The Garlic is in!

The day after I pulled the sweet potatoes up, I got to work and prepped the bed for the garlic.  I was surprised when I pulled up the potatoes, although I shouldn't have been, that the dirt was very packed (clay) in a lot of places.  I say I shouldn't have been, because aside from adding a few bags of dirt in the new bed when I created it last year, it was mostly unmodified soil.  Initially working it added volume and air pockets temporarily, but over time the clay based soil eventually packed down pretty tight.  

So this year, I added the following:

Bed #3 = The longer bed, second from the right
1 bag leaf-gro (a University of Maryland commercial leaf compost product)
1 bag's worth of homemade leaf compost

Bed #4 = The small bed all the way to the right

2 bags leaf-gro (a University of Maryland commercial leaf compost product)
2 bag's worth of homemade leaf compost

Bed #4, which is the newest, definitely needed more help, which is why I added more good stuff to that bed.  Between my own leaves and the leaf-gro, I was able to raise the bed about 2 inches off the ground.  Not perfect, but it is a start.

 

I gave bed #3 a few days to relax after adding the new material, and then it was finally time to plant the garlic.  Last year I planted the garlic on October 23rd, and this year the plant date was October 26th.

Once the beds were ready, I laid out the garlic (about 65 cloves) and then pushed them all in.   I planted roughly:

• 25 cloves of last years crop, called Loiacono, an Artichoke Type softneck garlic.   
• 30 cloves of Appalachian Red, a new variety I bought, which is a Rocambole (Hardneck) Garlic
• 12 cloves of some mystery hard neck garlic that Emily's parents brought us last time they came to DC.  They got it from a friend, so hopefully I can get the varietal name.  

Here are some shots of me in the garden, courtesy of my temporary garden helper/photographer, my mom:

Writing the labels, so I can remember which rows are which. 

Spacing the cloves out evenly

Pushing them into the ground, about two inches deep (and covering the cloves and patting it down moderately). 

I couldn't remember if I watered the bed after I put them in last year, but I figured it was more likely that I did.   Next year I won't have to worry about these things, because I will have this blog to look back at.