Meg and I are always learning something new about the fascinating world of backyard food production. Recently we learned that our steps to planting garlic were a little out of order. Actually the only step that was out of place was when to add mulch. We thought that the mulch was added AFTER the garlic sprouted. This assumption was made because we were under the impression that the mulch would suffocate the garlic and keep them from sprouting. We were wrong.
Many of the garden blogs we read are talking about one of three things: frost/snow, what's in food storage, and planting garlic. While reading Tiny Farm Blog and Her Able Hands I realized that mulching your garlic beds doesn't have to wait for the shoots to show. After sharing this information with Meg we decided that we should gather some straw bales right quick. The shoots are already close to four or five inches tall and were going to be covered next week, but now it is at the top of our to-do list with a bit of fire under our asses.
I don't feel that we are too late; we waited this long last year and ended up harvesting close to 200 bulbs. However, it is a bit of a bother sifting straw between every sprout and if this helps ease the chore than I am all applause.
11 November 2007
The Garlic of Education
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2 comments:
I don't think you're too late, the sprouts should be just fine. They're so vibrant looking! I can't wait for this harvest next summer.
Yeah, so far everything seems to be doing well. We also planted our garlic in a sunnier section of the yard, so that too should lend itself to a bulbalicious summer. Cheers.
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