As I separated out the cloves, I dropped them into their bath, where I left them while I prepared the holes for planting. My reading says that they can be left in the water for up to 24 hours, and that treatment can be followed by a dip in rubbing alcohol or vodka (neither of which I had on hand).
I know I'm not the only gardener out there who suffers a twinge planting the biggest bulbs of the harvest. This clove is a hardneck variety, likely Music, acclimated over three seasons here. I decided to plant one bed of hardneck and one of softneck as opposed to last year's chaos. It should make garlic scape season a little less like a treasure hunt. Throwback at Trapper Creek, who's in Oregon, says she finds her hardneck keeps almost as long as the softneck, and the cloves are so much bigger and easier to peel that she has a preference for it. We like the look of braids, for which softnecks are required, but the disease meant I sent all the greenery to the garbage this time around, snipped half and inch above the bulbs. Food for thought...
While I was making holes, my lovely husband was digging finished compost out of our two black bins, and we had the perfect amount to cover everything up. What I didn't take a picture of was the
actual finished beds - tucked in with floating row cover, bricks weighing down the corners to discourage chicken 'exploration.' Still to come is a chicken wire fence around the plantings - this one will be sturdier than what protected the barley crop.
The bunnies and kits are doing well, although the tattooing seems to be a bit hit-and-miss, as the ink is still wearing off. Sunday Adrian took our biggest and smallest kits out of their nesting boxes for comparison at 17 days (hint: I've dubbed the grey one 'Gigantor')
And the real comparison:
Can I hear an awwwwww?
You got it! Awwwww.... I popped over to thank you for your visit to Mucky Boots, where I have posted a reply (for all it's worth) to your question.
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to planting my garlic today - how exciting to think of next season's crop!
Hi Miriam :) With the weather we're having, I think I could have put off the planting, but I never know when the rain will start in for long periods of time. My neighbour planted 10 days before me, and had her bulbs sending up shoots by the time mine were just going into the ground. We like to joke that with the price of local, organic garlic around these parts, our garlic harvest (knock wood) can be depended on to provide us enough 'income' to justify our other expenditures, even if they fail.
ReplyDeleteI've made contact with a nice realtor in the Cowichan Valley who has offered to show us about, so we will be continuing to research a move. We've been proceeding slowly for the last five years, and will continue to expand in increments rather than rush headlong. I think it's very important to establish a network of like-minded individuals for sharing of knowledge, supplies, equipment, and occasional in-person assistance. I'll copy this and repost, just to make sure you know I appreciate your response!