featuring this week's newsletter by Mira Livia Berkson. (alice's apologies for the cut-off edges. the original is bigger than the farm's scanner)

this is the first week that we are harvesting some alliums - our first onions (texas supersweet) and the very first garlic bulbs. We just pulled up enough garlic plants this morning to give everyone one fresh garlic bulb and to see how they are doing under the ground and under the mulch. Reassuringly, they are bulbing up great - looking big and healthy. We have been worried, because there's been so little rain and because the fruit of all our labor is hiding below the ground where we can't see its progress. Luckily, the mulch and the high content of soil organic matter have helped the soil maintain enough moisture for our garlic to make healthy bulbs. Today's fresh garlic is not cured (dried down to increase storage capabilities), so it will be juicier and more susceptible to spoilage. Similarly, this week's onions are not meant for long term storage. Eat them this week and they will be fantastic. If you need more than a week to eat them, I would recommend putting them in the fridge or a cool, dry place with plenty of airflow.

Soon we will harvest all the garlic and most of the onions, but we will be curing it by hanging it in our corncrib or on mesh shelving for numerous weeks. When it's all cured, these garlics and onions should keep for many months without molding or rotting. IN the meantime, we will distribute smaller amounts of uncured garlic and onions.