Garlic Ready

New ground has been made ready for planting garlic. A mid October planting date here usually allows for six weeks of root growth before the ground freezes. This U shaped bed comes with a problem. I can reach to the middle of the five foot wide beds. Across the corner is more than five feet. We do not walk on the planting beds so a piece of board will provide a kneeling place to plant from. Once planted, weeds here will be out of reach. Stone paths provide a dump for the all too common stones the glacier left in our soil. An active compost trench will replace the field grass next to the bed.

Removing the sod was the first step in preparing this garden. We may avoid that step if the grass clippings kill the grass in next year's new bed. Raking out the larger stones allowed us to grow potatoes and squash here this year. Sifting out the smaller stones will allow finer crops to be tended. Trying to pull weeds with the stones in the ground is an unpleasant chore. Pulling weeds from the sifted soil is a breeze.


Disease made developing this new ground necessary. This year we harvested perhaps one hundred pathetic garlic bulbs from the seven hundred twenty planted. Pink root, Pyenochaeta terrestris, plagues onions and garlic in the garden near the house. A three year crop rotation has failed to remove this pest. Both the soil and our compost are infected. New seed stock has been found. No garden compost was added to the new planting beds. More than the usual anticipation surrounds this year's garlic planting.

Deer can easily jump over a four foot high fence. The small area inside the fence does not provide enough space for the deer to land the jump. A circular running start would be required to jump out. So far the fence system has prevented any deer from entering the area. I gain access by untying twine that secures fence to posts. Laying sections of fence aside opens the entire area to me. Nest building birds do take fiber from the twine but to date none have opened a gate.