If you grow garlic, it should be kicking ass about now. And you are probably thinking, When is this stuff going to be ready? (I am not a mind reader, I get this question regularly from our friends/family who’ve started their own garlic garden.) Garlic takes nine months to grow from planting to harvest. So there you go. You plant it in the fall. Do the math. Or, if you are like me, you get Rick to do the math. 

Patience and love are required at this time. Mulch it with leaves or something. Keep the weeds away, even the dill. Especially the dill. Don’t let the dill take over. And wait for the bottom three leaves to wilt and turn brown. Right now the garlic is looking strong. Ours is almost three-feet high. 

 In a few weeks, garlic scapes will come up. You don’t want those stems to flower, save the energy for the bulb. Yank them, chop them up and cook them. (remind me for the garlic scape recipe) Eventually, you’ll notice the garlic looks kind of tired and that is when you harvest it. If you leave it in the ground too long it will split and rot. 

The hubby, a.k.a. the head gardener and bossman, thinks ours will be ready around July 4. Then you have to cure it (dry it) for storage. But I’ll tell you about that later.  

The bossman informed me we’ve got about 75% of the garden planted and only 10 more beds to plant. Only? Whew. We focus a lot of our energy on that big plot of dirt, especially this time of year — planting time. 

 I must admit to pangs of envy when I hear of friends’ outdoor adventures, bike rides, kayak trips, etc. The promise of food always brings me back to center and gratefulness. If I don’t plant potatoes, I’m not getting potatoes, or onions, or lettuce, or garlic. You get the idea. 

And tonight I’m having a big pile of asparagus fresh from our garden and that is a treat you won’t get anywhere else folks. That’s what we do for excitement around here.