Last planting in 2013

Shallot, Garlic and Onion seed are in the ground

The last seeds and bulbs are in the ground. I have always used onion sets in the early spring. This year I’ll try to grow my own from seeds. They have emerged very nicely. The idea is to not give much room for each plant. Grouping the plants closely will make transplanting easier in early spring. I imagine we will dig up clumps and plant them in rows.

Garlic is pretty easy to grow. In the southern US (Oklahoma) we plant in late fall, after the first frost. In a mild or normal winter they will emerge and grow 6 inches high. The magic is below ground where the cloves establish their roots. Garlic loves a rich soil so we have added chicken manure compost before tilling and hilling the soil. They like dry feet so raised beds are best. Plant each clove about 4 inches deep.

Next to the Garlic is a row of shallot. It is mostly French Red Shallot that I found at Southern Seed Exchange. They have a nice choice of varieties and cater to a southern gardener’s planting schedule. I have no trouble finding garlic nor shallot. I have until now always planted shallot in the spring. The result is shamefully small bulbs (some of which I have used as seed this fall). Maybe fall planting will finally produce a harvest of shallots.

Thanks to Adrian the rows are now mulched with wheat straw that he shreds in a leaf shredder. He has also been busy building more compost piles from shredded okra, peppers and garden debris. We are getting loads of chicken manure from a new round of pullets. Ron Cramer gave me 24 chicks this summer and they have begun producing lots of eggs and poop. Plenty for the compost piles and about 2 dozen eggs per day.

The garden is not sleeping. The first section planted in the garden in late 2012 were strawberries. To my surprise they produced some nice berries this year. Next year they should be great – if we can keep the deer out of the garden all winter. The Arapaho thornless blackberries have done very well too.