As a side note – if you decide to buy garlic from the store to plant, make sure that you’re buying organic garlic that hasn’t been treated with any sort of chemicals. Partly, because it’s bad to eat chemicals, but also because any garlic you’re buying at the grocery store will likely have been treated with an anti-sprouting chemical, so it won’t sprout in the store. Which is why you can keep store-bought garlic at home for months before it ever starts to sprout.

Needless to say, you don’t want to put anything in your garden that is already hindered by chemicals, so go with the most organic, untreated, pesticide free garlic you can.

So, I planted this garlic in February of 08, and I kinda forgot about it. That is, until about September of 2008 when I found 6″ green sprouts coming out of the ground! It took me a while to remember what was happening in that corner of the garden, but when I remembered the garlic planted there, I was terribly excited! I just couldn’t figure out why it took so long to sprout!

So, I let it grow all winter, and when spring came, the puffy flower-ball at the top emerged, and the lower foliage began to die off. It was at this point that I remembered the French technique of breaking the necks of the garlic plants! Basically, what this technique suggests, is that once the bottom leaves of the plant start to dry, and turn brown, bend the neck of the garlic until the top of the plant are laying on the ground, but the bulb is still buried in the ground. Put a brick on the plant, and wait for about a month. Continue to water as normal, and the plant will put all of it’s effort and resources into building a big, healthy bulb, instead of trying to keep the foliage going. Leave the broken plants under the bricks, though, so you know where to find the garlic later!

After a month of keeping these broken necked garlic in the ground, I pulled up a dozen heads of beautiful garlic!

Wash off the dirt (use a scrubby vegetable brush!) and peel off the hard crusted dirt and garlic skin, and you’ll have beautiful garlic ready to eat. If it’s more garlic than you’ll use before it goes bad, puree it with some olive oil, and keep it in the freezer for up to a year!

What I’ve built in my garden is the simplest variety of garden cloche possible – it’s also one of the least expensive. For a 3’ wide by 6’ long space, I needed:

• Two six-foot sections of ¾” PVC pipe
• Two eight-foot sections of ¾” PVC pipe
• One eight-foot section of 1” PVC pipe – cut into eight, one-foot sections
• Clear or opaque heavy-plastic sheeting

To begin, pound the one-foot sections into the ground. Leave about 4 or 5 inches of the end of the pipe above ground.

I just noticed how boring this photo is!

You’ll use these as the insertion points for the arches of your cloche. Two on each end in pairs, two on one side, and two on the other, about 24″ apart.

I use the 6' pipes on the far ends, and the 8' pipes in the middle, so the middle is higher up.

On the far ends, bend a six-foot section of the ¾” pipe into an arch, and insert the ends into the pipes you’ve pounded into the ground.

8' sections in the middle, the shorter ones on the end

Now, we’re going to cover the pipes with a clear, heavy plastic (4 mil or heavier contractor plastic works well!) and create a tent… well, actually, a cloche!

You can use many, many things to secure your plastic – I anchor the back of the cloche (the side I can’t get to, because it’s on the neighbors fence) with a staplegun, but then leave an open flap in the front, and weight it down with bricks.

You want to keep the plastic fairly taut – too much slack in the plastic can allow the wind to create a little flapping which can quickly become a sail and take your cloche up like that house in the Wizard of Oz. Most importantly, though, is the precious warming under the cloche! Under these small, temporal greenhouses, you can effectively create Springtime in small scale, and start growing those early spring veggies now! Even if there’s snow outside!

Think salad! Arugula, radishes and peas! Remember to keep them watered, and your cloches will reward you with early springtime!

As we get into spring, the days will warm – and on those days, remember to open your cloches during the day and let your plants breathe and let off the excess heat. In February there won’t likely be much “excess heat”, but as April and May roll around, you may find that your cloches are no longer necessary until Fall comes back.

Share your thoughts! What do you like to grow in your cloche?

I pulled more carrots today, they have a nice sweetness from the winter cold.

These became a big part of my dinner tonight.

Also I wanted to show you some umbrella cloche’s I got last fall. I only got two because I wanted to see how they would work. They are super easy to use, use pull the string to open and push the stake into the ground. As you can see I put them over the romaine and the leaf lettuce before the first frost last fall and I am still harvesting. I have the lettuce’s planted in barrels but these work quite well. They are bigger around then the barrel’s so they actually vent themselves.

Romaine

Leaf Lettuce

I have never before picked romaine in January out of the garden. It is quite decedent. Of course it does have me thinking greenhouse now.

Garlic is a bulb and is planted in the fall. These will start to grow in the spring and should be watered and fertilized then. Decrease watering as it nears time to harvest so that your not promoting mold or bulb discoloration. I usually harvest when there are least 3 to 4 green leaves left and them. But heck more on harvesting and storing next year when these are up.

I also planted some multiplier onions today in the same spot.

First picking the spot, tougher then it seems as spring is around the corner and lots of seeds will be going in. I try not to plant the same thing in the same spot every year so I chose just outside the herb bed this time. I had to pull out the rest of the beets to get the spot ready. I also planted the onions right up to and under the brussels sprouts. But long before the onions are up the brussels sprouts will have been harvested and eaten. I’ve never ended up moving my garlic but I have wished I had put it elsewhere. This should be a great place next to the herbs and leeks.

