So it's fall, which mostly means things are winding down in the garden. Maybe you planted root crops months ago to overwinter, or recently transplanted some established brassicas, but otherwise it would be crazy to think about seeding anything in this cold...That is, of course, except for garlic!
Mid-fall is the perfect time to plant garlic in our climate, so it can start to sprout, overwinter, then keep growing in the spring. I've been meaning to get garlic in the ground for weeks, and now is a tad on the late side, but better late than never! If you are thinking about it, Seattle Tilth has a great, simple guide to garlic planting with all the basics. You can use any cloves really, preferably ones that were grown in this region so you know they will do well. I got a red variety from Irish Eyes garden seeds.
And as I was prepping the bed to plant the garlic, I found some red potatoes that were somehow overlooked this summer. Bonus!
Mid-fall is the perfect time to plant garlic in our climate, so it can start to sprout, overwinter, then keep growing in the spring. I've been meaning to get garlic in the ground for weeks, and now is a tad on the late side, but better late than never! If you are thinking about it, Seattle Tilth has a great, simple guide to garlic planting with all the basics. You can use any cloves really, preferably ones that were grown in this region so you know they will do well. I got a red variety from Irish Eyes garden seeds.
And as I was prepping the bed to plant the garlic, I found some red potatoes that were somehow overlooked this summer. Bonus!
4 comments:
Oh! so cool! I am just starting a gardening plot at a community garden here in Post Falls (that my friend started last year.) We just went there and 'winterized' our plots by ripping out the old tomato plants to put in the compost, then sprinkling this salt stuff to make the dirt less clay like, then we put down leaves to protect the ground from the harsh winter and finally covered it all up with hay/straw. Is that like what you guys do over on that side of the mountains too? I didn't know fall was garlic planting time though, I totally would have hopped on that!
Keep posting on your gardening stuff! I want to learn from you!!!
That's awesome you got a plot in a community garden! Yep and it sounds like you pretty much winterize the same as we would here. What you did is called sheet mulching, where you put several layers down of different materials. It's going to protect the soil like you said, while also breaking down, so hopefully by spring that will all be organic matter that decomposes into the soil, then you don't have to add a bunch of compost later! Pretty cool. I can't wait to hear updates about what you guys start growing in the spring. That will be such a great experience for Beckett to see things growing and to eat fresh veggies from the garden!
Yea, I'm really excited to bring Beckett there a few times a week come spring. He helped me do the sheet mulching (i'm excited about my new phrase you taught me!:) and he had a blast... mostly he just shoveled dirt from one pile to another and then chased crickets, but it was so cute to watch.
Where is your garden? At your mom's house or in a community garden?
Ah I bet Beckett is adorable playing in the dirt! So I mostly garden at my mom's house, with plots in the back and side yard. I volunteer a little at a community garden at a community center, and also occasionally with the gardens at Seattle Tilth. Hey, I was also going to mention about "winterizing" your garden... there are a couple other things you can do besides sheet mulching. You can plant cover crop, which could be a variety of plants like rye, crimson clover, vetch, and many things in the pea family. It's sort of the same idea as sheet mulching- it prevents soil erosion, retains moisture and nutrients, and adds or organic matter in spring. Anything in the pea family is going to take nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil so that's cool. You plant in the fall and till it in in the spring about 4 weeks before you want to plant. The 3rd "winterizing" option is to keep crops growing in the bed! That could be garlic (planted in fall) or carrots or beets or broccoli or kale planted in late summer. As long as those things are established before it freezes, the garden just acts as a fridge/freezer, and you can harvest all winter! You can dig up fresh carrots in the snow! Haha, anyway, I sort of went off on a tangent, but while we were talking about winterizing I thought I'd mention it :)
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