garlic

well everyone likes garlic..don't they???..anyway you can grow it in your flower bed..roses like it..you only have to remember that you will need to dig it up at some time
most garlic is planted in the fall..but you can plant in the spring...that's what i am doing since we are downsizing and everything is in smaller units..well trying for smaller anyway

first off i kept last years harvest in the frig
like this..loose in a open weave basket in the veggie drawer
some folks braid and hang it..which is great if you have a cool dry place..i don't so after it dries a bit..into the frig it goes




to prepare to plant all you do is take the bulb apart..leave the paper on


but don't panic if it comes off


and yes there is a top and a bottom...the green shoots should point up when you plant..

i'm doing something different this year and putting it in a raised bed box..but otherwise following the same method i have used in the past

use a string line to make a straight row..and i put the cloves about two knuckles apart and just into the dirt
if i plant in the fall i put them one knuckle deep



i'm making these rows 4 inches apart..more for ease of digging later than they need the room



in this small space..the box is 5'8" outside...i planted 53 garlic cloves of four different typed..after all it's an experiment for me



then i watered them in...this isn't my normal way..normally i just stick em in the row and lightly cover them
but we are having very hot weather for april 1..it was 85 ..so i watered them in and then after planting my potatoes in the other box..i mulched with straw..
the rest of the box i will plant onions in by just pulling the straw back and sticking them in

the straw..not hay..hay has seed heads..straw shouldn't..i say shouldn't because after i was done hubby said the comine wasn't real good for the guy who did the straw..grrrrrrrrrrrrrr..which means i will have lot of grren shoots to pull

anyway..the straw much is to prevent weeds..so that i plant it and come back when it is ready to harvest

how do you know..
well it wil first put up seed heads..which you should pull off..i'll take pics at they grow
and then the top of the plants will start to dry up....that's when you pull the mulch bakc and dig..you don't want to wait till the plant is completely dry because the bulbs will seperate and actually start to grow if it is wet..

well hope this gets some one to try garlic..for every clove you put in you get a bulb back..pretty good return..

anyone want to do some garlic recipes or ways to keep it besides whole in the frig?
just yell i got a few ways to share..


if you go to the grocers and see a bulb that has a green shoot..but it ans seperate them and plant one or two cloves..
it takes hardly any room at all and is a great little thing to watch grow..

oh yeah..i had too many potatoes so when i went to put the extras in a larger plot..i found some garlic growing from last year..must have been very small cloves that fell off as i dug
so
i used a hand trowel and dug them out and put them in from of my newly planted peas...hahah..another experiment
there were 27 of them..that makes 80 gloves if the all grow...
one of the real problems with growing stuff is that it is hard to toss anything and then you run out of space faster than you planned
sigh..but it's a great problem to have..



good growing

well yesterday was 39 degees compared to last friday at 85
while checking on plants this morning i see i only have one row of garlic up..so i pulled back the straw..dang that is cold under there..and the one row growing was on the edge where most straw had blown off..
so the question is was it the warmth of the edge of good cloves.

so i will leave it uncovered for a few days..
also the ones that didn't come up were one bulb from a friend and one bulb i had bought at the fruit stand that day..
sigh.. oh well.!. we'll see if a little warmth will do the trick or if it was a learning experience on what not to plant

and yep this is how you learn..trial and error
cause no matter what anyone else tells you..your soil and your technique are different and will net you different results
so you need to learn what works for you
gardening is a great metaphor for life

i'm going to be planting onions in that box today anyway
i'm just waiting for it to warm up a bit


oh i'll add some interesting garlic recipes later..if anyone is interested