Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Garlic!


garlic!
the scapes are beautiful, too
For the past few years, I have been growing garlic and loving it - from the fall planting to the early spring growth...to my favorite part, which is the cooking with and eating of fresh garlic. A totally different beast than the store bought variety, fresh garlic has a different consistency and a more intense flavor.  Whether roasting it or mincing it, the fresh garlic is delicious and really good for you.

I invested in some beautiful garlic seed stock at the Common Ground - bought it from Fedco Seeds (fedcoseeds.com). They are an incredible resource for gardeners and have generational garlic that lends itself well to planting. The variety of garlic that one would buy to plant is different from the kind that we would purchase in a grocery store to eat - with the former more expensive than the latter, too.

The two pounds of seed garlic that I bought will give me close to 100 heads of garlic - two varieties: Red Russian and Music. I have grown the Red Russian before with great results but the Music will be a new variety.
Sheep manure is excellent for some crops - and garlic is among them. Rhubarb is another one of these crops, and so I am also hoping to acquire some local rhubarb starts from a neighbor who has a lot of it growing and get that in the ground this month, too. Always a lot to do at the Salty Ewe during the spring, summer and fall months...

2 comments:

  1. I love this post. I, too am convinced growing garlic is a must-do for all gardeners. Something to plant in the fall, something to look forward to seeing sprout up in the early spring, something to cull (scapes) early in the summer season, and something to harvest in mid summer much to our palates delight. And, so easy! No pests, no fuss, and no worries.

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  2. Hey there,
    I'll be putting in the last of the garlic this afternoon. A hundred cloves planted in total. Back's a little sore soul is feeling good after digging in the dirt. As always.

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