Zea & Garlic: Summer CSA ’14 ” Week #19
Zea & the Crew Breaking Garlic 2010
Garlic planting always has a special significance for our family.
Breaking garlic bulbs into the cloves (which are the seeds for the next year’s plants) was what Mike and I did on our first date. When we married a couple of years later, it was garlic bulbs we used as the seat assignments and party favors at our reception. My mother painstakingly tied little tags with names and a table number on each bulb. Fast-forward a few years, and the very first thing Zea and I ever did together at the farm was plant garlic. She was just two weeks old. And since garlic planting tends to fall around Zea’s birthday, often her birthday parties have included adults breaking garlic bulbs into seed as the kids play.
Zea is now 5. In a strange break of tradition, we did not break garlic at her birthday party this year. Instead we decorated winter squash and took the kids out into the field to harvest their own carrots. As we drove out into the fields with the kids piled onto a harvest cart, they chanted, “Carrots! Carrots!” I swear my smile extended deep into my soul and all I could think was how rad it is to get to raise your kid on a farm. Anyway, I digress.
We will begin breaking garlic with our crew today. While ideally breaking garlic is done on work time only, like so many things in farming, it will make its way into our personal time. Such is farming life. I fully anticipate some crates of garlic to be in our living room by the time next weekend’s football games come on. Zea and Edie will get a chance to break some garlic and will no doubt delight in this one-time annual exception of dirt in the living room.
Breaking garlic bulbs into seed gives the hands and thumbs a workout, but it’s pretty easy on the rest of the body and can be quite enjoyable. It tends to draw everyone together around a crate and allows a wonderful space for conversation to flow. With busy hands, sitting around and talking together gains a sense of purpose and togetherness. For the rest of my life, garlic planting time and Zea’s birthday will go hand in hand. The thought makes me smile.
It’s hard to believe, but the EO Group A members all done until next season! We thank all of the everyother Group A members for your support this season. We hope you enjoy this last box as much as you did the others. And remember, it’s not too late to sign up for a winter share. We wish you a safe, peaceful winter and hope to feed you again next year.
Take care & enjoy your veggies! Sincerely, Mike, Cassie, Zea & Edie
In the Box:
- Beauty Heart Radish
- Bell Pepper, Mixed
- Butternut Squash
- Carmen Peppers
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Oak Leaf Lettuce
- Red Onion
- Rutabaga
- Salad Turnips
- Sweet Potato
REGs only:
- Kale
EOs only:
- Broccoli OR Chinese Cabbage
- Brussels Sprouts
- Celeriac
- Red Potato
Weekly Recipes:
Summer Week #19: Wednesday, October 15th” Group A EOs (Final Box for EO A Members)
