Fall Veggie Soil Prep

Q: I notice some gardeners turning over the soil in their veggie beds. Isn’t this the wrong time for that?

A: Actually, this can be the perfect time to work and amend the soil in parts of your vegetable beds (the ones that aren’t currently growing vegetables, of course!). Here are some of the reasons you might consider amending your vegetable bed now.

Garlic
We’ve had a couple of articles on growing garlic in this blog:
https://peakgardening.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/growing-garlic-2/
https://peakgardening.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/growing-garlic/

 

Growing Garlic

You may overlook the display at first, hidden among the photos of bright red tulips and sunny daffodils. Bulb planting season is here, and garden centers have towers of cardboard boxes labeled with spring blooms, somewhat incongruous at this time of year. Go ahead and pick out those hyacinths and crocuses, but don’t forget the garlic!

Sure, you can buy garlic at the market, but it’s one of those crops that is much better when home-grown. In this case, it’s not so much the just-harvested freshness as it is the variety. Most grocery stores do not sell the good stuff.

 

Growing Garlic

Q: Can I grow garlic in Colorado? Is it really the health food so many claim?

A: Garlic is easy to grow in our area. Planting now, four-to-six weeks before the first frost allows roots to develop over winter. You’ll have your first garlic crop next July.

Garlic is a member of the Allium or onion family. It is native to Central Asia where climates and soil are similar to ours. Nutritionally, garlic is a great source of Vitamins A and C, potassium, phosphorous, selenium and a number of amino acids.

Legends abound about the medicinal benefits of garlic. In World Wars I and II, before the availability of antibiotics it was used as a disinfectant and applied directly to wounds. In the 1950’s Dr. Albert Schweitzer used garlic to treat typhus, dysentery and cholera while working as a missionary in Africa.