A morning spent in the company of chickens and garlic

Our morning started again at 9 when Sally told K and me how to take care of the chickens. Basically, let them out of their coop, give them some grain and water, and collect the eggs. But it was our first morning doing this so we got the timing wrong and we first let them out of the coop, then while K was up getting them water and grain I tried to collect the eggs, which didn’t work because the chickens didn’t have anything to do but cluck around and protect their eggs, so I had to abandon my task temporarily until the grain got there and distracted the chickens. Hopefully tomorrow will go more smoothly.

Then, garlic! 

 

a bunch o'garlic

  Sally harvested a bunch of garlic at the end of July that has been drying on screens (for air circulation) in the barn, and it was our job to trim the roots, snip off the stalk, peel off the dirty layers, and sort into garlic that needs to be used soon (if it is damaged somehow), garlic that is a “keeper” (if it is perfectly fine but a littler smaller) and garlic that will be used for seed (if it is big and robust). This ensures that next year’s garlic harvest comes from only the healthiest garlic, so year after year the crop gets stronger and is selected for its suitability in this climate.

the end result - beautiful garlic!