In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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September 12, 2007

Almost time to plant garlic

September is going fast, and before you know it fall will be here in full force. A fall chore I’d recommend for all gardeners is planting garlic. October through December are prime months for planting garlic. I’ve waited until December 31, but have to admit October and November are better months.

Plant where the soil is light and friable. Raised beds work well. If you have problems with gophers or moles, put hardware cloth on the bottom of the beds. And, yes, gophers will eat garlic. The moles will disturb the bulbs in their search for earthworms or insects.

Separate the head into cloves. Don’t peel them, and only plant the big, outside ones. Plant them a couple inches deep and four to six inches apart. You can plant them closer, then thin them by harvesting every other one for “green garlic.” That means you can use the entire plant.

Keep the bed weeded, and let the garlic grow. It will be ready to harvest in June. The plant needs about three weeks of hot weather at the end of the season for the bulbs to fully form. You want to harvest the garlic once the bulbs are big, but before they ripen too much and split. (They’re still good if they split, but they won’t last in storage as long).

My favorite places for reading about allsorts of exotic types of garlic are Seed Savers Exchange, Nichols Garden Nursery and Peaceful Valley Farm Supply.

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