Planting for next year

            In an effort match our plans with actions we finally got our garlic bulbs in the ground. This took longer than planned because of a delay shipping from our supplier. To combat this in the future we are growing garlic this season primarily for reseed next year, much to Christopher’s chagrin. We also made things a bit interesting by planting three different varieties this year, for as they say variety is the spice of life. Now I don’t who “They” are, because most of the philosophers in my life besides my mother said things like “just shut up and drink water”. Regardless we put all three varieties; Deerfield (an Asian variety), Transylvanian (Romanian), and Elephant garlic in a single bed of well-drained soil. Deerfield was cultivated in Vietnam and is described as having a rich flavor when cooked, moderate heat used raw. Its deep purple husk, moderate size and hardy growing cycle also fit our desire to stray from the normal white, small and blah garlic found in most grocery stores. The Transylvanian was developed in Romanian and is described as having a rich and hot garlic flavor despite its smaller size. The Elephant Garlic has extra-large bulbs and cloves with a mild and rich flavor. We choose each of these varieties to fill different commercial and flavor reasons.

We prepped the beds the week before by converting our former compost pile and chicken scratch area into a 15 x 20’ bed. We planted the garlic in accordance with professional guidance with a ~ five’ gap between each type. We plan on planting onions and/or leeks between them in the spring, so we can easily tell the difference between the types next year.

We then gathered all of our and most of our neighbor’s leaves.  We then buried the bed in about 18” of leaf mulch. This mulch should compress to between 5-6 inches thickness after time and water have their way. We also wrapped the bed around with chicken wire to both hold the leaves in and keep the frustrated chickens out.

As usual the whole family was involved in this process, helping, grumbling and playing. The whole project from cleaning the space, turning the soil, planting the garlic and mulching the bed took about 8hrs cumulatively. A well deserved the hot dog and Marshmallow roast that happened after. So, hears to hard work and the future, may they both pay off. Our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LittleFarmsforVeterans.org/ has more pictures of the work conducted. Enjoy, Deven Little