Another request has come across my Facebook. My friend would like to know more about growing garlic. Garlic is a very easy crop to grow, though I haven't found much consistency in the "how-to's" of growing it. I learned by reading all the books, then throwing together my own recipe, so to speak.
One challenge is finding the right variety. Garlic is divided into two categories: Hard-neck and soft-neck. Hard-neck varieties send up a central stalk and produce a flower. The cloves are larger and easier to peel which are rich and usually not too spicy. Hard-neck is preferred for northern climates. Soft-neck varieties usually don't send up a flower spike. They are easier to grow, mature faster and more productive. They tend to be more adaptable to a wider range of climates though these garlic varieties are typically grown in southern California and near the Gulf of Mexico where winters are moderate. They generally have a spicier flavor.
I have been fortunate enough to find a hard-neck variety that suits our family well. I don't know the variety. Sorry. Several summers ago, I bought garlic from a farmer at the Farmer's Market. Garlicman, as we affectionately named him behind his back (and yes, probably his superhero identity) grew the tastiest garlic. His garlic cloves became our starts, but you should be able to stick any garlic in the ground and get it to grow. I would recommend using organic garlic. The cloves of the garlic act as bulbs like tulips, crocus, daffodil, etc. Use the larger cloves to produce larger heads of garlic.
As always, start with fertile soil. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible recommends "deep fertile soil that is well drained but has plenty of organic matter." So what exactly does that mean? It means, don't plant it in heavy clay or sand. If you don't have a nice layer of top soil in your yard, you may need to make some layers. This is also known as sheet mulching. You can read more about building up a garden HERE. I would recommend building your soil up, anyway. It makes for easier gardening. Garlic likes full sun, which translates to at least six hours of full exposure a day.
In the fall, or whenever you plant bulbs in your part of the country, plant individual garlic cloves pointy side up about two to three inches deep and six inches apart. In Knoxville, we plant garlic in October, but watch the weather because you don't want to plant when it's too hot. You'll want to wait for a bit of a cold nip. We may have planted at the beginning of November this year due to a very warm Autumn.
After you plant the bulbs, put down a layer of mulch. Autumn leaves work well for this.
Garlic does not like to get choked out, so keep the area free of weeds and grass. If you are rotating a preexisting garden, do not plant the garlic after onions. I don't know why. It's just what the books say. Sometimes I don't question gardeners who are more experienced than me. I just take their word (and experience) for it. Do not plant garlic with beans or peas, but you can interplant beets or lettuce, which help keep the soil cool in the summer. Apparently, garlic likes full sun, but not hot soil. Last year, after last frost, I interplanted the garlic with some sunflowers and zinnia. The flowers added color to the garden and didn't shade out the garlic. The flowers also served as an invitation to other beneficial insects.
Once you have planted the bulbs, garlic has low watering needs. In the Spring, just like other bulbs, you will see shoots popping up. Keep the area free of weeds and as the season continues, add another light layer of mulch especially if the whole interplanting thing is confusing. The mulch will keep the soil cool, but allow for the garlic stalks to grow high to the sun. When flower buds appear (hard-neck varities), snip them. This focuses the plants energy to creating a larger bulb.
Garlic is harvested in the mid to late summer. The trick is to watch the garlic. When the lower leaves turn yellow, start paying attention. The book says to wait till the stalks fall over, but that caused me to overshoot the garlic last year and some of the bulbs had separated. I think it is best to harvest when the stalks begin to yellow and turn a little brown. It is best to use a garden fork to loosen the soil so you can pull out the bulbs. If you pull the first bulb out, and it doesn't look quite ready, put down a little mulch and wait a little longer for the other bulbs to mature.
Next, you need to dry the bulbs. This is known as curing and the secret to long shelf life. Handle the garlic with care so as not to bruise it. Leave the stalks on. I don't know if there is a real science to this since I have several different gardening books and each one has a different method. Last year, I tied my garlic up and hung it in a sunny well ventilated window in the house. Other years, I have layered the garlic in a criss-cross way and left it in a sunny window in the shed.
