During the Winter I spend a lot more time on the house and housey things than I do in the garden. For obvious reasons. The garden is hibernating, dormant, and not pretty to look at unless covered in a blanket of snow or dusted with frost. The house is much more inviting and cosy. But the time for me to be outside more is almost here. I could tell that last week as I worked on my almighty Spring clean. The windows were open, it wasn’t as bitter as it had been and the signs of Spring were everywhere, on the trees, on my hydrangeas and on the roses too. It’s exciting, it’s hopeful and it also reminds me of the work that I have coming up. Well I say work, it’s not work at all really as I love to garden, but there is lots to do, that’s for sure.
One thing that I am sad about is the fact that I didn’t get a chance to do any real prep in the garden last Autumn. The babies were very young, we were still coming to terms with an entirely new schedule and way of life and I didn’t have the wherewithal to be out in the garden planting hundreds of tulip bulbs the way I did the year before. It doesn’t matter too much, I had other things to think about, but I do find myself wrinkling my nose and wincing slightly as I see the beautiful Spring flowers appearing in the shops. I like to plant in the Autumn because my garden rewards me, for a much cheaper price, in the Spring with fabulous bunches of flowers that I bring indoors. But this Spring I’ll be relying on bulbs that have been in the ground for some time. I can already see the hyacinths poking through so all is not lost.
Flowers were not the only thing that I didn’t plant last Autumn. Garlic was also forgotten. But although it is best if garlic is planted in the Autumn (it gets longer to grow and produces bigger heads and more cloves per head) it is not a disaster if you want to get it in the ground now. You just have to be quick about it to give it a really good chance.
Your garlic will arrive or be purchased looking like the type of garlic heads that you’d buy at the Supermarket. But don’t be tempted to get your garlic from there. You need garlic that has been grown virus free and I got mine from Dobies of Devon.
Tear the heads of garlic apart…
…and separate the cloves.
Choose the biggest cloves and discard the smaller ones.
Garlic is best grown in well prepared, free draining soil. A raised bed is perfect for this as there is no chance of it becoming waterlogged. I prepared a small area, in fact I only used a quarter of the entire bed. The beds were almost weed free and the soil is in great condition if a little stony.
I planted each clove a few centimeters beneath the surface of the soil.
Pushing down gently.
And then I carefully covered it over again.
Each clove was approximately six to eight inches apart in each direction. I have two rows of Garlic in total.
As you can see I had help with the second half of planting which meant the whole thing only took about ten minutes. Robert had Friday off work and he came out to help.
You can’t see this too well but I really did only use about a quarter of the entire bed to plant my garlic. We eat a lot of garlic but I believe that this will be more than enough to see us through the Summer. That tells me that garlic is great to grow in smaller spaces and if you like it then I would highly recommend dedicating a small area of the garden to it.
Garlic is also rather perfect for growing in pots if you don’t have a garden. Use one clove per six-eight inch pot, planting about an inch below the surface of the soil, use a seed/potting compost, water well but don’t allow it to become waterlogged.
Officially my garlic will be ready to harvest in late July or early August as I’ve planted it rather late. I’ll wait until the leaves have turned from green to brown and then pull the heads from the ground. Of course if it looks like some decent sized heads have formed before then then I’ll pull a little earlier but when the garlic is harvested early it is harder to store for any length of time so it will have to be used straight away.
Another garden project that we started this weekend was the planting out of four fruit trees. I bought these trees on a ‘heavily pregnant with twins’ whim last Spring. They have been in large pots for a year now and are doing really well for potted trees but I want them in the ground and we have to act fast on this as we need to get them settled before they really do spring in to action for the year. I have pear, apple, plum and cherry trees to be planted and Robert and I began preparing the ground in the back garden yesterday. We didn’t get it all done so we’ll have another go next weekend and I’ll take lots of pictures to show you.
The babies liked being outside with us although they kept kicking off their blankets. It’s exciting to think that they will be running around soon. Hopefully they’ll have four fruit trees to hide behind but I’ll let you know about that one depending on how well they do. Fingers crossed.
If you have grown garlic or planted out potted fruit trees I’d love to know how you got on. Feel free to leave a comment in the comment section.
I love you and thank you for reading.
Are you ready for the week?
I am….I think! *yawn*
Cherry x
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I’ve planted some garlic out in an old stone basin. Will add red onions and basil when the shoots harden off. But I might try planting some garlic under my apple tree.
I will definitely try this-We eat lots of garlic! and this is totally off subject, but I LOVE your boots in the pictures:)
It’s great fun to find one’s own garlic ready to go! We didn’t plant enough last time so planted lots more last autumn. Cherry…I’m not able to tell how much room you have left between trees. I read once that one of the biggest mistakes gardeners make (beginners, of course, as I was then) is to plant things too close together. It’s so nice to think of the future there in your wonderful home with the twins. They’ll be picking fruit off those trees in about 5 to 7 years, I think. Sometimes it seems futile when you have to wait so long but it’s worth it. Just think, even though it could take years to get fruit, if you don’t plant it now it will take even longer! Those are two of my most hard learned lessons after years of gardening. Last year we got our first small harvest of Honeycrisp apples from two trees we planted 6 or 7 years ago. But…of course, we live in a hard climate in the mountains. Maybe it won’t take so long in mild England. By the way, after reading about Chris Evans radio show on your blog I am now streaming the Breakfast Club. It’s fun! He will certainly rev up a sleepy person in the early morning.
