Planting Garlic - Full Circle

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone.  I started this blog last year on September 12th with the planting of garlic and today, almost exactly a year later, I'm planting garlic again!

Russian, Porcelain (I think!) and my own bulbs.

I had saved two bulbs of my own growing but wanted to get some new ones as well.  Long Lake Nursery in Nanaimo had garlic for sale grown on Gabriola Island - Porcelain and Russian.  Unfortunately they were all in one basket and not easy to identify!  I know that Russian has some red to  the skin of the clove and Porcelain doesn't, so I tried to get 2 bulbs showing red and 2 not.  When the wrapper came off, however, 3 of them look like Russian and the other looks like Porcelain.

Half planted

The bed was prepared several weeks ago by adding a couple of wheelbarrow loads of SeaSoil.  It had previously grown snow peas and they would likely have put some nitrogen back into the soil.  Today I marked out my rows with a good trowel full of homemade fertilizer.  I allowed a row for each bulb and placed the rows of what I hoped were the same variety together.  At least if each bulb has its own row I might have a better idea of which variety that bulb is.  But then, maybe not!  Each row has 6 or 7 cloves in it, gently pushed into the soil root end first.

Garlic all planted and waiting for the soil to settle.

Once the soil has settled with the coming of the fall rains, I'll add a mulch of chopped leaves on the top.  Garlic doesn't like competition and chopped leaves are very good at keeping weeds at bay.

Oregon Sugar Pod II

The snow and snap peas are planted in the bed beside this one and are doing very well.  I'm hopeful that this year I got them into the ground with plenty of time for some production.

Sugar Lace II

I planted 2 varieties, Oregon Sugar Pod II - which I had grown in the spring - and Sugar Lace II which is actually a snap pea.  Now that they are growing, it's very easy to tell which is which.  Sugar Lace has an abundance of very curly tendrils and apparently doesn't even need a fence to grow on.  I'm thinking they won't be as tall as the Oregon Sugar Pod.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard volunteers

And in between the zags of peas are the volunteer Bright Lights Chard, looking extremely happy and healthy.

Fall Planting of Peas

Raindrops on a leaf of Russian Red Kale

Last night we got the blessing of rain.  It's been an extremely dry July with no measurable rain at all.  This always makes people who live on Gulf Islands very nervous as we get so many visitors during those hot dry months who think nothing of tossing aside a live cigarette stub.  There's already been one emergency at the ferry terminal which was thankfully quickly extinguished!  But last night we got rain - and rain which actually sank into the ground.  That made today an excellent day to plant the fall crop of snow peas.

I didn't have enough of the snow peas I planted last spring - Oregon Sugar Pod II - and wasn't able to find more of them at Buckerfields in Nanaimo.  Instead, I purchased a package of Sugar Lace II which is a snap pea.  Not quite the same as a snow pea, but it'll do.  The Sugar Lace package says it's a "good candidate for fall harvests" and has "sweet, stringless pods...borne on 24-inch semi-leafless vines".  Sounds like it will work.

Bed prepared for planting

I prepared the spot where the garlic had grown by removing some soil which I tossed on one of the new 4x4 beds, adding a wheelbarrow load of SeaSoil and turning it over.  The zig zag fence was once again brought into action and staked in place.  Homemade fertilizer was spread and scratched in where the peas would be planted.  The Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas were planted at the front of the zig zag fence and the Sugar Lace II took the back portion.  I think I left a blank area which will help me remember which is which.  I hope the snap peas are as delicious as the snow peas are.  I guess we'll soon see!