Garlic, garlic, garlic!

Garlic is a staple in our house.  It literally gets used in just about everything I cook!  So, I thought I’d give growing it in my garden a try.  Garlic gets planted in the fall and isn’t ready to harvest until late July or early August of the following year.  During one of our rare sunny days, recently, my father in law and I met at the “farmette” to sow some more fall crops and plant some seedlings.  Very little weeding was needed…I guess all that rain does a number on weeds and crops alike!  We prepared a new bed directly in the ground (not in one of my raised beds) by digging it deeply and breaking up the clumps.  We added a little chicken manure, too.  Of course, I started with the gloves on, but within a few minutes they were off and the dirt was chunked up under my fingernails.  I love the feel of damp, cool soil when I am planting!  We planted two types of garlic, both certified organic:  Lorz Italian and Shvelisi (Chesnok Red).  The garlic arrives in complete cloves the way it would be purchased from the market.  To plant it, we had to break the cloves apart and place each clove in the ground roots down and pointy part up.  No different than any bulb gets planted.  They are planted shallowly, only about 4 inches deep.  When the bed is covered back up with soil, a whopping 6 inches of leaf mulch goes on top.  I think of the mulch like a nice down comforter in winter….nice and cozy!  So now we wait.  In the summer when the green stems start to turn brown and fall over they garlic will be ready to harvest.  I might even try to make a garlic braid!