#home garden

[tomorrowsgardennc]

it's (a little overdue but still) time to...

✨️ plant garlic ✨️

good news is with garlic's extremely long growing season, there is a lot of buffer to when you can plant your garlic. october through december, actually - as long as it's a few weeks before your first frost. BUT, a long buffer also means a lot to do to prep for it and a longer time to keep them happy. so let's break down how to keep garlic fed for the next few months.

🧄 step 1: compost

because of garlic's long growing period, it makes them heavy feeders of nutrients. along this growing journey will be many steps to giving them fresh nutrients, but step one is making sure they get a small but steady supply as they grow. wherever you plan to plant the garlic, top it off with a small compost lasagna. since this is an established bed (my oldest bed, actually) i kept my compost lasagna ratio a little on the lightsr weight side-of-things. very thin layer of tree mulch on top of the old soil, kinda mixed in even. then a layer of green (i took the sweet potato vines as i harvested the potatoes in the bed next to this one) and waited about 2 weeks to let them de-moisturize and also because of health reasons but whatever. on top of that, i added a mix of green and brown grass cuttings, some fallen leaves thrown in there too. this was the thickest layer at about 3 inches. the penultimate layer is about 2ish inches of a mix of old soil and peat moss. after planting the bulbs, i added the thinnest layer of leaf mulch, but this is not necessary. the only reason i added this last layer is because we have been going through a prolonged drought, so i wanted a layer that will keep that soil moist as long as possible.

🧄 step 2: fertilizer soup

now for me, fertilizer soup is a diluted fish emulsion solution. that's it, mostly because i am lazy and also because it's the most common method. @gardening-guy is trying out a banana peel fertilizer soup when they started their garlic (oli got the bulbs from my shop, so tbh only difference so far is the fertilizer soup recipe. and oli started a month ago. not a competition.) oli's garlic has already started to pop up, so that means the fertilizer soup did it's job - penetrate the tough outer skin the garlic bulbs got when curing and gave them a burst of energy to get things growing. let me know if you use a different fertilizer soup recipe. as long as it's high in potassium, you'll be good to go. oh, and make sure it soaks for 24 hours. that cured skin is pretty thick.

🧄 step 3: companion planting

while garlic is a heavy feeder, that doesn't mean they're introverts. a lot of websites will tell you garlic deters pests from other plants, but legit for real right now go out to your garden and tell me if you smell garlic once it's planted. you don't, and the bugs sure don't. so ignore that part and plant winter vegetables alongside your garlic that wants nitrogen AND grows above the soil line. garlic wants all the potassium, and you don't want to disturb the garlic bulbs under the soil line. winter vegetables you can harvest by cutting are the best. i have pink celery that i am btoh harvesting and letting go to seed in one bed, so no disturbance there. this bed i seeded with all the viola seeds i have hoarded over the years alongside beets i am letting go to seed. beets are NOT the best companions if you are going to harvest, but since i am using them as seeders then it is fine. i haven't figured out what the companion plant will be in the third garlic bed, but other choices are lettuce, cabbages, collards, broccoli, kale... anything leafy, really.

ok, remember when i said make sure the companions are ones where you can harvest above the soil line?? it's because once you do so, those roots left behind will decompose and give the garlic another slow feeding of potassium! the plant gobbled up all the nitrogen, and because their roots are relatively thin they are quick to compost and add potassium back into the soil. crazy, eh??

🧄 final step: waiting

and honestly... this is the hardest step. especially for me, the world's most impatient farmer. but the good news is that while you wait there are two more key points of when to refeed your garlic:

between bits of heavy frost - typically around end of january or february - water the garlic with a ton of that fertilizer soup recipe you used before. the bulbing hasn't started yet, but this will keep those roots growing despite the soil temperature. and if you are more up north than me, add a thick layer of mulch or straw to help keep that soil temperature from going too far past freezing.

the last time you'll want to feed your garlic will be the end of winter. this is when the garlic bulbs really begin to bulbate... bulbge? bulb out?? none of that sounds right... either waaaaay. to get the biggest bulbs possible, you want to give them the highest dosage if potassium possible - and that's in the form of ✨️potash✨️ which... turns out to be just a fancy word for wood ash. burn some wood in a fireplace or firepit, burn your unpaid medical bills, burn your student loan reminders, burn anything that is paper or wood. don't mix with anything else, and REALLY DO NOT use the leftover charcoal from a grill. this potash needs to be as pure to potassium as possible. so no burning your yaoi/yuri mangas to hide from your partner, either.

and before you know it... those 3/4lb of garlic bulbs you started with turn into 5lbs of garlic. we shall meet again next year around april or may to discuss ✨️ the curing of garlic for long-term storage ✨️ until then, happy winter!

[tomorrowsgardennc]

this is what the orange box store calls them, but came up when i typed garden bed bricks. i have them too, and tbh.... only get if you don't have a hammer and don't want to buy a box of nails. power drill with deck screws is ideal, but power tools are not in everyone's toolbox. these bricks are for those with no tools at all.

fun fact: fence posts are cheaper than 2x4s, albeit last only 3 to 4 years where 2x4s lasts about 6 years. but some 2x4s are "treated" and they SHOULD say on the board what they're treated with (organic or chemical, obvi chemical bad for edible plants) but i avoid all that by using cedar fence post for temporary beds and painting 2x4s with outdoor enamel for more permanent beds.

i can get my dad to write a post about what wood is best for which graden bed scenario if anybody is interested 📝🤔

So not only did I hit my 1 scene writing goal today, BUT we successfully built a 15ft long, 2.5ft deep, 1.5ft high raised garden bed today! Don't mind the lawn debris, just lining the bottom of it with things that will break down into tasty nutrients for the roses and raspberries we plan to plant in there.

I admit, it's not much of a looker, but in the winter you won't see it because of the snow, and in the summer you won't see it because of plants. At least that's the plan.

It snowed yesterday, and we can't plant anything this year, but because I have a massive shipment of free high quality dirt that we need to get out of the allyway/driveway...we needed to get building. It's gonna take us days to move the dirt actually INTO the bed, but we got a good start on it today. (After I took these pictures. Because by then I was covered in dirt.)

The goal for the bed and surrounding area is like:

But I still have to work up actual plans.

[allthingssoulful-garden]

Another weekend, another tomato harvest.

[life-spire]

[dreams-incorporated]

Relaxing in the garden

[oldfarmhouse]

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗅𝗎𝖾 𝗁𝗒𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾𝖺𝗌🪻𝖼𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗉𝗈𝗋𝖼𝗁

https://pin.it/7bvank5RU

[gina025]

Covered in roses

[nasturteayum]

outside in august

[tomorrowsgardennc]

okies, time to put my money where my mouth is...

RECOMMEND ME BOOKS ABOUT GARDENING!! GO GO GO GO!!

i shall buy a few to read 💚💚💚

[ryanscabinlife]

The meal I’ve been waiting for the whole year! Well, I always make this spaghetti, but not with stuff from my own garden! Today, I finally had enough ripe and semi-ripened cherry tomatoes to make a serving. I also used one of my garlic heads, which, by the way, are curing nicely. I even managed to pull oregano, thyme, and a bit of basil. Sadly, the onions are not yet ready, so I used a store-bought one. The basil that I managed to harvest is not enough, so I had to use dried basil from the shelf. It’s such an easy, quick, and wholesome lunch. I think my non-existing Italian ancestors would approve. 17-Aug-2023

[allthingssoulful-garden]

End of the week tomato harvest.

[lloreleya]

Спатифиллум не часто радует меня цветением, так что вот он, праздник 😁

[dreams-incorporated]

You need to go out sometimes