Haucatay (otherwise known as “Nematocidal Marigold”, “Mexican Marigold”, or “Peruvian Black Mint”) is a plant that serves many purposes. At Patterson’s field in Wayland, we initially began growing it from seed in the 2021 season as a companion for our tomato plants.
A handful of Huacatay leaves freshly harvested from the tall plant in the background
As many home gardeners know, marigolds, in general, have many advantageous properties as companion plants, including attracting beneficial insects, repelling tomato hornworms, and protecting against root-knot nematodes. This particular species (Tagetes minuta) grows quite tall — on average about 7 feet, but I’ve also seen it grow higher than 10 feet in my personal community garden plot. Huacatay reseeds readily and transplants easily. In the Spring, we dig up self-seeded plants and relocate them to where we need them — usually amongst the tomatoes, where their tall stature is a good match for our large tomato plants.
In 2022, we learned that Huacatay is also a culturally important food for Latin American people who comprise the primary clientele base for our food pantry partner, La Colaborativa. It has a wonderful scent and a flavor that can be described as a combination of basil, spearmint, and citrus with hints of tarragon. It’s full of antioxidants and essential fatty acids and is used in both medicinal preparations and culinarily to flavor tea, soup, and sauces or pastes for meats, rice, and potatoes. La Colaborativa especially appreciates our harvests of this herb, which can be difficult to find fresh locally. This year we also packaged our final harvest as a dried herb that will be included in the Thanksgiving distribution.
Volunteer Farmer Loring packaging freshly harvested Huacatay for distribution to food pantry partner La ColaborativaCamilo and David from La Colaborativa admiring our Huacatay during a recent visit to Patterson’s fieldHuacatay in a bouquet with Hannah and CamiloHuacatay dried for pantry distribution by Hannah
Garlic is a wonderful crop that supplies many households with a staple seasoning year-round. Its pungent flavor is the foundation of many cuisines around the globe. Garlic is a comparatively easy crop to grow, with few pest and disease problems. Originating in the Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, garlic has spread through the world and there are hundreds of named garlic varieties that are the result of breeding for local taste, weather, and farming conditions. We are pleased to be growing so many varieties for our friends at Open Table and look forward to more garlic harvests in years to come.
There are two broad categories of garlic plants- Hardneck and softneck. Hardneck garlic has a hard central stalk that grows tall and stiff. This hard central stem produces garlic scapes in the early spring, or garlic bulbils in the summer if the scape is not harvested. Typically hardneck garlics have only a few very large cloves surrounding the core plant stem. The cloves have loose paper skins, making them easy to peel. However, the ease of peeling makes them have a shorter lifespan in storage.
Softneck garlic doesn’t produce a scape, and has lots of smaller cloves clustered together. The soft stems allow this type of garlic to be braided into the classic garlic braids often seen in restaurants and at farmers markets. Softneck garlic cloves have more papery skins that do not peel as easily as hardneck garlic. While more inconvenient in the kitchen, the tight skins allow for more prolonged storage life.
Growing garlic is unique in that the seed cloves are planted in the fall the year before harvesting. In a garden succession plan, garlic can be conveniently planted after many of the heat-loving summer crops have been removed. At Aurelia’s garden, we aim to plant in early November, allowing several weeks for the garlic to set roots before the ground freezes for the winter. The garden bed to be planted should be well amended with compost before planting as garlic plants are heavy feeders. Seed cloves should be placed 6” apart in rows that are 6-12” apart, and buried 2-4” deep with the pointed end up. After planting, a thick layer of mulch such as hay or dry shredded leaves. In the spring, mulch can gently be pulled away from the young garlic to give it ample room to grow. For hardneck varieties, scapes can be harvested when they begin to curl over and form a flower head.
All garlic should be pulled in the spring or early summer when the bottom leaves begin to dry and brown. The freshly harvested garlic can be enjoyed immediately, but for long term storage the garlic should be dried in a warm, well-ventilated space out of direct sunlight. Do not remove the long, leafy stalks until after the garlic is cured. When the outer wrappings have thoroughly dried and the roots are completely dessicated, the garlic stems can be trimmed away and the loose outer paper can be brushed away. Garlic should be stored in a cool, dry location and checked regularly for quality.
When choosing a variety of garlic to grow, it is important to know how cold and harsh your winters can be. Typically, hardneck garlics can withstand harsher winters than softneck garlic varieties. Aurelia’s Garden, in growing zone 5, has successfully grown both hard and softneck garlic. Knowing the disease pressure is also useful. While a fairly hardy crop, garlic is still susceptible to various rots, and good management practices can prevent the loss of a crop ( see Diseases of Garlic: Various Pests for more details).
It’s late October and we are still harvesting. Mostly leafy greens, like lettuce and Swiss chard. A few cabbages. We donated 21 pounds to the food pantry today.
Another beautiful day out working in our Wayland field! We harvested and donated another 100 pounds of produce to our local pantry, Open Table of Maynard. We were hit by a surprise frost this week – three weeks earlier than usual. Our summer squash was hit pretty hard.
All these tomatoes! We have three 60-foot rows – 132 plants – at least a dozen varieties. They are all from seedlings our volunteers have grown at home. Our favorite this year might be Mountain Rouge, a delicious AAS Winner. It’s a large beefsteak-type tomato, red, with very high productivity, and disease resistance. One to grow again next year.
The fancy tomato in the last two photos is a beautiful new AAS Winner called Buffalo Sun. The fruits are huge and beautifully colored with red, orange, and yellow. Another one of our favorites!
It was so exciting to pick our first vegetables from our Wayland field. We picked cabbage, eggplants, and basil, packed it into boxes, and then delivered it to Open Table in Maynard.
Photos by Hannah TraggisPhoto by Rob Slattery of Open Table
Open Table makes and delivers community meals and also has a fresh market food pantry. We are very pleased to have partnered with them and will be bringing all of our produce to them.
