Garlic planting day

Every year around this time we plant a couple hundred garlic seeds to be harvested next summer. What you see on the kitchen counter in the photo is a combination of what's left of the garlic we harvested this summer plus the garlic we purchased from Keene Organics.

After I pulled all the weeds, Jon harvested our compost to lay down a layer onto the raised garlic bed.

Then, I separated the heads of garlic into their cloves or seeds and handed them off for him to plant.

We decided to plant less this year - 150 instead of 200 and will know next year whether that is enough for us.

Organic Gardening recommends that you soak the cloves for two hours in baking soda and liquid seaweed. We've never done that but you can follow the link to read about their method.

Since we grew winter squash in the raised garlic bed this summer the soil will need some boost so we're going to fertilize a bit this year, although we usually do not bother.

Both Keen Organics, Seeds from Italy, and Sand Hill Preservation still have seed garlic left if you haven't purchased yet. Don't miss planting garlic, even if you have to put it in the flower beds. So delicious and not from China like grocery store garlic.

Also, be sure to mulch with something loose and organic. Straw works well if you have access to it. Rather than buying straw, we have always used pine needles from under our Loblolly Pine trees. We apply it 4 to 6 inches deep around the time of the first freeze to keep the ground from heaving with the freeze and thaw cycle over the winter.