Bug Buddies, Flowers and Garlic Scapes

Bee on Borage

Beneficial insects are everywhere now as the garden is providing multiple sources of food, habitat and territories to be claimed.

Here is the garden this week

Common orb-weaver spiderlings huddle together on a tomato leaf 

A sweat bee rests on a bean plant 

Ladybug larva hunting for aphids on an orach leaf 

I picked the first of the snap peas. I barely got them into the house before they were gobbled up 

My hardy kiwi is blooming

The tomatillos are putting out lots of blossoms 

I noticed that the quinoa is starting to flower

A nasturtium blossom peeking out from under a kale leaf

My George Burns (top) and Grand Dame (bottom) roses are blooming 

Raspberry Lyanna  and Beauty King tomato blossoms. Even as a flower Beauty King is flamboyant 

The tomatoes and carrots in the community garden plot are growing pretty well, though some of the carrots got pulled out when I was hoeing the weeds 

The hard neck garlic is sending out scapes and we've been enjoying them grilled and in pesto (see recipe at the end) 

I dug up one of the soft neck garlics to see if it was ready. It is a little too early still. Garlic is ready to harvest when 5-6 of the lower leaves have completely died back (in the picture you can see only three leaves have died). Each dead leaf corresponds to a protective papery layer around the cloves. If you wait until all the leaves have died back completely the protective layers begin to split, exposing the cloves to bacteria and significantly hindering its storability

Weekly harvest:

9 ounces garlic scapes
3 ounces strawberries
15 ounces peas
1 ounce peppers

Yearly total:

10 pounds 3 ounces

Garlic Scape Pesto

1/4 pound garlic scapes, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup finely shredded parmigiano reggiano, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine scapes, pine nuts, cheese, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse 8-10 times or until scapes and nuts are finely chopped. Scrape down sides of bowl, add 1/2 cup oil and process until fully combined and sauce is smooth, about 30 seconds.

To store:
Pour sauce into a 1 cup freezer safe container and smooth top. Pour remaining oil over the surface of the pesto and seal container. Will keep in standard freezer up to 3 months, deep freezer up to 1 year