Sunday, October 27, 2024

Mid-50s. Bluebird sky. Gold and bronze leaves. Wind, but not a red flag day as predicted. A perfect day to be in our yard planting garlic.

A bluebird sky today.

Garlic is central to our daily cooking. We use about 150 cloves of garlic a year, which translates to 35 to 40 bulbs. Fortunately, it is one of the easiest plants to grow and October is the month to plant the crop for harvesting next July. I save the biggest bulbs from the summer harvest for the fall planting.

Garlic cloves ready for planting.

The first hard frost was October 17th. I plant the garlic after the first frost and before the next cold front. Today seemed like a suitable day. Last week we prepped the two raised beds with our own compost and Pro Gro. We switched to raised beds a few years ago, which makes it even easier to plant and then water and fertilize during the growing season.

2024 garlic crop in June.

Each raised bed has room for four rows spaced, 8 inches apart. Each row has space for 18 to 19 garlic cloves planted 6 inches apart. I use a pointed hoe to make a trench so that the cloves will be covered by about 2 inches of soil. Once the rows are all covered with soil, I add about 6 inches of fluffy straw for winter cover. This stays on all the way to harvest time to retain moisture and suppress weeds.

Garlic planted and all tucked in for winter.

The wind was lighter than predicted so Srini raked some leaves in the front yard. Perhaps one of the most relaxing outdoor yard activities on a beautiful late fall day. Especially peaceful after the drone of our neighbors leaf blowing finally stopped. We use a hand rake faster and get much joy out of the chore. Henna helped by watching.

Henna settles into one of the leaf piles.