Planting the 2012 garlic

It was the first week of November before we could get onto the garden to prepare for the garlic planting. I hate planting in November. I'd much rather have the beds ready by mid September and the garlic in the ground no later than mid October. November planted garlic tends to frost heave as it isn't in the ground long enough to grow roots to hold it in place as our soil freezes and thaws many times in most years. We didn't have much choice with planting time this year. It started raining in late August and has kept it up often enough since to keep me and the tiller out of the gardens!

The bed DW is weeding had potatoes left in it from the summer's failed harvest. 100F days through July and no water other than rain fall (of which there was not a drop) made the 90 pounds of taters we scattered across two gardens a waste of money. But that's how it goes if one relies on Nature's generosity, or there is no source of water and mulch for the garden.


The local newspaper readers often ask me if I do anything in the garden?


Sure I do, though as little of it as possible.


Popped and labeled cloves of 20 cultivars are being planted this year, some of them are in the plastic bag. the clip board is the garden map Wanda draws up as she planted. I mark each section of cultivars with metal stakes so they are easier to sort out come July harvest. We learned early on to count each clove so we don't mix cultivars should the marker stakes get moved. Epsoma's "Bulb-tone is the only fertilize we use. I pour a line of it on top of the raised row and DW pushes the cloves down through it. I rake the soil over the holes left behind by her planting.


DW adds a just planted cultivar to the map. Name and number of cloves in whatever row.


Bed No. 2: planted, raked and ready for rain or snow. 683 cloves made up from 10 cultivars.


Planting the last row of Bed No. 1. I don't know how she managed to stay bent over like that to plant 779 cloves! My back ached just watching her. She did complain of her knees bothering her. We're coming to this gardening after decades of standing in a factory all day. We're just not used to such work.



The garlic maps. I'll lose them if I don't put them several places on the Net!

1360 cloves in the ground and I don't care if I never see another for at least a day. I've a bowl full of culled cloves to peel and slice for the dehydrator. At least they are already popped free from the bulbs so my thumbs get a break!