Planting Garlic

Garlic, getting ready to go in the ground

Garlic cloves planted in rows

Turnips

Onions

I should have planted garlic for next year last month. But, I have so much clean up to do and then we were on vacation for a week. If you're interested, check out my blog about the trip to Croatia and Slovenia with a side trip to London.

Today, I finally had a chance to plant the garlic. Luckily, the weather has been mild, so we can still plant it. Last year I planted a variety called Russian Garlic. While the flavor is pretty good, the bulbs were very small so I'm planting a purple garlic this time which should have larger, more flavorful cloves.

Normally, I don't sell garlic at the farmers' market, because we just grow enough for us. But, we use a lot of garlic at our house, so we plant enough to get 100 bulbs in the fall. Not to mention all the garlic scapes we get in June!

With the warm weather, there is still time for you to plant garlic for next year. Use a good garlic you like from the grocery story (it's much less expensive than what you get from the seed stores online, just make sure you're buying organic). Till the soil (garlic bulbs grow underground so the soil needs to be loose and fluffy). Plant the garlic cloves pointy end up about 6 inches apart. So, in an 8'x4' bed, you can get 64 bulbs! Use organic compost as fertilizer and mulch with straw. Remember to cut off the scapes in June (use them for garlic scape pesto) or else you will get small bulbs.

While outside, I also noticed a few stray onions that I picked for French Onion Soup and some turnips as well. My friend Jackie and her husband gave me the turnip seeds, so this is the first time I've grown them. I'm looking forward to steaming the greens and adding to my potatoes. Karen's mom made roasted turnips for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try that recipe as well.