Today is an Ireland day, it is overcast, comfortable temperture and everything is outstandingly green. I am happy to have this day in between the sunny ones that are going on as I consider it a rest day from weeding and planting in the garden.
I planted my some Valencia onions, shallots and leeks yesterday. I learned a new way with the onions. Put a hand full of seeds in a four inches pot that has been filled with potting soil. Of course in short order the pot will look like a green mass of strings growing. This is when I take the pot outside and put the mass in my hand and run the hose on the mess. All the soil falls away. Now it is time to plant individual baby onion starts. I found yesterday that after I trimmed the top off at two inches and it was easier to handle. I make a row, in this case it was under my towering kale plants. Next I use a chop stick to create the hole for the onion to slide into it and finally all my new plants get a little of B-12 Vitamin that has added to the watering can.
For sometime I have thought that shallots are over rated but this year I read in Fedco Seed catalog about Prisma Red Shallot. It is a long day shallot with a strong onion flavor and each seed is going to produce 2-5 bulbs which will be ready in September and keep until April next years. I am sure I planted them too close but I can see how things grow. If they make the cut for next year, I will save some to plant next year.
Dating back to the 19th century, the Bleu de Solaize leek has been French heirloom and it is getting harder to find. They will winter over in our climate and that makes it worthy of planting in my garden. I love to be able to add during the winter some greens and leeks to my winter soups. Leeks have been a favorite in my garden for years. I usually let a few go to seed because I love the large flower head that is formed the second year and then I have my own supply of seeds. I have found a new use that is some recipes ask for onions seeds or mustard seeds toasted on the surface of fish, I use my leeks seeds for that crunch.
The other new leek I am trying this year is Carentan. This one is wider at the base and very mild in favor originally came from the Middle East but has been loved in Europe for centuries. Leeks have never been as popular in the United States as Europe but if more gardeners realized how easy they were to grow and how versatile they are for cooks to use, more home gardeners would plant them.
While I am on the subject, I did plant 2 rows of 25 feet along my back fence of garlic. In this climate they go in the ground in the fall. I have been better about fertilizing them with aged organic manure and it has made a difference. Along with the two or three varieties of garlic I threw in the mix a few elephant garlics and a few shallots. It has reached the point that I save my larges cloves each summer for planting but I have completely lost the names of the varieties that I have. My new way of saving some of the garlic is to simply put the cloves, cleaned, in a pint jar and freeze. It worked wonderfully this past winter and I will continue to do that in the future. By this time, of the year, I am out of my own garlic and I miss it in my cooking.
I find that other nationalities use food as medicine and American always talk about taste. Maybe that is why sweetness and salty are the two most used favors in this country. Recently, I was looking up the benefits of some herb and realized that other cuisines incorporate herbs and spices in their dishes because of the affects to their health. I am trying to think about this more even if I have had a late start on this.
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