Garlic...and Wildlife

Before the rains came (and are still pouring as I write), I harvested some more garlic.  All nicely cleaned up for your viewing pleasure, of course.

 

Yes, they're swinging, haha.  You know I'll let you have a closer look.

 

 

 

 

I planted more than four or five cloves (resulting in four or five heads above).  Nowadays, I am more picky and am only setting aside the better ones to dry.  All the little ones were cleaned up and are sitting in a bowl on my kitchen counter...for immediate consumption.  


It's just undeniably true, small cloves will result in small heads...so, why bother with them.


Here's another one that didn't get to swing with the others...






While we are enjoying my garlic tales, here's something weird for you...

 

Do you see it/them?  Closer...

 

How strange is that?  As it turns out, pretty strange.  I've seen a lot of things that garlic can do, including producing small heads on the scape in various places, but this,...well, this I had not seen before.

This growth was causing the garlic to fall over and so I went ahead and harvested it all.  Usually, falling over garlic runs the risk of being over-ready.  Not this time.

I emailed the helpful folks at Filaree Farms and learned this garlic is bolting.  They, too, had not seen it quite like this before.  (Leave it to me to have strange garlic.) I was advised to not replant the odd bolting garlic (for next year).  And, as I feared, the rest was probably harvested a bit too early.  Oh well.  So many years, I harvest too late, so I guess this is fate evening up things for me. 


It's thought that maybe this garlic experienced too much water and/or nitrogen.  Who knows.  It was planted along with all the others, all growing together, one after another. 


I do kinda like weird things  (grin).  


*****
In other happenings...and this happened today, so we are right on top of things.


First, some pictorial proof of Rudy-ness in the daylilies...

This, my flower friends, is Rudy doing his thing through some of the daylily seedlings.  Please note...there is no path there...

 

Yes, those were daylily scapes...sigh.

I guess there's a path there now...

 

So, I hear Rudy barking and race down the deck stairs to see what emergency is at hand (not).   Actually, I race down the stairs to try to calm Rudy before Cranky Neighbor (hereafter known as CN) can complain and earn his name.  It is during normal working hours, so one can hope he is not home...but, you never know...


There is Rudy making a fuss right outside of one of my fenced areas (that I learn in a few minutes doesn't mean that Rudy can't get in...he simply chooses to not enter at times...this not being one of them, apparently)...He is carrying on, so I'm looking in there, thinking what varmint is trapped in there...and I see an old friend...









Do you see it (not knowing if it is a he/she)?  I have...ahem...cleverly (if I do say so myself) labeled it for you.

Yes, here we go...




Awww.  But, here, you guys, here's what's especially cool...this is the same one who visited in 2010...June 6, 2010, to be exact....take a look at the markings in a picture from that day...

 

(Different camera...how I miss the old Rebel...sigh...DH has told me I can check into a new camera and/or lens, so yea...maybe these odd pictures with odd color will soon be a thing of the past)...but, anyway...

Isn't that wild??!  (Literally) I like that the turtle has returned.  I may just start calling him/her 'our' turtle.