The spot, cleaned out ready to plant.
Don’t separate the garlic until just before planting.
Plant with root side down.
Space them out 4 to 6 inches apart.
They only are planted 1-2 inches in so I just
made a hole with my finger.
Then just cover them up. I didn’t even water
them since its going to rain tonight.Same process for the multiplier onions:

The onions should be 6 inches apart.
When you cover them up the tip should be
about level with the surface of the soil.

I found a spot, I planted several, I thinned down to the strongest three plants when they were small. Lots of flowers and the fruit just starting and we never got any heat this summer. It was cool to say the least.

Today I picked ALL of my pumpkins, both of them, and I carried them in the house in one hand. Sad huh.

As for the carrots, the spring planted carrots are the ones I will pull and eat all winter, as you can see in this picture I am still thinning and these made a nice quick snack earlier. I store carrots in the ground during the winter and just use them right out of the garden. They actually just get sweeter as it gets colder. The type I planted today are new type for me, they are the Merida Hybrid from Territorial Seed and they are an overwintering carrot. Planted today, at a 240 day maturity I will be eating these early next summer after the spring carrots from this year are all gone and the spring carrots next year are just getting started.

To have year round vegetables means year round planning and planting.
Still to go in this weekend are onion sets, leeks and garlic. I do have onions and leeks already in from earlier this year but I am trying to get year round vegetables. I am hoping to have mature leeks this winter just in time for some yummy fall risotto’s.
I am going to plant a cover crop in where the beans, corn and tomatoes are all out to dig that in next spring for soil nutrients.

There is more produce then one can eat alone. Besides even the freshest of beans or in my case yellow squash, there comes a time when you have just eaten so much you can’t comprehend another meal with that vegetable. Today I picked a bushel of beans, I gave some to the neighbor and have a bag for a friend coming by today and look at this is what is left from today’s harvest. The sad thing is, there were so many beans I really just picked what was within easy reach. One good thing about beans is they freeze well. I will be picking more tomorrow and freezing bags of them for fall and winter when there are no more to pick.

On to the tomatoes, it is hard to get tired of eating home grown tomatoes. These are just the gold nuggets off of one plant today, oh a a couple roma’s as well. I again gave a bag tot he neighbor. If I can’t give all of these away and/or eat them I may just throw them in a pot and make and freeze tomato soup. There are more in the garden and other variety’s as well.

Here in the Pacific Northwest they can be a bit of a challenge, (even with the zillion varietals that grow well in cooler, wetter climates), and can frustrate even the most savvy of gardeners. I once heard a friend say that she was considering not growing them at all. I was stunned.

What would be the point of gardening, if NOT to grow your own tomatoes. More than any other vegetable, I think, the difference between a home-grown tomato and a store-bought tomato is the greatest. I’ve fed home-grown tomatoes to people who have never had one (can you imagine?) and they are almost confused; overwhelmed by the enormity of the difference in flavor and quality.

The photo above is of the first cherry tomatoes I pulled from the vine earlier this week. They are explosively sweet, and full of flavor. Another perk, or so it seems to me, of homegrown tomatoes, is that they last longer. Of course, you should NEVER refrigerate a tomato – EVER! That will only accelerate the wilting and dying process. It should only find it’s way to the refrigerator after it’s been cut into a salad, or for no more than an hour or so to chill it before serving. However, I wouldn’t even bother chilling them. When they get cold, the natural sweetness is hindered, and they can become unpleasant, because only the acidic tang can be tasted.

A tomato, fresh from the garden, washed gently with cool water, sliced and served with a sprinkling of salt and pepper (perhaps a bit of fresh basil and olive oil?) is one of the most perfect of summer delights, and should only be attempted in the summer.

In a few weeks time, I’m hoping to start canning tomatoes. I have quite a few lovely saucing tomatoes that are currently green on the vine and will be perfect soon. Time to dig out those canners and Mason jars!

A few days away and look at all the butterstick squash I found last night when I went to pull lettuce for a salad.

Needless to say, I’ll be grilling squash tonight!

The peas are still sweet and I pulled some of the new potatoes from the overwintered plot. For lunch I made peas and new potatoes, a dish my grandmother made every summer after having us girls pick and shuck the peas. Its a great dish throughout the pea season and not just when your pulling them. The fall peas go in around Labor Day, must be why Thanksgiving makes me think of this dish also.

So here’s what you need, the quantity of each is personal taste:

Fresh shucked peas
Small or cut freshly dug potatoes
Cream
Butter
Onion
Pepper

I don’t remember my grandmothers recipe so here is what I did.

After cleaning all the garden dirt off of the potatoes and cutting some of them in half. I boiled the potatoes in water for a minute or two because I didn’t know how long they would take. I think I could have skipped this part.

I sauteed the onion in a little butter and then added in the potatoes and peas, added the cream and brought it up to a light boil and cooked the potatoes until done and the cream thickened up and peppered to taste. Yummy.