garden news-garlic planting

GARDEN NEWS-GARLIC PLANTING

we use garlic a lot in cooking so i try to grow enough each year then store it in our garage to use as we need it during the year
i hang them in woven garlic weaves to hang from the garage ceiling
they almost look like a macramé if you know what that is

the garlic from last years planting is about half gone

we should have enough to last us until these garlics i planted this week are ready to harvest

the secret to growing garlic and actually any vegetable is to have
a good rich soil

here is a picture of where i planted my garlic bed
the bed is 3 ft x 8 ft
this spring and summer it started out as where i planted my zucchini squash and my tatume squash
when the squash season was over i removed the squash
then i added about 4 in of rich compost
that we made ourselves here in the garden
then i added a sprinkling of an organic garden fertilizer
then i forked this in with a garden fork 
then i added a solution of fish emulsion seaweed molasses to the soil
then i covered it with several inches of a mulch
then i kept it watered for a couple of months
then when i got ready to plant the garlic the soil was this rich dark full of nutrients that any veggie would love to be planted in
i simply raked back the layer of mulch and planted the garlic

the picture of the garlic above shows the upper left one wrapped in that purple mesh 
that is a silver white soft neck that does good in central california
you have to get one that works in your area
i ordered this one from botanical interests a seed company from colorado who makes organic seeds that you see being sold in a lot of organic nurseries here and also elsewhere like texas

the one on the right some of which are broken into cloves with the red are a red spanish garlic i got from a local organic nursery
it was actually grown here in the santa barbara area so i know its adapted to this area

the one on the bottom left is a red italian garlic that i grew in my garden last year
it produced the best garlic ive grown since i have been here
we have been using it since last may in our cooking and hopefully we can make it until this new crop is ready to harvest

when i plant these i plant them with the pointy end upwards

i plant them about 1.5 inches deep about 6 inches apart
i cover them with soil then water them in with my fish emulsion seaweed molasses mixture
i water them at least once a week with a drip system
i add the fish emulsion etc every 2 weeks
i sprinkle coarse ground corn meal on the soil twice a month to cutdown on fungal diseases since we get a lot of morning fog 
i spray them once a week with hydrogen peroxide every week this also helps to kill bacterial and fungal diseases
in texas i never seemed to have to worry about these but here the increased moisture from the morning fog creates an environment the germs love

then i just keep an eye on them until april or may when the leaves seem to start dying then i harvest them
i try to let them dry out some before i harvest them so they wont be wet when they are harvested

then i just wait until its time

garlic is really easy to grow much easier in the austin area then here

you can even grow some in a pot

just

remember you put a $5 plant in a $50 hole

the organicgreen doctor