Vampire Proofing the House

I have a confession to make. 

I don’t trust my kids...at least in my garden. 

I’m supposed to have surgery in four days and the garden is in full swing. Harvesting ripened tomatoes and peppers is pretty easy, right?  

Just wait for the pretty color changes and pick them. My kids understand this concept. 

But underground crops are a whole other learning curve. 

Garlic is ready in our area some time in July and I really don’t think I’ll be in any state of mind to care what the garlic is doing by then. So to prevent them from rotting in the ground, I pulled up all of my garlic and planted melons in the bed they occupied. 

I debated on drying it for garlic powder or pickling it for burgers. In the end, I decided on something purely decorative. I wanted to make a garlic braid for my kitchen.  

The garlic that was harvested is a hard neck variety but you are only supposed to braid the soft neck varieties (simply because it’s easier). 

I found this awesome YouTube video on braiding hard neck garlic and set to work. 

In about 15 minutes I had finished the "braid"

 and even decorated it with flowers from the garden.  

Now I have a sweet little reminder of the garden 

while I’m not able to work outside for a while. 

Plus, Mary Grace is super excited now that our house is "Vampire Proof!"