers. The flowers can be used in cooking too. It's not directly related to garlic, I think more to the leeks, but close. It has a slightly milder bite to it than regular garlic. And now that I think about it that flower cluster, which looks like a pom-pom, begins in a papery sheath like is around the bulb, and it looks a bit like the bulb. Could be confusing if you've never grown it or don't know about the plant.

And I had a cookie with marmalade on it for breakfast.

[Bugbear]

Mrs. Marmalade says in her Email today that she is feeling a bit better now. She caught the flu, and had a bad time with it.

I might do a little more weeding today. It always agrovates my allergies, but I at least have to deal with the weeds in the frontyard to keep things looking alright.

[Bugbear]

Instead of weeding, I pruned some of the grape vines. I also took several cuttings to start more grape vines because I have been giving several of them away this year. Usually I just let them grow all over the place because I'm only growing them for the leaves. They were starting to climb up into the citrus trees, so I lopped them back. I have too many aloe plants too, but everyone here has too many aloes, and I can't seem to give those away. I also have several elephant food plants, but not so many that I need to get rid of any. They do good in the rock gardens... Not to be confused with the elephant garlic.

As I said, I found a package of botem round beef on sale at the store on Monday. It was a vary large package, and I cut the slabs into manageable sized steaks, baged them and put them in the freezer. I kept a large stake in the fridge, though, and I had that for dinner today. It was good. I didn't do anything interesting to it while cooking it, just cooked it like a pot roast with salt and a little seasoning. Then I had an oatmeal cookie with honey on it. I guess I could have put a little honey on the steak, but I was feeling bland at the time... I still am.

[Bugbear]

That would have been one ripe skunk...

Good luck. Hope you are able to get some going.