Garden Plans

It's late summer and most of our plants have given us all that they have to give.

So now it's time to look to the future, plan an autumn garden, and think about next summer and what we'd like to grow.

I did some research and found that garlic, onions, and leeks grow quite nicely during the late summer. Squashes and other similar plants are also grow quite nicely, although Aric and I don't really eat those kinds of vegetables. Spinach, cabbage, and broccoli are also possibilities.

For now, however, we are going to concentrate on the garlic. How awesome would it be to grow your own garlic?

I'm an avid fan of Sandra's Money Saving Meals (Food Network, Sunday mornings, check it out!). Sandra says that it's cheaper to mince and preserve your own garlic than it is to buy the pre-minced garlic from the store. I usually buy the pre-minced, so I'm thinking about pricing it out. Is it cheaper to buy a 99 cent bulb of garlic than it is to buy the pre-made? We shall see.

Anyway. Back to the garden. I'm researching how exactly to go about growing garlic. I know you plant one clove for every garlic bulb you want, but I'm trying to find out if you need to prepare the clove in any way. I thought I read somewhere that you have to soak the clove in water and keep it in the fridge until it sprouts little roots (something about garlic sprouting better in chilly climates). We shall see.