Curing takes about two weeks and is finished when it looks like it does at the store. Clip the stalks and store as you would normally store garlic. Remember to save a head or two for next year's garden…that is if you like the variety.
Garlic bulb sources:
Check your local Food Cooperative. They should sell organic garlic.
Online:
Territorial Seed
Seeds of Change
I found this great source with an easy to follow PDF information sheet, after I spent a couple hours writing mine. I should just throw my article out! But alas, hopefully mine is more entertaining.
Garlic Farm
Garlic Farm Garlic Info Sheet PDF
As always, thanks for reading.
28 January 2009
27 January 2009
And the Layoffs Rise...
As posted on the Democracy Now website...
"Pfizer, Caterpillar, Sprint Announce Major Layoffs
The list of major companies announcing mass layoffs grew on Monday as Pfizer, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Sprint Nextel and at least eight other firms announced plans to cut more than 75,000 jobs. Pfizer said it would cut nearly 20,000 jobs as part of its acquisition of Wyeth. Caterpillar plans to eliminate 20,000 as well. 8,000 jobs are being cut at Sprint Nextel, 7,000 jobs at Home Depot, 3,400 jobs at Texas Instruments and 2,000 jobs at General Motors. Last week, Microsoft announced it would cut as many as 5,000 jobs in the company’s first mass layoffs."
How are this Nation's new President, Congress and Senate going to stop this rolling boulder which continues to gain speed and crash through what is left of our shattered lives? Is there a way to stop it? Or does everything need to crash so our Spirits can rise from the ashes renewed and humbled? Is this what it takes to truly get folks to understand that they need to simplify their lives and stop the overindulgence and gorging on the endless supplies of junk?
The people of the US needed a wake-up call due to the heights of our destruction to Earth. We are such a wasteful society. I wish no ill will on anyone, and this is another sign, like in Katrina, that when the shit really hits the fan, you're on your own. It's crashing. The United States is a tailspin with all the engines on fire. We can scream, "Mayday!" But screaming won't do any good.
If you are fortunate enough to still have a home, plant a vegetable garden. Be sure to use heirloom seeds so you can save your seed and not buy seeds year to year. The initial investment is less than a weeks grocery bill, but provides food for as long as you keep a garden.
Be friends with your neighbors. If you don't already know your neighbors, shame on you! Get out there and meet them because you are going to need each other's help in the years to come. In times of turmoil, your direct community is the best resource.
And remember, when you're at your lowest, there is only one way, and that is up.
The bottom line is that the USofA had an unstable unsustainable economy from the start. We may see a shift towards communism. Some would have you think as a very nasty practice. It Etymology is from the French word commun, which translates to common. It may be the only way to survive. Instead of holding on to everything so tight that we squeeze the life out of everything, maybe sharing isn't such a bad idea.
Unfortunately, we weren't raised to share. People need to be taught to share. Our society seems to be inherently greedy, but again, is it because we have been socialized to act this way? Well, of course! Are nuns greedy? They practice communism as does the rest of the Catholic Church. Were the native peoples greedy? Probably not, since they saved the pilgrims from starving to death.
Look out! The boulder is gaining in size and speed, and if we don't shift our thinking quickly, we will all be crushed. I'm not suggesting communism. I'm simply pondering a few ideas. But what this nation needs to wake up to is food security and sustainable living practices. This crash is larger than the 1930's simply because we have a much larger population to feed. In the 1930's many folks had a family farm to return to live and work. This is not the case anymore.
As food shortages rise, we may see mass exoduses to rural areas, but none of this can help if folks have lost all contact with Earth. If folks haven't the know how to grow food, doesn't matter if they live on the most fertile farm in the nation.
In schools, the focus is math and science. The focus needs to also allow space for gardening in regards to food production especially in urban areas. In urban areas, cities need to preserve their green spaces to provide areas for community gardening. Within each state, encouragement and support needs to be given to local farmers especially those who practice sustainable agriculture. State governments need to put a moratorium on new subdivision growth (I don't think one could trust counties to do this, so it would need to come from a state level.) to preserve land for farming. State governments need to stop looking towards the federal government for aid and support and truly run their states like independent countries. Each governor has the power to enact agricultural reform within their own state boundaries.
