Rain, rain come again

So the rain dance worked (well actually it was a drumming and we only got a sprinkle) but at least it has perked our flowers up a little and we are at last seeing more blooms. The lilies were lovely while they lasted, we have received a beautiful thank you note from a very happy bride who was delighted with last week's flowers, so some things are going well. Don't be fooled, Jamie is putting on a very brave face but battling with all sorts as per usual. We are so very annoyed that some of this year's glads seem to be infested with thrips so armed with insecticidal soap we begin the defence strategy but many are ruined. No sooner are we done with scaping our garlic, are we now beginning the harvest, cleaning and curing process of all the bulbs. Kind of ironic that when we need dry weather to leave the garlic in the field to cure, we get rain, but we are not complaining! Anyway this year's garlic rocks,Yahoo!
(Forgot to mention last time that we now have a Facebook page for Oliver Farm Botanicals to help us easily post piccies of flowers...so check us out if you haven't already.)

Making Hay

Well, while the sun shines and all that...must be years since the front field was last cut for hay, makes it feel like a proper farm. All  we need now are some cows to feed (or not!). Oh and what else do we need desperately...RAIN! Sorry to all you folks in the UK who are really feeling damp and cold, our flowers could really do with some of that water over here. We are resisting irrigation so who knows what will happen, so far so good. Lilies have bloomed, holly hocks are looking imperial and sweet peas are smelling so sweet. Life is good.

Strawberries, Scapes and Weddings

The summer rhythm is starting to find its swing. We've managed flowers for two weddings already and Jamie has been at the Halifax Seaport Market for the last 2 weeks but we're not yet even close to what we feel is "proper harvesting". Which is good, because right now we are drowning under a mountain of garlic scapes. Some of our scape recipes were published in Saltscapes Magazine and if I was more savvy I would know how to beam that to you all instantly, but sadly I am not. Scapes seem to be very on trend over here this year, so I am told, so for those of you who don't include them on your grocery list then maybe you might want to try them. Or better still, grow your own garlic so you don't have to buy the stuff which is bleached and shipped from China all sparkly white, clean and toxic. Anyway, the scape is the green shoot that the garlic bulb sends up as it grows and we cut it just as it curls over like a pig's tail before it flowers. With the scape you can chop it up and use it like garlic. It freezes very well and makes great pesto.
It's also the time of year for strawberries and Quahogs. This year the pickings were so easy that we filled an entire cool box full of strawberries so I have been busy making as much jam as we have jars for. As for Quahogs, well that's Jamie's thing (any excuse to paddle around on the beach digging!).
Time now to get back to harvesting, enjoy the pics!