I’ve tried shallots and garlic in the past, but it didn’t go so well. Either they barely grew, or some creature in the yard decided they made a good snack. But I'm not ready to give up just yet, so it’s time to try again.
My biggest issue with garlic is in the buying. I swear I am always Johnny Come Lately when it comes to ordering before everything sells out. There must be some magical week of the year to buy garlic that I somehow miss every single time, because whenever I start looking, every site is completely sold out.
This year, I actually got lucky. Baker Creek still had a couple of varieties left, so I snapped the German Hardy which they say are "exceptionally cold hardy" making them perfect for Minnesota.
Since I didn't do much prep work ahead of time, I didn't have a dedicated garlic bed ready to go. So, I just tucked them in all over the garden in various raised boxes. I've heard that scattering them around works just fine and some gardeners say it works even better than planting them all squeezed together in one spot. Time will certainly tell on that one. Crossing my fingers it pays off.
Following the advice of a YouTube garden guru, I planted the cloves two inches deep and gave everything a good watering afterward, then covered with a layer of freshly fallen. maple leaves.
Now I’m sitting here nursing my hand. I reached under some leaves to pull out what I thought was a bit of runaway mint, only to discover the hard way that it was actually stinging nettle. 😫
Note to self: never pull a plant until you’ve actually looked at what you’re grabbing.
Now we wait for spring to see if the random box method actually pays off!
No comments
Post a Comment