As citizens, we need to work together encouraging our local elected officials to begin preserving the immediate land in each individual county. Local government needs to stop looking towards the federal government as well and begin working hand in hand with surrounding county governments towards agricultural sustainability. They need to look towards their governor more like an elected President.
Not that I don't think that our new elected President can't handle the job. I really like Obama. I think that he is a leader who can guide us. I also think that he is inheriting a big stinky pile of shit. What a fucking mess! What a fucking nightmare! And the boulder continues to crush as it barrels down the hill.
I do think it would behoove us all to pull our local resources, act more like a community within our own neighborhoods and possibly begin to enact the concept of sharing.
"Pfizer, Caterpillar, Sprint Announce Major Layoffs
The list of major companies announcing mass layoffs grew on Monday as Pfizer, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Sprint Nextel and at least eight other firms announced plans to cut more than 75,000 jobs. Pfizer said it would cut nearly 20,000 jobs as part of its acquisition of Wyeth. Caterpillar plans to eliminate 20,000 as well. 8,000 jobs are being cut at Sprint Nextel, 7,000 jobs at Home Depot, 3,400 jobs at Texas Instruments and 2,000 jobs at General Motors. Last week, Microsoft announced it would cut as many as 5,000 jobs in the company’s first mass layoffs."
How are this Nation's new President, Congress and Senate going to stop this rolling boulder which continues to gain speed and crash through what is left of our shattered lives? Is there a way to stop it? Or does everything need to crash so our Spirits can rise from the ashes renewed and humbled? Is this what it takes to truly get folks to understand that they need to simplify their lives and stop the overindulgence and gorging on the endless supplies of junk?
The people of the US needed a wake-up call due to the heights of our destruction to Earth. We are such a wasteful society. I wish no ill will on anyone, and this is another sign, like in Katrina, that when the shit really hits the fan, you're on your own. It's crashing. The United States is a tailspin with all the engines on fire. We can scream, "Mayday!" But screaming won't do any good.
If you are fortunate enough to still have a home, plant a vegetable garden. Be sure to use heirloom seeds so you can save your seed and not buy seeds year to year. The initial investment is less than a weeks grocery bill, but provides food for as long as you keep a garden.
Be friends with your neighbors. If you don't already know your neighbors, shame on you! Get out there and meet them because you are going to need each other's help in the years to come. In times of turmoil, your direct community is the best resource.
And remember, when you're at your lowest, there is only one way, and that is up.
The bottom line is that the USofA had an unstable unsustainable economy from the start. We may see a shift towards communism. Some would have you think as a very nasty practice. It Etymology is from the French word commun, which translates to common. It may be the only way to survive. Instead of holding on to everything so tight that we squeeze the life out of everything, maybe sharing isn't such a bad idea.
Unfortunately, we weren't raised to share. People need to be taught to share. Our society seems to be inherently greedy, but again, is it because we have been socialized to act this way? Well, of course! Are nuns greedy? They practice communism as does the rest of the Catholic Church. Were the native peoples greedy? Probably not, since they saved the pilgrims from starving to death.
Look out! The boulder is gaining in size and speed, and if we don't shift our thinking quickly, we will all be crushed. I'm not suggesting communism. I'm simply pondering a few ideas. But what this nation needs to wake up to is food security and sustainable living practices. This crash is larger than the 1930's simply because we have a much larger population to feed. In the 1930's many folks had a family farm to return to live and work. This is not the case anymore.
As food shortages rise, we may see mass exoduses to rural areas, but none of this can help if folks have lost all contact with Earth. If folks haven't the know how to grow food, doesn't matter if they live on the most fertile farm in the nation.
In schools, the focus is math and science. The focus needs to also allow space for gardening in regards to food production especially in urban areas. In urban areas, cities need to preserve their green spaces to provide areas for community gardening. Within each state, encouragement and support needs to be given to local farmers especially those who practice sustainable agriculture. State governments need to put a moratorium on new subdivision growth (I don't think one could trust counties to do this, so it would need to come from a state level.) to preserve land for farming. State governments need to stop looking towards the federal government for aid and support and truly run their states like independent countries. Each governor has the power to enact agricultural reform within their own state boundaries.
