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Garlic and Potato Harvest!

Although the weather wasn’t the greatest, some kids and parents braved that looming rain clouds and came out to attend the garlic and potato harvest at one of our schools! First, we harvested the potatoes. It was like a treasure hunt for the kids. The kids and parents dug the soil a foot and a half deep in order to harvest the deepest and largest potatoes. The kids had a great time getting their hands dirty, and got excited when they found even the tiniest (bread crumb sized!) potatoes. We harvested 25 pounds of potatoes from just one container!

Dig, dig, dig!

Pull out the crop!




Let's find some more! 


The harvest! (25 pounds!)


And finally, the triumph of finding the biggest potato!



Next, we harvested the garlic. The kids dug around the garlic, and then pulled it up from the bottom of the stem. I forgot to specify that we should only pull out garlic plants, so we had a few sunflowers pulled out as well. Whoops! I guess the kids got into a harvesting frenzy. No worries though- we replanted the sunflowers, and because they are volunteers and thus extra hardy, I'm sure they will make it. In all, we harvested 25 heads of garlic!

The hunt...


The find...


The treasure.... 25 heads of garlic!!


After brushing the dirt off the garlic, it is now being cured- which means leaving it out to dry in a place out of direct light and with lots of air circulation. Curing gives garlic an extra strong flavour! And soon it will be braided as well.

One of the parents later emailed me saying, "Thank you again for the great experience last night. [My son] raved about the project all the way home. We look forward to seeing you again later in the summer."

Another update is soon to come!

- Razan

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