Jackie asks, “I planted garlic which I bought at your store last year and it’s about 8″ long — YEAH. What next and when — like when do I pull it out of the ground?”

For those of you who planted garlic last fall, the leaves should now be about a foot tall. But don’t pull it out of the ground yet. Let it grow, because underground it looks like a scallion. About May, the scape should appear, which is the seed pod. It will curly-q. Cut off the scape before it does the second curly-q. The head of garlic will get bigger if all of the energy goes into the root. Pull up and harvest the garlic heads the first week in July. Eat. Truly fresh garlic is delectable.

For those of you who did not plant garlic last fall, yes we will have homegrown garlic again to sell in July and August (if the garlic gods continue to smile on us). Then mark your calendar to plant garlic cloves in October so you can enjoy homegrown garlic next year! One clove will yield one head of garlic.

We have not yet planted anything else in our garden; it is too wet and muddy.