As citizens, we need to work together encouraging our local elected officials to begin preserving the immediate land in each individual county. Local government needs to stop looking towards the federal government as well and begin working hand in hand with surrounding county governments towards agricultural sustainability. They need to look towards their governor more like an elected President.
Not that I don't think that our new elected President can't handle the job. I really like Obama. I think that he is a leader who can guide us. I also think that he is inheriting a big stinky pile of shit. What a fucking mess! What a fucking nightmare! And the boulder continues to crush as it barrels down the hill.
I do think it would behoove us all to pull our local resources, act more like a community within our own neighborhoods and possibly begin to enact the concept of sharing.
26 January 2009
Chinese Year of the Ox
Hmm. How interesting. I have been making odd connections recently in regards to our new President. You may have read some of them. Another recent discovery revolves around the Chinese New Year. Today marks the beginning of the year of the OX.
If you are not familiar with the Chinese zodiac, there are plenty of web pages to explore this element of the Chinese culture, but here is a quick briefing:
The Chinese zodiac is comprised of twelve different animals which correspond with a twelve year cycle. The calendar is a combination of the Gregorian and the Lunar-Solar calendars. The beginning of a new cycle revolves around the first new moon of a Gregorian calendar year, which means a new Chinese calendar year can begin anytime between late January and mid February. Today, January 26, 2009 marks the first new moon and, therefore, the start of the Chinese New Year.
As mentions, each year corresponds with an animal and exhibits certain traits. Beyond that, certain elements (metal, water, wood, fire or earth) are also assigned to an animal, which is also determined by the year. This is the year of the Earth Ox.
Our new President is an OX, and more specifically Metal Ox. The description of the Metal Ox (taken from Chinese Zodiac) reads:
"Like metal, these Oxen are amazingly strong. They’re extremely hard-working individuals who will do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals. They’re trustworthy, dependable individuals who are not likely to show emotion. They have difficulty interpreting the feelings of others."
It differs from the Earth Ox which reads:
"Earth Oxen are successful individuals, probably because they are diligent rather than impulsive. A more modest approach combined with their reliability and sincerity makes them more likeable."
Some common traits of the Ox can be found at the aforementioned website and can be applied to any living Ox or anyone born as of today through February 14, 2010.
If you would like to learn more about your Chinese zodiac:
Chinese Zodiac
Chinese Zodiac
Happy New Year.
As always, thanks for reading.
If you are not familiar with the Chinese zodiac, there are plenty of web pages to explore this element of the Chinese culture, but here is a quick briefing:
The Chinese zodiac is comprised of twelve different animals which correspond with a twelve year cycle. The calendar is a combination of the Gregorian and the Lunar-Solar calendars. The beginning of a new cycle revolves around the first new moon of a Gregorian calendar year, which means a new Chinese calendar year can begin anytime between late January and mid February. Today, January 26, 2009 marks the first new moon and, therefore, the start of the Chinese New Year.
As mentions, each year corresponds with an animal and exhibits certain traits. Beyond that, certain elements (metal, water, wood, fire or earth) are also assigned to an animal, which is also determined by the year. This is the year of the Earth Ox.
Our new President is an OX, and more specifically Metal Ox. The description of the Metal Ox (taken from Chinese Zodiac) reads:
"Like metal, these Oxen are amazingly strong. They’re extremely hard-working individuals who will do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals. They’re trustworthy, dependable individuals who are not likely to show emotion. They have difficulty interpreting the feelings of others."
It differs from the Earth Ox which reads:
"Earth Oxen are successful individuals, probably because they are diligent rather than impulsive. A more modest approach combined with their reliability and sincerity makes them more likeable."
Some common traits of the Ox can be found at the aforementioned website and can be applied to any living Ox or anyone born as of today through February 14, 2010.
If you would like to learn more about your Chinese zodiac:
Chinese Zodiac
Chinese Zodiac
Happy New Year.
As always, thanks for reading.
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