Onions, oregano and apples

With summer almost at an end and fall crops starting to ripen, harvesting is the main task o perform at the garden.

The garlic has been moved to storage, so the drying racks are available for the onions.  Onions are harvested when the leaves start to wilt and fall.

Gently extracting the onions from the bed, they are then transferred to the drying racks that were earlier used for garlic.

Once the greens and outer skin of the onions are dry, the leaves are cut off near the top of the bulb, the roots trimmed and the onions stored in a cool, dry place.

I noticed that my supply of dried oregano was running low, so was prompted to cut some stems of the flowering oregano and hang them to dry.  Once dry the leaves will be stripped from the stems and stored in the spice rack.

Three years ago a small orchard was added to the garden, so this year should have seen the first of the fruit: apples, pears and peaches.  With the wet, cold spring, there were few blossoms on the trees, so the only fruit this year are a few "Liberty" apples.  

Of the five types of apples planted (apples are not self-pollinating and thus require other compatible varieties for cross-pollination), one of the trees died, as did one of the peach trees.  New bare root peach trees are on order for planting next spring.  The peach tree succumbed after a harsh winter that caused the trunk to split, and the apple tree was found to have a bed of red ants living in its roots.  While the ants may not be the direct cause of the tree's dying, they are indicative of other potential problems with the soil.  A soil sample will be sent for testing and results will dictate what soil improvements need to be made before replanting in the same spot.

This gardening year has been a challenge.  Variable weather conditions, poor seed germination of carrots and beets (even after three plantings!) and no blossoms on the fruit trees have meant smaller crops of certain items, but we are having a bonanza green bean crop.  Green beans (both bush and pole varieties) were planted over a 6 week period so that a continuous crop has been realized.  This year, almost 32 pounds of green beans have been harvested to date;  last year at this time only 22 pounds had been harvested.  Basil has been another bumper crop, meaning lots of pesto in the freezer!

With another 6-8 weeks before the first frost is expected, there remains lots of produce to ripen and harvest.  Thoughts are already turning to next year's garden, where the experimental crop will be tromboncino squash, as much for the novelty of the item as the many uses it has, including raw (when young), stuffed, baked, grilled, steamed and roasted.  

It is so rewarding to realize the harvests that result from all of the planning, hard work and time spent in the garden.  The garden is a haven, offering inspiration, a sense of purpose and support to wildlife, as well as helping to feed the community.  More communities, organizations and businesses should consider freeing up available land to create garden space.  A small investment should yield a place for folks to de-stress, making for more productive and engaged citizens, members and workforce.