GARLIC PLANTED

I took today off from work and one thing I accomplished was to plant garlic.

I piggy-backed the garlic in the nasturtium bed. They are good companion plants. While the nasturtiums are finishing up their season, they will provide shade and mulch for the garlic. About the time the garlic is harvested, the nasturtiums will be ready for their next season because …

The nasturtiums are busy creating and planting seed pods!

The garlic was easy, easy to plant. I just dug holes in the bed about six inches apart,

separated the cloves from the heads of garlic,

and planted one clove per hole, pointy end up. I filled each hole with worm compost (homemade!) and watered the bed. In less than half an hour, I had planted a bed of garlic!

If all goes well, I will have about 40 heads of garlic to harvest next May or June. I want to learn to can it (so I don’t have to buy ready-to-use jarred garlic at the store). I will also use a few bulbs to plant a crop next year. A self-sustaining crop!

There is another benefit to planting garlic – it is a natural repellant for my archenemy: Japanese Beetles!