Cool Weather Crops
As our summer gardens wind down for the season, it’s now time to begin sowing seeds for cooler fall crops. Seeds that can still be directly sown into the soil for a late fall harvest include: arugula, carrots, cabbage, lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, beets and radishes.
Broccoli and cauliflower seedlings can be transferred outdoors to your garden at this time as well.
Grow Your Own Garlic
If you enjoy cooking with garlic, why not try growing your own this year? The time is now to prepare your garden space and purchase garlic cloves to plant for a mid-summer 2016 harvest! Garlic cloves should be planted about 6-8 weeks before the first frost.
Garlic is easy to grow and will produce an abundance of bulbs after its long growing season. Because of its intense aroma, garlic serves the gardener well as an insect repellent.
Choosing Which Garlic to Grow
It is important to note that you should buy your garlic bulbs from a local nursery or mail order company. Grocery store garlic bulbs may not be suitable for our 6b / 7a growing zone. Also, they may have been treated with chemicals to prolong their shelf life.
In our growing zone, the hardneck varieties of garlic will be hardier to our freezing winters. There are many different varieties but a few popular types include Purple Italian, Spanish Roja, and German Red. Hardneck varieties of garlic require you to cut the slower stalks that grow in the spring, to keep the plant from flowering. This allows the plant to put forth all of its energy into producing larger bulbs. The cut flower stalks are called “scapes” and are delicious in their own right!
Soil Requirements
Once you choose a sunny space in your garden, make sure the soil is well-draining and loamy. Garlic prefers a soil that has a neutral to slightly acidic pH.
How to Plant the Cloves
When you receive your bulbs, break them apart into separate cloves, leaving the papery skin on them. Garlic cloves should be planted with their roots facing down about 2 inches down in the soil, and about 4 inches apart from each other. Mulch the garlic patch with hay or shredded leaves to protect the cloves from freezing temperatures this winter. The mulch should be removed in the spring after the last frost.
Growing your own garlic is simple, very satisfying and worthwhile! Even a small patch set aside for garlic in the garden can wield you an impressive amount of bulbs at harvest time next summer.
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