~Garlic harvest and alien alliums~

It is so hot here today! I've been pottering in the garden and I decided to dig up my garlic as all the tops had turned yellow and flopped over. I got a decent crop bearing in mind they were grown in a raised bed and not in full sun. I planted them late October, and I was frugal and used shop-bought garlic instead of expensive seed garlic as a trial just to see how it went. Gardening books advise against this and say the crop is likely to be inferior and more prone to disease, but I am impressed with the results. It's drying out in the sun now, and I'll keep some to sow again in autumn.

I've kept the scapes (the twisty garlic flower stalks that hard-necked varieties produce) and I'm going to make garlic scape pesto for the first time. My leeks have also bolted, but I'm loving the flower heads, just like alliums, and I have some unopened ones in a vase in the kitchen just becuse they're so weird and

alien-looking. The bees love them too!

Yes, I think I love the allium family... This is one of my favourite pictures - I bought this limited edition linocut print by Selby-based artist Helen Roddie at an art show a few years ago - it's called 'Onion Watch' .