Blair Road Community Garden

Many of Blair Road Community Garden members have already started planting a favorite local crop: Garlic.

There are many strategies for planting garlic:

• Plant it just before the ground freezes. (When is that exactly?)
• Plant it just before Halloween. (What if it’s still warm outside?)
• Plant according to the lunar calendar. (Does that actually work?)
• Plant it anytime of the year. (Maybe)

Regardless of one’s strategy, many gardeners at Blair Road Community Garden plant garlic every Fall/Winter and reap a bountiful harvest the following summer. There are many advantages to growing garlic:

• Garlic is a natural antibiotic and has many beneficial properties for health and wellness.
• The deer (which we have plenty of) do not like it and will not eat it. Planting garlic is a good way of keeping deer out of your garden if you do not have a fence.
• Planting garlic bulbs in the cold weather months gives you a great head-start on next year’s growing season. While others are thawing out their garden beds, contemplating what they are going to grow, your garlic has already sprouted from the ground and is bringing life to your garden plot.
• Garlic scapes. We’ll get to that later.
• Any cloves will do. Some gardeners send away for garlic bulbs from mail order catalogs. Some buy them from Whole Foods or the Takoma Co-op. The source does not matter.

Just plant three inches down and let nature do the rest.