Before the cold creeped in, I wanted to plant my garlic. Garlic requires a “cooling off” period before it starts to grow. The colder weather and upcoming snow was perfect for the garlic bulbs. My sister-in-law saves her garlic bulbs for the spring and places her bulbs in the refrigerator for about 8 weeks before sowing. The 8 weeks in the refrigerator gives the cooler temperature for the garlic. Both of these methods work. We use different methods simply because of time constraints. Fall planting allows me more time in the spring to focus on my other plants.

A couple weeks prior to planting, I tilled the garden where my garlic would be going. Normally I would also water to break up the soil, but the forecasted rain did the work.

The day before snow was forecasted, it was time to get the garlic in the ground. The garlic bulbs had easy to follow sowing instructions. Once planted, I covered the cloves with dirt, grass cuttings, leaves and a layer of mulch.

My goal for next year is to reuse bulbs from a previous harvest. I enjoyed this year’s harvest before learning about saving cloves for replanting. I’ll slowly improve my garlic harvest each year!

With calmness and grace,

Hannah