Garlic Planting

On Saturday, we met at Birdtown Community Garden on Cass Avenue. Our mission was to plant garlic for next year. Even though it was cold, we had a good time and enjoyed the sun when it did come out.

Our first task was to unwrap the heads of garlic and pull out individual cloves. Each clove that we plant will grow into a whole head of garlic. Adults and students worked together to dig holes and place one clove in each hole, and then carefully push the soil back over the clove.

After all the garlic cloves were planted we watered the whole bed, and then covered it with straw. Now the garlic will start growing just a little this fall, it will be dormant over the winter, and will start growing early next spring. The straw helps protect the young garlic from freezing or being damaged by frost. The garlic will be ready to harvest next July.

After we were finished planting the garlic, we celebrated with donuts (from Dutch Girl Donuts -- mmmm), cider, and coffee (for the adults). We wandered around the garden looking at the beehives, chickens, and trees. We were careful not to step on any of the vegetable beds as we played tag and soccer too.

Next spring we will come back to the garden and work together to plant other vegetables and fruits for us to eat next year. I'm looking forward to it! Thank you to all the families and friends that joined us on Saturday.