It's time for planting garlic here in the Carolinas, so I took advantage of a beautiful day to do just that. I put in several hundred cloves each of Aja Rojo, Burgandy, and Creole Red garlic. This is in a bed that is new. Last year at this time I tilled up an area about 10'x40' and planted crimson clover. The clover will deposit nitrogen in the soil and make good organic material to help loosen the soil. In spring I tilled that under and planted buckwheat. The buckwheat is deep rooted and helps break up the soil. It's deep roots also pull up potasium from lower soil levels to the higher strata where your plants can reach them. In mid-summer I tilled that in and planted cowpeas. The cowpeas, being of the legume family, adds more nitrogen and again, more organic materials to the soil. I just tilled that in and planted half the bed with garlic. The other side with more clover that I will till under in spring and plant corn. When the garlic has been harvested that half of the bed will be planted in beans for the summer.
The first head of Atlantic broccoli is reading for diner. This is from plants that we started from seed in mid-June, transplanted into the garden a month later in mid-July. Here we are 80 some odd days from transplant to diner table. I think I'll be making a bechemel sauce with some cheddar added to ladle over the steamed broccoli.
No comments:
Post a Comment