Last fall, I neglected to plant out the garlic until late in the season. Usually this is a task for early-to-mid October, but time got away from me, and suddenly the forecast threatened temperatures in single and negative digits. So I ventured forth one blustery afternoon with a hoe and a box of last year's garlic harvest to make a desperate attempt at tucking a few cloves in the soil before it froze solid.
In one area I had selected for planting, the soil had become rather compacted, and after a time of being enthusiastically thwacked into the ground, the hoe decided it had had enough of my style, and broke. Even so, I managed to get a row or two of each of four types of garlic into the ground, scattered it over with a minimal mulch of straw, and crossed my fingers. Would it survive the winter, not having had a chance to start getting established before the freezes came?
I started eyeing those beds in February, but wouldn't letting myself hope too much. By the time my garlic was starting to come up at home, no brave points of green had yet emerged at the library.
Time passed, and finally this week, inspired by the perky sprouts of our new seedlings, I snuck outside... and discovered rank upon rank of handsome garlic shoots, already a few inches tall, standing straight in the sunshine. I guess sometimes even a tardy and last ditch effort is worth a shot.
In one area I had selected for planting, the soil had become rather compacted, and after a time of being enthusiastically thwacked into the ground, the hoe decided it had had enough of my style, and broke. Even so, I managed to get a row or two of each of four types of garlic into the ground, scattered it over with a minimal mulch of straw, and crossed my fingers. Would it survive the winter, not having had a chance to start getting established before the freezes came?
I started eyeing those beds in February, but wouldn't letting myself hope too much. By the time my garlic was starting to come up at home, no brave points of green had yet emerged at the library.
Time passed, and finally this week, inspired by the perky sprouts of our new seedlings, I snuck outside... and discovered rank upon rank of handsome garlic shoots, already a few inches tall, standing straight in the sunshine. I guess sometimes even a tardy and last ditch effort is worth a shot.