Posted on 03/02/2024 6:26:35 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Spring is beginning to sprung here in Central Missouri. Mostly warm this past week with another inch of rainfall.
After work yesterday I made a quick jaunt into the woods to check for morels. Nothing there yet so I got Nanner out and moved my heap of ready-to-use compost into the new garden patch.
Next step out there is deciding how I want to lay out the planting beds. I’m thinking of putting the hoop house along the east fence with the pole bean/squash arbors along the south fence. Perennial beds in the center then beds for the annuals around that. All while leaving enough space to get in, out, and around with the tractor and without using up all of the good topsoil I’ve stockpiled before the new raised beds (that aren’t built yet) have been filled.
I’ve got the house yard cleaned up and ready for the first mowing of the season. Mrs. Augie will do the honors after we get back from our run to the feed store.
Still have a handful of dead trees that need to come down. Those will be at the top of my to-do list this weekend if the winds are low enough to work on them safely.
I need a nap from just thinking about all that...
I “ate” grass yesterday big time with the wind. The grass chute on LB actually ‘droops’ - the JD service tech suggested I tie it up years ago. I do the same on Clyde.
Garlic is super easy Pete, and it does very well in raised beds.
In our growing area stick cloves in the soil by Thanksgiving, cover with 6” of compost, keep the weeds out, water a bit if the weather is bone dry, harvest when the tops are mostly dried up and starting to fall over - usually around July 4th.
Pull it, braid it, hang it in a well-ventilated place that’s out of the sun to cure.
OK.
Once the ground is workable, I’ll do that. With the amount of snow we’re supposed to get next week, mid week, I’ll probably wait until that is over and melted.
Not all garlic can be braided.
I grow hardneck garlic, which is better for northern climates and produces much larger bulbs, which means less peeling, but hardneck cannot be braided.
I plant mine in Oct and put them in raised beds because when my soil gets wet, it’s pretty mucky.
I prep the beds by digging a trench, putting in well composted manure, some compost if I have any, some fertilizer and some bone meal. I mix it in well and put a very light layer of dirt over it. I don’t want to burn the roots with placing the clove directly on the fertilizer. I lay about 6-8” of landscape fabric between the rows to help keep the weeds down. Trying to weed garlic can be difficult come June or July.
About two days before planting, I break the bulbs up into the individual cloves, leaving the paper on. The cloves get planted 2” deep and when the ground freezes, I cover it with about 4” of straw. It keeps the ground from heaving as it freezes and thaws during the winter, which can damage the plants.
The garlic will start to put out roots in the fall, and MAY show a little green at that time, but you don’t want a lot of top growth. The period of cold it experiences while in the ground for the winter is what causes the bulbs to form. That’s why planting garlic in the spring isn’t usually advised.
In the spring, pull off most of the straw and side dress them with some fertilizer.
Harvest when about half the leaves have turned brown.
There are plenty of you-tube videos for more details.
When I save out bulbs for next year’s crop, I always save the biggest and best. That way you are selecting for the garlic that grows the best for your particular locale.
The few days of bed prep and actual planting can be pretty busy but with the landscape fabric and straw, and the fact that almost NOT bothers garlic, it is otherwise pretty maintenance free and worth the effort.
A lot of it depends on variety and type. I have an iceberg type called Ice Queen that’s more cold tolerant than many iceberg types. Delicate leafy types do worse.
Mine is romaine.
My paper towel roll pots were a major failure but not because of them. Somehow the temperature probe for the heat mats got knocked out, even though it had a good clip holding it. The temp probe was sitting on the floor where it’s coolest and the mats stayed on pretty much full time. I think it was two days plus a night I didn’t check on them. Dried out the seed mix and cooked the sprouts.
Out of 50, 2 of 10 red kale and 5 of 10 Salanova lettuce made it. Glad the Salanova did best because those seeds are pricey.
Romaine is more heat tolerant than most lettuce so I’m guessing they might not be as cold tolerant. I would cover on freezing nights to be safe.
I was planning on that.
But like I said earlier, we’re due for another shot of winter midweek so it’ll have to wait.
Very nice!
Just used an old photographic tray, aluminum foil, stones, moss twigs, and a tin can for a cave. Small rabbits foot fern and a potted something. Stone is rolled away here, it is in the left.
Beautiful! Have a blessed Resurrection Day, MomwithHope!
Have a Happy and Blessed Easter!
I love that so much! Couldn’t stand the ‘Fairy Garden Craziness’ but I LOVE that! :)
We dodged a bullet with our last predicted storm - got all of 2” and they had closed all schools and businesses in the area.
Sorry that your Spring has been delayed. We’ve got rain - but 50 degree daytime temps - it was 114 in the greenhouse today - so I’m NOT complaining...as much as usual, LOL!
Here’s hoping.
Already the forecast is for more rain and less snow.
Dear God, let it be so.
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