Gettin' Down, Gettin' Funkay!....Plant Garlic..lots of it!

Lower Rooftop view
Main garden and Mini Orchard

The end of the season is finally here. After being in deep denial about it coming for about the past few weeks I had my oldest start tearing out the spent and weedy garden and making the compose pile look like a compost pile once again. On his day off from school no less. It still took me a few days to actually get up the inclination to go out and till everything under. Once I got started though it was another story.

Participation in the end of the season clean up and planting is mandatory for the entire family. Since we all ate from the bounty that this land had given us during the growing season (and with canning we will be doing the same during the winter) we must give back to the land in order for it to provide for us the next season. Part of this entails that we provide organic matter for it to munch on during the winter. Microbial activity that that lives in the soil feeds on the tilled air and organic matter, breaking it down. If you don't add organic matter after harvest each time you till, the microorganisms will eventually consume the soil's organic reserves. Add crops taking out what they need and you will have an utterly exhausted piece of land. Without organic matter to feed on, the microorganisms die, leaving the soil utterly useless to produce anything...not even a weed.

Feed your soil. And not with synthetic fertilizers either. Organically is the (ONLY) way to do it.

One thing about having neighbors with huge trees (and a mulching mower) is that you have the means to make and provide organic matter to till under. In exchange of providing two able bodies to remove the leaves (which they did not want anyway) they provided the leaves and the mower so that I could utilize this organic gold so that the earth would have something to munch on (and the bugs that inhabit it) over the winter months.

Here leaves are slathered on rather thickly (on top of left over straw mulch too!) so that they can be ran over with the mulching mower. From there they will be tilled into the earth to provide the much needed nutrients; a smorgasbord of sorts for the land to feed on. Happy land. Happy plants. Happy people.

Now, Over the next week we will be having lows in the 20's along with some rain preceding this drop in nighttime temps. This only means one thing. The ground will begin to freeze. Time to get the garlic into the ground. I gathered up the pint of garlic cloves, a large baggie of seed and my Apprentice and we set out to put all of it into the ground before the freezing sets in.





Garlic bulbils and bulbs


We planted garlic in a few places. Here my apprentice is planting cloves in the main garden. We decided that we needed to have garlic EVERYWHERE for the upcoming season. We planted seed garlic in the mini orchard, under the grape arbor.... anywhere where we thought the seed would take. For the clove garlic, we planted about 10-12 rows in the main garden and 8 rows in the herb garden.









We also planted garlic chive seed. Here my apprentice is scattering seed at the back end of the main garden. You can never have too much garlic. I am naturalizing the homestead with seed and plants that are edible. I have never been one to be particularly picky about rows and such. where a plant is happy a plant will provide.

Sage

Back to the herb garden to harvest the last herb putting forth new growth before it goes dormant. The sage that has been prolific since spring is still sending forth tender leaves that are great for stuffing, salads and teas. The upcoming lows will pretty much make all this growth inedible and push the plant into dormancy for the rest of the year. Last year I did not move fast enough to harvest. This year I am not going to let this go to waste. Have you seen what a pod of this costs in the supermarket?! I got two good brown lunch bags full of this stuff and I will be drying it in them. I'm pretty sure this will get used up and will save me a pretty good sum of money over the winter. Every herb garden needs a sage plant in it.

Now its off to start clearing spaces in the den and greenhouse and planning to start seeds for the winter indoor season!

Until next time may all your adventures be warm ones!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Let me respectfully remind you,
Life and Death are of extreme importance.
Time passes swiftly by, and opportunity is lost.
Each of you should strive to awaken, awaken.
Take heed....do not squander your lives.
-Evening Verse for Zen Centers



The above excerpt was taken from one of my favorite books; Being Black; Zen and the art of living with Fearlessness and Grace by Angel Kyodo Williams.

I have always loved celebrating my birthday if for only one reason; the next one is not guaranteed. Not to sound fatalistic but with everything going on the world today it's not so much a matter of if as much a matter as of when. As of late it have been coming much sooner than you would think for many people.

Being able to accept, honor and nurture ourselves is an important and integral part of being, and is key in order to continue to nurture and care for others and our communities at large.

But you know.....why wait for a birthday? Celebrate yourself everyday!

I would not recommend that you buy a cake everyday though.