Have you tried Isle of Wight garlic? We’ve grown theirs very successfully for years. Alas, since kids it often goes in late here too. Not a total disaster, we get small strongly flavoured cloves. Good luck!
Grass!!! You can see grass! Oh my gosh these pictures feel like they are from another planet right now. I can not wait until I can see green again and start planting my garden! Enjoy the garden prep!
I grew a lot of garlic this last season and I had a bumper crop!!!! I have a huge bag of it and have given some away, pickled some and the rest is usedliberally. I was sooo pleased to have success with this as I have tried two previous years (just a few cloves tho) and they have never come to anything. My tomatoes are enjoying a bumper crop too…wonder if thats related?
Love Cherry
Great photographs Cherry. I love to see a family out in the garden.
The winds are howling in New York. I’m looking forward to Spring arriving here too,
Best,
Martha (NY)
Haven’t thought to grow garlic but we use so much of it, why not? I might just start with a grow bag, will that work? Love Anais’s hat. Is it Ned’s by any chance?
I am definitely going to try the potted route. It’s sad to say but I have a sprouted garlic and onion on my counter that didn’t get used in time. I can’t bare to throw them away and have enjoyed watching them in the gray drab weather.
Thank you Roxanne, for the shopping information. I wish I was the one coming to London as it’s been over thirty years. This incredible lady is coming http://www.heatherchristo.com/ I will forward the suggestions and file them in my own “Maybe someday” wish list!
Last year I found a little peach tree growing in my garden (maybe 10 inches tall), I transplanted it to a better place and now it heights about 2 meters and is full of flowers only in one side. I suppose it needs more sun. On the other hand my mum gave me 2 years ago a little potted orange tree I still don´t know if it is a kumquat or seville orange tree, it´s lovely but it hasn´t bloomed yet. I placed it next to my front door to keep it warm from the frost.
In Mexico we don´t grow tulips because we don´t have a very cold winter as you have but we buy them in pots. What do you do with the them after they have bloomed? Do you leave them in the ground? Last year I took them out of the pots and put them in a paper bag, in November I planted them again so I´m waiting to see if any blooms. I hope you could do a post about tulips, what to do with them before and after. I hope Ned is feeling a lot better.
Have a wonderful week!
Answering one of Vickies questions from California, I happened to spot it trawling through the archives. Where to food shop in London? If you are planning to come to London as a tourist Vickie you simply must visit Harrods Food Hall in Knightsbridge, the displays are gorgeous. Then there’s Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly. For tasty everyday food Marks and Spencer’s Food halls do lovely grub and win the best food awards then comes Waitrose Suparmarkets, I shop at both of these. I think Cherry would reccommend Borough Market on the South Bank for fresh, unusual and organic fare. Do have a lovely time when you come here. London is the most exciting city in the world. But then I’m biased. Love R X
I planted my garlic in the Autumn, and seems to be doing well so far. I chose two varieties and one definately seems to be doing better than the other, but the proof will be in the eating in Summer. This year wasn’t the first year I grew garlic, I have only just finished last years harvest of stored garlic. Don’t forget to try ‘wet’ garlic when its just been picked, milder and delicious..and it reminds me of the not too distant summer.
I too planted lots of fruit this weekend – a dwarf cherry tree, an, espalier apple, gooseberries and raspberries. It’s so exciting!!
I’ve never grown garlic (am thinking about it now though), but I do have fruit dotted around the garden. strawberries, redcurrants, blueberries and a miniature apple tree that I just love.
We were working in the garden this weekend. Well, when I say ‘we’, I mean the husband and the girl. She has a playhouse called Gingerbread House, and right beside it a small garden, Gingerbread Garden (!). Last year I realised that the GG was too shallow, and while we got quite a bit of veg in there, it would have done a lot better had it had more room for the roots. So over the weekend, GG was dug up, and turned into a raised bed. I’ve taken photos but have yet to blog about it. Will do that this week if you’d like to take a look. It’s only a small patch, but it’s more about getting my little one interested in both gardening and food. It’s big enough for carrots, lettuces, radishes, peas, all packed in together.
I always grow tomatoes – wherever I can fit them in, though not in growbags, too ugly and I prefer to use deep pots so the roots can move a bit, runner beans, and of course spuds. My absolute most favourite thing to grow.
ooh, and pumpkins. I always try pumpkins. Sometimes they turn out well, sometimes not, but it’s fun trying.
Love the photos, especially the last one, of the twins looking very interested in the digging. Suspect they were thinking about how much fun it would be to play in the dirt! Rascals
x