Garlic is Planted
Nov 8th, 2008 by Cynthia
About two weeks ago I finally got around to planting the garlic I ordered and posted about a few months back. I ended up enlisting the help of my 9 year old son and together we got it knocked out fairly quickly. We actually had a lot of fun planting it together and it makes me laugh when I think about how reluctant he was about it all at first. By the time we were through planting all 3 varieties of garlic he was ready to plant a little patch of his own. I ended up ordering a little more than I actually had room for so I told him he could plant a few in a pot for himself.
Even though we only planted the nice big cloves to ensure nice big heads of garlic I still had more than enough for my 75 square feet that I set aside just for garlic. Some of you might remember me writing about planting two cover crops of buckwheat just for this planting of garlic I had planned.
I am impressed with the results of my cover cropping for this little patch of garden. This spot is part of an area that was turned into a veggie garden just this year and the area set aside for the garlic only had the cover crop of buckwheat growing in it all spring and summer. Before planting the garlic my son and I cultivated the soil a little to help loosen it up and make it easier to plant the cloves. I was so pleased to see just how much more organic matter this soil now contains. It looked as though I had just mixed in a large amount of compost! Now, if only the buckwheat could turn rocks into soil then I would be all set! (The rocks in this veggie garden are infuriating! I usually use a bulb planting tool to plant garlic but that was impossible to use with the amount of rocks in the soil. In fact I am a little concerned how this insanely rocky soil is going to affect my crop of garlic.)
Planting only the nice large sized cloves left me with lots of little mediocre cloves. I suppose we will just eat some of them but I thought it might be kind of fun to plant a few of them in a pot and grow them indoors this winter. The greens are edible and can be used to top baked potatoes, soups, etc. In fact I have so many left I might just pot some up and give them to friends and family for a little gift.
You won’t be finding any vampires around this house anytime soon!
No vampires at all with all that yummy looking garlic.
Hi Tina,
-Cynthia
Now I just have to wait for it to grow so we can eat it all up!
What a nice way to spend some time with your son. It’s funny how reluctant they can be about gardening until they get in there & get their hands dirty. My youngest son loves to help plant, weed & water. My oldest is great about helping me with the mulching & composting. Can’t wait to see your garlic crop come next spring.
Hi Racquel,
-Cynthia
He really made me laugh as he got so into it once we were out there that I even was able to talk him into helping me clean up a lot of the garden debris left over in the veggie garden.
Wow, I wouldn’t call 75 square feet a “little” garden but I guess that’s the difference between the country and the city!
Very exciting that you got it all in the ground, and congrats on getting the kid to help. What will you do with all that garlic? Lots of beautiful garlic braids in your future, perhaps?
Hi Karen,
I do hope to make some braids though as the type that I planted a ton of is a softneck and makes for nice braids. Plus I’m sure I will give a lot away- there’s nothing better than homegrown garlic! I cook with it a lot so we tend to go through a lot in this house. -Cynthia
We’re gonna eat it of course!
LOL…vampires!!!
So did you plant all this before our 7 months of rain set in? It is a wonder anything survives in the PNW without drowning! Great post!
Hi again Inadvertent Farmer
I was able to get it planted before the rain settled in. We were having such gorgeous fall weather about 2 weeks ago and I kept thinking “I’d better get out and plant that garlic while I still can”. Thankfully I did and wouldn’t ya know about two days later it started raining and hasn’t stopped! -Cynthia
I saw a magazine page the other day that had vegetables and herbs growing in large tin garbage cans. I would have to do that to keep the dogs out. But then I worry about the cat jumping in it. I want to start some veggies, but I don’t want to stick my hands into something stinky! Love the idea of the garlic tops on soup!
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
Growing veggies and herbs in a garbage can? That is something I have never thought of doing before. I wonder if the can does not get too hot though. I’ve been having several neighborhood cats wandering my garden and that better be all they are doing because I am with you, I do not want to put my hands into something that is not suppose to be there!! -Cynthia
I love hearing about other gardeners teaching their children to plant at their elbows. Great job. Good luck with your garlic harvest. Ours are up about two inches.
Hi Deb,
Two inches already, Wow! I hope mine start to peek through the soil here soon because then at least I know that they have not drowned from all this recent rain. -Cynthia
I look forward to seeing your garlic harvest next year. I had wanted to plant garlic this fall, but I suppose it will have to wait another year
Hi Amy,
-Cynthia
Now you just have all winter to plan what kinds you want to grow and scope out great garlic recipes!
That is a lot of garlic. My little plot of garlic is only about 13sqft. I hope it get enough garlic.
Hi Daphne,
I know it sounds like an awful lot of garlic but I once planted about 50 or so square feet of it and we used it up before the year was over and really hated having to revert back to buying it from the grocery store. I am hoping to get enough out of this planting to last us all year long. -Cynthia
75 sq. ft. of garlic?! You must really love garlic. I don’t have any children, so I feed less people, but I don’t think I could use up that much garlic in a year!
Hi Fern,
-Cynthia
We use it A LOT in our cooking. I make stock on a regular basis which uses up a few whole heads of it. Then I like to make large batches of spaghetti sauce that I freeze and that takes up another head or two. It goes fast in our house!
I was just thinking the other day about planting some garlic in my own yard. I was wondering if I could get a garlic plant by planting a clove, I guess I have my answer now! How long do they take to grow? I suppose I should get some more stuff figured out before I find myself in over my head!
Hi Cinj,
They are pretty easy to grow- you just have to be patient and that is the hard part for me! LOL You plant them in the fall and then they are harvested around July. A long wait but so worth it! -Cynthia
Baked garlic in olive oil is delicious - much sweeter than raw. Have you tried it? And as far as rocks go - I think they’re like weeds, until you have all the rock seeds out of there, you’re going to have rocks for several years to come. Great project for you and your son.
Hi Barbara,
-Cynthia
The baked garlic in olive oil is so delicious and that is one of the reasons why I am growing so much this year! I love to bake the garlic, mash is up, and spread it on homemade toasted bread. Makes me hungry just thinking about it!
you will have to keep us up to date on how this project turns out. I had wanted to plant garlic this year but by the time I got around to ordering what I wanted, the company had stopped shipping to my area for the year.
I could and will get some from the grocery and give growing it inside a try this winter.
~Karyn
Hi Karyn,
That happened to me one year as well and I was so sad. I had my list made out and they were sold out of all the kinds I wanted. This year I made sure I acted fast! -Cynthia