IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

While I decided to not plant a winter garden this year, that doesn’t mean I’m not planting Something. My internal nagger just wouldn’t let me do that, so today I planted garlic.

Garlic is an easy crop. Plant it, water it occasionally (if the sky doesn’t), and harvest it (in May or June).

To plant garlic, you first separate the cloves from bulb(s) of garlic, leaving as much of the “paper” on as you can. I had four bulbs and each one of the cloves will, with luck, produce another whole bulb.

Make a hole about 3″ deep and put a clove in each hole. The cloves should be planted about 4″ or so apart.

I read somewhere that it’s good to mulch it with comfrey leaves so I tried it this year. I only have two comfrey plants so that didn’t provide a sufficient cover. After consulting Master Gardner Google, I used lemongrass as mulch too.

I ran out of space in the brick bed before I ran out of garlic cloves, so I planted four cloves in each of three fabric pots. We’ll see how that goes.

I hope I get a bigger crop this time. The garlic powder I made from the garlic I planted last October is amazing.

A few days ago, I planted pansies in the planter I cleared out a few weeks ago. They will make a nice, bright, spot to see on the gloomy winter days.

Gardens aren’t just for food; they are a joy for the eyes and a balm for the mind.