After spending much of the past week away I have completely failed to take any photos of my harvests this week so I plan to reuse some from previous weeks. As a result some of these images might be a little familiar.
I harvested my second to last celeriac yesterday and used it in a vegetable soup. I have really enjoyed the celeriacs I grew this year and despite the long growing time I can see that I will have to plant them again for next year.
Also for soup and stock I harvested a number of herbs including thyme, parsley, bay leaves and celery stalks.
The only other thing I harvested this week was some more broccoli for a stir fry we had tonight.
My calabrese is a little slow at the moment and although it is producing side shoots there doesn’t seem to be anything like the volume I’ve had previously. Hopefully now that the days are slowly starting to get longer it will pick up again (I suspect the warmer temperatures forecast for later this week will also assist).
Apologies for the lack of a spotlight this week and thanks for the feedback on my readers question last week – all very much appreciated. This week I have another query; a (presumably Australian) reader’s garlic has been completely dug up and eaten by something. Any ideas about what it would be and how to prevent it? Birds dig up mine but they don’t eat it and so far the rats have left mine alone so I’m really not able to offer much advice. It would be lovely if someone else could.
Of course you could head over to Daphne’s Dandelions and ogle some harvests instead.
I’ve no experience of this but I have read that squirrels will dig up and eat garlic as will chipmunks or skunks if you live where these are.
Although I guess I knew chipmunks existed all I kind think of now is Alvin and the annoying singing version. Perhaps they needed it for their throats….
Rabbits have been eating the leaves of my garlic. So far they haven’t dug up any cloves, but if they like the garlicky leaves, then I guess they could give it a go. I put a triangle of wire over the row so at least they can only nibble the ends of the leaves now.
Every time I see a celeriac it reminds me of the illustrations in the Shaun Tan book The Lost Thing! Well done on your patience to grow them, I didn’t have any success last year with them.
I will have to hunt out the book – I’ve heard of it but never seen it.
Bandicoots? If the inquirer lives in parts of Australia it could be bandicoots.
I’m thinking they are from Melbourne in which case no – but if he’s in Sydney then quite possibly. I will check. Thanks Louise.
Very nice sized celeriac. I had one bed with garlic that died off after a mole went under and destroyed roots, but otherwise it’s all grew just fine.
Moles sound very exotic, albeit destructive, to me. We don’t get them here.
The celeriac reminds me I should try growing those, they are not easy to find in the stores. They are relatively low-carb and I have recently viewed several recipes that had whipped celeriac as a substitute for mashed potatoes. No clue on the garlic. Two-legged bandit?
If it was my house a two legged 3 year old bandit would be most likely – I will have to check. I have never tried to whip celeriac – next time….
Hmmm… nothing steals garlic around here. Beautiful photos, great greens! So hard to believe that broccoli is still being harvested when I about to replant mine. LOL>
Ah a land where nothing steals garlic – you clearly live in paradise.
I don’t mind seeing repeats of really good images, they are still lovely! My celeriac starts aren’t even big enough to put out in the garden yet, but soon, if I don’t kill them first. 🙂 I’ve been harvesting broccoli shoots also, but the aphids got into them and although I took care of the nasty little suckers the shoots looked rather ugly so I didn’t photograph them. Your broccoli is far prettier and tastier looking.
I’ve given up on summer broccoli mainly because of the aphids – I just can’t get them out of the heads and its all too icky really.
I’ve also had bunnies graze the tops off my garlic, but I have no experience with any critters digging it up. I love the picture of the celeriac. I was given some celeriac seeds, but I have yet to plant it. Need to add that to the list to plant. I think to long growing time and my lack of knowledge of what to do with celeriac prevented me from planting it.
I would definitely give it a go. It is really quite versatile to cook with – particularly if you enjoy soups and stews – it gives a celery like flavour with a different texture.
Great harvest again this week. My vote on the garlic problem would be some kind of rodent, a rat or squirrel. They are attracted to the smell of garlic. Here in the states some of the best rat/mouse baits are scented with garlic to help attract them.
Really? I would say its rats then – thanks for the advice.
Very nice broccoli. I have not had any successful broccoli yet. Time will tell if I get any this year.
Sorry, can’t help with the garlic problem.
My experiment with overwintering celeriac in windowbox in my garage last winter was successful so this year I gave them a bigger piece of garden’s real estate. But with the unusual weather pattern so far this year, hope I made the right choice and they do well.
The weather is really hard to predict at the moment – we are having a really warm winter this year but as you say next year it might be quite different.
My broccoli is also really slow at the moment. I have put the sprouting variety in, the first time I have tried it, and I am finding that the side shoots are slower to produce than other varieties. This may just be the position in the garden though. They are in a new bed on the verge that we have discovered is shaded during part of the day in winter. I have planted more in another bed so will see if I get a better harvest there.
Can’t help with the garlic though. Sorry.
yeah mine is in a more shaded spot than last year too and I think this is one of the primary reasons.
You don’t have to be apologetic, we all have our life other than blog and I don’t mind seeing the repeated images. Enjoy your harvest of the week.
Nice that you’re still getting a good harvest, even if there are no photos. On the garlic disappearance, I had mine disappear a couple of years ago. I thought it was rats, but it could have been rabbits as they’re in my area. But while I have obvious rabbit damage on my lettuces and celeriac, they haven’t touched the garlic which is close by, so I’m guessing rabbits don’t really go for garlic. Or they don’t in my area…
Rabbits – I hadn’t thought of them. They don’t go for my parents garlic either although they eat other crops at their place. Do different animals have different tastes in the same way people do?
Hmmm…I’ve no idea what might be digging up the garlic…though if she has chickens, they might be the culprit! Our Ladies dug up all of our garlic last spring :-/ Whatever it is, I do hope they can get rid of it!
My chickens have tried hard to dislodge mine but so far they have been distracted before they were successful. I am going to have to protect it somehow though.
That’s a lovely bunch of broccoli you have there, I love beautiful photos and don’t mind repeats at all.
Can’t help with the garlic issue, I know birds dug up my garlics when the seedlings appear in spring.
Same thing happens to me – annoying isn’t it.
Hello everyone,
I’m the reader whose garlic was stolen by the mystery animal. I just thought that I’d update you with a little good news. One valiant clove managed to survive! It’s sprouted and looking healthy. I’m eagerly anticipating my easiest garlic harvest ever.
Thanks for all the suggestions,
Alex.