Birdsonghill
Crowing
Timing for planting garlic varies depending on your climate, here November into December works well, with plantings made up till near Christmas producing large cloves. Earlier and they grow too much and are prone to winter damage. We seldom have any snow cover that last more than a coupe days(if that long) and I use a light straw mulch and row covers for weather/ice protection. Ice storms play havoc on row covers but the protected crops survive well. Winter weather is usually, mostly, late December through February, with 60 and 70 degree days sprinkled in with freezing weather, usually no lower than about 20 degrees, but rarely down to zero or even below 15 degrees. In the cooler areas in the Eastern hill country of my state, garlic is planted in October. Your area may be different. Hardneck Garlic does better in colder areas, I am told. I can grow softneck and hardneck but the results often favor softneck varieties here, more consistently. Planting too deep is a common mistake and I plant no more than two inches deep, as smaller cloves develop on deeper planted cloves. Strawberries respond poorly to high nitrogen fertilizer applications and need little or none, just a sprinkle of fresh compost each year.(or nothing)They can benefit from a light straw mulch here for ice protection but that can result in winter rot in our wet mild winters some years. Varieties that have a track record in your area are best to plant. remove most of the runners and blooms the first year for stronger mother plants and better yields. Best wishes for all, in regards to Strawberries and Garlic in your gardens! I suggest finding an old time market grower in your neighborhood to get local information or use the ag extension service in your county.Nice to see you back, and love your pictures! I am in an extreme state of envy of your loofahs! When did you plant them? And in what kind of soil? I've failed at them for the past two years, I might be planting them too early or late, in too much or too little compost, mulching too much or too little. In other words, clueless about what I'm doing wrong. They come up looking like healthy little seedlings, then either die right away or grow one or two teeny-tiny loofahs, then die.
Same here. It needs defrosting really bad, but it's crammed full of 1/2 hog, 1/2 lamb, plus other random stuff, including treasures (?? or maybe old ruined crap) hidden in the ice. We need to wait until we have a few days of freezing temps this winter, then defrost it and see what all is in there.
Oh, that's good to know, I'm not too late to plant my garlic.
Ha Ha Penny, I love your new avatar!