Perennial leeks

I've been thinking that I've been harvesting green garlic, but today, I realized, these are really perennial leeks, grown in great soil, with plenty of nutrients, and full sun all winter.

They're huge, and delicious.  I've harvested, and we've eaten plenty of young perennial leeks (they're great, too), but these were different.

About the same time that I managed to stick some garlic gloves in various spots, I also separated and transplanted perennial leeks.

These are what I've been harvesting in the lower bed.

They certainly look more like leeks than garlic, and slice up that way, too!  And I certainly didn't plant any "normal" leeks down there, just moved around the perennial ones and planted some garlic (I think).  But it's been an eventful year, and I need to revisit my blog posts to remind me of what I might have done....

Growing organic vegetables

Day 2 at #challengeonnaturephotography

These are photos of growing plants organically, and creating a "kitchen garden" in a country (Guatemala) where it's most unusual to have an restaurant serving organic food, much less from their own garden (on the hotel's grounds, in a very modest, non-tourist town on Lake Atitlan).

Jose with Swiss Chard, kale, and other greens

To these gardeners, it was definitely about living in harmony with their year-round growing season.

Banco de similar (seed storage shed)

Jose showing Tim their saved seeds

Nature comes in guises both familiar and wild; both are worth celebrating.

 

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Sleeping dogs and organic gardens

In a town that's the poorest of any we've seen in Guatemala, there are still dogs that look reasonably content and well-fed.

And the schools seem supported, and the children there wear smart uniforms, maybe thanks to the non-profit that's carrying on a long-term American priest's work here in this town, which has made a significant difference over the last 50 years, helping this town avoid the worst of the Guatemalan civil war.

These dogs were near the market; we disturbed the one on the right, who got up to check on what was happening.

The local folks found us amusing, paying attention to these dogs....

We're staying in the only "tourist" hotel in town. It's very nice, even if smoke from the neighbors' cooking fires is wafting down into the hotel's lovely gardens, which include a remarkable organic vegetable garden, probably an acre in expanse.

It's full of various kales, broccoli, lettuces, fennel, herbs, amaranth, carrots, arugula, etc.

Amazing for this part of the world, and the head gardener and his assistant deserves to be proud of their work, which supports the hotel's restaurant, and by extension, the outreach missionary work of the non-profit nearby, who have discounts for staying here or for meals.

 

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Vegetables and coffee drying in San Pedro, Lake Atitlan