Being half Italian, I put garlic or garlic powder in just about everything I cook.
Pasta and pizza sauce, chicken and beef stew, steak, grilled chicken, turkey burgers, and guacamole....yum!
Because I use it every day, I though I'd try growing some. It looks easy enough.
Back in September I ordered some garlic from Burpee along with a dibbler. I love gadgets that makes your job easier, don't you? You could buy some organic garlic from the grocery store, but don't buy non organic garlic is sprayed with something to keep it from sprouting. If you are thinking of growing garlic, you might want to google what grows best in your neck of the woods and when the best time to plant it is.
For all of you farther North, I think you have to plant garlic in September, but around here it's mid October. I'm about a week late, but we've been having some warm weather and garlic doesn't like heat, so I think I'm ok...we shall see.
Garlic loves well drained soil with lots of compost, so make sure you have good soil. Here's how the dibbler works...you plunge it into the soil up to the stainless steel part and twist it back and forth a couple of times. This makes a perfect hole for the clove to be planted between 2 and 4 inches. Also , plant them 6 inches apart.
You can use a dibbler to make a perfect hole like this or you can just dig a hole or trench with a trowel.
Separate the cloves and use only the large, good cloves. See how the clove on the far right (all by itself) has a dark soft spot? Don't plant any like that.
Plant the pointy part of the clove up toward the sky. Most of the points aren't this long.
I planted two rows of 28(2 different kinds of garlic) in the potato bed. My potatoes to the right of the garlic are doing well, as are my snap peas. I've harvested quite a few snap peas ~ they are growing on the trellis in the far bed. There are even 3 or 4 zucchini growing on my last plant. They don't grow quite as fast or large as they do in the summer.
Buddy always loves to come and help me in the garden. He's such a sweetie.
The carrots are doing well and are starting to form below the ground.
Picked these goodies from our garden just last week. Sugar Snap Peas are my favorite veggie that I grow.
My purple flowers are in full bloom. Can't remember the name of them. Anyone know what the name of this flower is?
Hope you are enjoying Fall. It was 80 degrees here yesterday. The nights are crisp and cool, but the sun warms up everything so nicely during the day. Would love it if it was like this all the time...But, alas, this is not Southern California...Just for the record, I'm not complaining ; )
How are things in your neck of the woods? Would love to know if you've ever grown garlic and how it turned out.
Pam
