Garlic Scape Harvest

Not a long harvest post today, as we are transitioning between the cool weather crops of Spring and the heat loving crops of Summer. Last week both the "Charger" spinach and the "Red Planet" radish plants all bolted. Amazingly, the "Heirloom Cutting Mix" lettuce keeps plugging away. As the 10 day forecast show the temperatures in the high 90's by the end of the week, I do fear the end of the lettuce is near. But I certainly can't complain. My 4' X 2' bed has blessed me with a continual supply of beautiful, mixed leaf lettuce for weeks. Saturday I cut another 7.5 oz to enjoy.

The new entry on the harvest list is the garlic scapes. I noticed a week ago that the scapes were just forming. Sunday I harvested 8 scapes, weighing 6.3 oz, and made a batch of garlic scape pesto. The simple recipe uses garlic scapes, pistachios, basil, parmigiano-reggiano cheese and olive oil. The whole kitchen smelled like garlic! I think I will use some this week and freeze the rest for later use.

Weather

Last night, as predicted, a major storm moved through the area. The western sky started illuminating with sheets of lightning around 9:30 PM. Then, by 10:30 PM we has a non-stop show of sheet lightning, bolt lightning, and lots of rumbling thunder. Around 11:30 the rain came in a torrential downpour. Typically, in Oregon, when the rain arrives during an electrical storm, the thunder and lightning conclude. But not this time! It poured for another 45 minutes and the lightning and thunder just grew louder. Finally, around midnight, the storm pasted directly overhead. The house shook with two separate, loud thunder claps. The storm moved on and the rain let up around 12:30 PM and finally sleep was possible. We have experience some more substantial rain, off and on, throughout today. Our final rain tally was 7/10" last night and another 3/10" today. As these storm clouds leave the valley tonight, the sun is breaking out and we are being rewarded with a perfect rainbow.