The garlic has been hanging in the dark barn for two weeks. The stems have dried and it is time to finish the harvest. We start by clipping the roots and stems off leaving about an inch of the stem, then we remove just the outer muddy coat from the garlic pods. Now we will store the garlic pods in a cool dark place for one more week before we distribute the pods to our friends and cook a few pods to serve before a meal. Both the large garlic variety and the smaller variety are shown in the picture below.
The female bluebird is on the left and the male is on the right in the first picture. Then the female decides it is time to sit on her eggs. Look closely at the hole in the door and you will see the female half way in the door. There are now four eggs in this nest. Both parents have been busy at this birdhouse for the past week, so we should soon have some baby bluebirds to show you from house #3.
The sunflowers have bloomed and you can see several different stages in the pictures below. If you look closely, you will also see a few bees at work. After the flowers are pollinated and the seeds began to develop, the flower gets too heavy for the stem and the flower begins to droop. the center of the flower also gets very pronounced. If you recall the picture of the dried sunflower, you realize that this pronounced middle is now formed by sunflower seeds. A picture of the dried flower center is at the bottom of these pictures in case you missed the earlier picture.
