July Garden Updates: Garlic, Shallots, and Onions!

The garden is really picking up pace with the hot temperatures and full sun. We took a quick trip to the coast over the holiday weekend and came back to not so much a garden as a jungle. Weeds are a constant battle, and I spent a cathartic few hours pulling them as fast as I could before they could go to seed and cause 10x more weeds next year.

The garlic, onion, and shallot beds were close to harvest and woefully full of sow thistle, so I opted to dive in and harvest everything. If you're growing garlic, I'm willing to bet it's ready to harvest if you haven't already done so. The key is to look at the lower leaves and pull the bulbs when the lowest three or so leaves have dried up. It's worth googling when to harvest garlic just to look at a few pictures to help train your eye.

My onions probably could have gone a few more weeks, but again, I wanted to clear out the beds to help prep for my fall crops. For onions, looks for the tops to flop over and the outer skins to look dry, much as they would in the grocery store. I usually cut back the water to help the onions, garlic, and shallots dry out slightly before harvest.

Once pulled, I lay them in the shade to cure for a week before moving them to the basement for long-term storage. Curing helps ensure the stems are dry and that they won't mold. Once dry, I either braid them or trim them up and store the bulbs in mesh bags in a dark, cool place. Be sure to save some of your cured alliums to replant your beds in the fall. No need to buy more seeds or starts!

I was itching to cook something with my fresh crop, so I opted for sourdough focaccia with garlic, shallots, and fresh rosemary (all from the garden). My sourdough starter recently celebrated its second birthday and I've been getting progressively better at the art of baking. If you're a sourdough fan, be sure to try the recipe for focaccia from The Perfect Loaf (https://www.theperfectloaf.com/a-simple-focaccia/). I minced about five cloves of garlic, two shallots, and four sprigs of rosemary and sprinkled it liberally over the oiled focaccia dough and finished up with a heavy dash of coarse sea salt before baking. I debated roasting a few garlic bulbs to use on the focaccia but wasn't willing to have the oven on quite that long. Today's breakfast, lunch, and half of dinner were focaccia. No regrets.

We're slowly becoming inundated with zucchini and squash, always favorites of mine. I'm a big fan of zucchini noodles because they're a veggie vehicle for sauces: béchamel, tomato sauce, scampi, you name it. Tonight, was a tandoori spice mix along with more garlic and onions.

I always shred and freeze at least several gallon bags of zucchini to use in soups or fritters through winter. This article is heavy on after-gardening cooking, so I'll just leave you with a super simple but very popular summer squash soup I've inherited. I'm writing it verbatim, but it's incredibly forgiving to substitute ingredients in or out to make it vegan, gluten-free, or whatever you like!