Time to plant the garlic.

There is really not much better than harvesting your own food, fresh from the back yard.  All those hours of tilling, prepping, planting, feeding, weeding, protecting and harvesting finally pay.  But not every thing needs to be a lot of work.  Some things are wonderfully delicious and super easy to grow.  Garlic may be one of the easiest crops to grow, and is great for even the non-gardener.  All you need for about a years supply is a 4'x4' plot of soil, and several bulbs of organic, disease free garlic.

Loose soil is best, as garlic is a bulb plant, and will grow under the soil.  If the ground is too compact, it will be difficult for the bulbs to develop.  Once you found your spot, make sure the soil is loose, and turning in compost to get a good consistency and nutrients.  Smooth out your plot, and drill trenches about one inch deep, about two inches apart.  You will want to break you garlic up into individual cloves.  To plant, you just place a clove in the ground, with its base down, and cover with an inch of soil.  How close you plant will depend on if you want to harvest green garlic in the spring.  Plant about 1.5" apart for green garlic harvest, or 3" for no green garlic harvest.  Water lightly, and then go back inside and allow winter to happen.  You do not need to water, unless we see a long (6 weeks) mid winter drought.

Fall harvest of herbed and garlic that cured all summer long in the shed.

Around mid December you will see the tips of the plants begin to break the soil.  Around April, when they have at least 5 fronds 10 inches in length, it is time to start pulling the green garlic.  Only pull every other plant, and pull them as you plan to use them.  It will only hold for about a week, or so.  You will want to have them all pulled by late March, so the bulbs can have room to develop on the other plants.

If you planted a hardneck variety, scapes will emerge in April or May.  They look like swan necks with a flower bud tip.  Cut it off, as this will send energy back to the bulb to develop.  Scapes are great sauteed or pickled.  I think of them as a garlicky green bean.  Softneck varieties will not send a scape.  Wait until late May, June or July to harvest.  I usually pull one plant first to see how big the clove is.  If I want more, I wait longer.  If you wait too long, they can rot, so be careful.

Calendula.  Easy to grow wild perennial that happens to be edible.

Gently pull from the ground, tie plants together with their fronds, and hang in a cool dry place to cure.  You will want to keep them hanging at least two weeks, and it will reek of garlic.  I like to use my shed. Cut the clove from the rest of the plant and gently wipe of dried dirt and the outer layer of skin.  Compost the rest.