Planting Garlic

Good morning to you all.  I'm sorry for my absence last week. Each day I tried to carve out some quiet time at my computer to write, but never could quite do it.  September and October are the busiest months of the year for our family with four of our children playing soccer. We are on the road almost every afternoon (and some evenings)  traveling to and from practices and games.  The season is short, and we enjoy it, but this mama is looking forward to a less busy schedule.  The days are getting shorter and the weather much cooler. It's time to turn our attentions to the farm and gardens and the list of things waiting to be done before winter arrives. 

One of the things on our list was to plant the garlic, and my plan over the weekend was to cross that chore off. I pulled the remaining carrots and beets and tilled the soil in preparation for planting the garlic.  As I rummaged around in the garden shed in search of a hoe, tripping over old pots and broken mason jars, I decided on a whim to clean the shed. (I should have taken a before picture, but, like I said, I started cleaning on a whim, and if I had stopped to get the camera, I may have actually thought about the massive task I was about to undertake and rethink my plans.  There was no time to get the camera). I started moving items out and throwing things away.  I re-organized my canning jars, which I store in the shed, swept the floor, organized the garden tools and supplies, sorted through the huge collection of planters and pots, recycling many and keeping only the ones I was sure to use again, and made space for storing our garden chairs during the winter. The shed is so neat and tidy now.  How rewarding it will be to open its door in the spring and find an orderly shed, ready for the summer's gardening. I am guilty of doing things like this quite often. I start out doing one thing, but along the way I find myself doing something else.  Sometimes it's rewarding, but other times I, admittedly, only create stress for myself.  This time, however, I am happy and relieved that I tackled the shed.  It's one of those things that make the other work I have yet to do so much easier.

After taking quite a detour from my original plan, we enjoyed a quick lunch, dropped two Littles off at soccer practice, and I finally found myself where I had left off in the garden with pile of garlic cloves just waiting to be planted.  I planted garlic for the first time last fall, and I am sad to say that it was a failure.  We did not harvest one clove of garlic.  I'm not sure what happened...if I planted wrong, if the seeds were not healthy, if they needed more water and nutrients...I'm just not sure, but I took the steps I thought would be helpful in securing a more successful outcome next year.  I purchased my garlic seeds (Inchelium Red, soft stemmed, "artichoke" garlic, perfect for braiding ) from a local farm, rather than a commercial farm store, and, oh, the difference in the garlic.  By just breaking apart the garlic cloves, I was encouraged.  Since alliums need light, fluffy soil, I moved the site of my garlic planting to my lettuce garden which used to be our chicken pen.  The soil there is dark, rich, and fluffy, very suitable for growing garlic.  I added wood ash to the rows which is a great source of potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, and this weekend I will mulch the entire bed with leaves to protect them from the harsh temperatures of winter.  I am optimistic.  I think next year will be my year for garlic, and, as a bonus, I will have a nice, clean garden shed to hang all that lovely garlic in for drying.