Posted on

Garlic Planting Stock

I still haven’t inventoried all of my garlic harvest yet, so I’m not sure exactly what I have, but it seems likely I will have at least a few extra bulbs of the following varieties:

  • German Extra Hardy
  • Inchelium Red
  • Chesnok Red
  • Kaskaskia Red
  • Red Toch
  • Music
  • Polish White
  • Loiacono
  • German Porcelain

Do you have something to trade? I would be very pleased to trade any of these for other interesting garlic varieties or seeds.

If you don’t have anything to trade, you can also purchase them for 3 euros per bulb plus shipping charges. Shipping within Holland is about 7 euros regardless of the size of the order. For the rest of Europe, it is about 4 euros for 1-2 bulbs or 6 euros for 3-5 bulbs.

Supplies are limited. If necessary, I will limit orders to 2 bulbs per person, to make sure more people get a chance to have some. If you want more than 2, let me know and I will send them if I have them.

Sorry, but I can’t send any garlic to the US, it’s import is prohibited. I also won’t send it anywhere else if I know it is prohibited. Please don’t order any if it’s not allowed in your country to import garlic. Since garlic is very perishable when packaged for shipping, I think this is really best suited for people living in Europe.

I’m sorry, I don’t know a lot about the different kinds of garlic, this is my first year growing most of these and I haven’t tasted them yet. Try using an Internet search engine (google, yahoo, etc) to search on the different names. Send me an email, if you need more information. If you would like to grow something interesting, but don’t care which variety you get, let me know and I will select it for you. I will choose the nicest bulb or bulbs that I have available.

For purposes of this, the definition of ‘bulb’ is about 90-100 grams or one complete bulb, which ever is greater. Some varieties like Polish White or Chesnok Red have smaller bulbs, so I will send two of these. I will only send full size, good quality bulbs.

Payment is in cash. I will gladly accept Euros, Sterling and US dollars. Maybe other currencies, let me know what you have.

If you are interested, send me an email.  Please tell me which kind(s) you want, your mailing address as well as the currency you want to pay in. I will confirm that I have enough stock, calculate postage costs and give you my address for sending payment. I will send out orders the first half of September.

Posted on

Chard Flakes

Swiss Chard Flakes

Okay, maybe it doesn’t make the most spectacular of pictures, but it’s a really good way of preserving Swiss Chard. This is just Swiss Chard that has been dried out in a dehydrator. No pre-treatment is necessary, just clean, chop and dehydrate. After it’s dried it can be packed into glass jars or other containers for long term storage.

It rehydrates almost instantly when it comes into contact with hot water, so it’s great for adding to things like instant soup, oven dishes or even just by itself. Because you don’t need to cook it before you dry it, like you would if you freeze it, it rehydrates tasting much fresher.

Spinach works the same way when you dehydrate it. I haven’t had much luck with cabbage this way, because the leaves tend to brown when they dry.

Posted on

Diversity in Beets

White, Red and Golden Beets

From left to right these are Albino, Early Wonder and Golden beets. This picture is taken when raw, and they will lose some of the color when cooked. In particular the distinction of the rings will fade. They all have slightly different tastes, but all distinctly beet like.

Another beet not shown here, but worth mentioning is the Chioggia beet. It has very distinctive peppermint like rings of red and white, and looks great when served raw as a garnish. I didn’t grow it this year, because I am not very fond of the taste.

Posted on

Garlic!

Garlic Hanging from Ceiling

Our harvest this year was about 200 bulbs of 20+ varieties.

This picture shows it hanging to dry and cure from our living room ceiling.

Posted on

Brown Uzbeki Cucumber

Brown Uzbeki Cucumber

This is really one of the nicest cucumbers we grew this year. It is a slicing cucumber (not a pickling one), and it has a really nice crisp flesh and a nice flavor.

Like all heirloom cucumbers it has large seeds. This plant is also not very productive, so if you are only growing one cucumber plant this may not be the best choice. It is a real treat if you have the space for a plant that will only yield a few cucumbers.