The Garlic Grows

Matt planted 125 cloves of garlic last fall to overwinter and come up in the spring.  They were actually the first little hint of green growing things in our garden to make an appearance in the spring.  The kick off to the outdoor gardening season, in a way, I suppose.

3/30/2013

3/30/2013

We are very excited to be growing garlic again this year.  We didn't plant any in the fall of 2011 for the 2012 season because we knew we planned to move and so wouldn't be there to harvest it.  It was good planning too because we did indeed end up moving in March.  So, after a one season hiatus we're pleased to be at it again and that it seems to be working so well this year.

4/23/2013

We've never grown this much garlic before.  We didn't have the room.  So oh boy, am I pleased that we do now.  See, when I am cooking I put garlic in pretty much anything that is not a dessert.  What can I say....I just think it tastes great in everything!  Roast garlic, spicy garlic toss, garlic breads, garlic green beans, and then there is broccoli which in my mind can only be made palatable by roasting with a heavy application of garlic.  Garlic ranks pretty high on my culinary palate.

Small at first the wee garlic plants steadily grow each day larger and larger, filling the bed as they reach for the sky.  Most are now at least as big around as Matt's thumb, many twice that and quite tall, too.  One row is hardly bigger than a pen, however.  You can definitely tell they are different varieties just by how they are growing, which is pretty interesting.

6/6/2013

6/6/2013

The leaves are still all lush and green so the garlic harvest is still a ways off--we tend to wait until the leaves are about half brown before pulling the plants.

6/9/2013

But, things are looking promising.  My mouth waters in anticipation.