Prime harvest season is under way. We're enjoying the start of tomato season - which means mostly just devouring cherry tomatoes fresh - and a good variety of vegetables are ready to bring in, or nearly so. The first jalapeno peppers have been a treat, and a fiery one at that from all the dry heat, and in the past week or so we've seen snap beans, fresh basil, summer squash, and the window for digging garlic.
Lots of garlic. We'd pulled some for green garlic throughout the spring, but simply buying a few extra heads from the market last fall has resulted in a real bounty. Behold:
It's one of those "Take the photo, quick!" moments, as those eighty-ish plants, bundled and held at arm's length, get heavy. Quickly. Half a dozen heads came in for fresh garlic, and the rest are hanging in the garage to cure for four to six weeks. The very best - and there are some large and lovely heads - will hold until this October's planting. The rest are fair game for the kitchen. Due to shifting the garden, we had no garlic harvest last year. Now, I'll be making up for lost time with plenty of roasted garlic.
Also in the "unexpected bounty" category: napa cabbage. Now, this may look big, with all of its outer leaves still attached:
And it is. Very much so. With three more just like it.
I had no idea it would grow this large, but even after trimming, the main head weighs just over five pounds. Plus, there were three small side heads worth keeping. Add in the rest, and I think I might have enough kimchi to last me quite a while. It's been some time since I polished off the last batch, and it seems that another two, maybe three, are justified.
