I found the article here, but I'm copying the text over here in case it disappears.
It's true - home grown garlic is amazingly tasty, and so easy to grow!
Grow Your Own Garlic
Once you taste home-grown garlic, you won't be satisfied with supermarket varieties
by Ruth Lively
Garlic isn’t hard to grow. In fact, growing garlic plants is almost ridiculously easy. It has a few important requirements that are easily met: decent soil, adequate moisture, and, of course, planting and harvesting at the right time.
When is the right time for planting garlic? Plant garlic four to six weeks before the ground freezes in your area. You can fudge the planting time a little. I have planted as early as September (by mistake) and as late as Thanksgiving (to experiment) and have had decent crops. Roots will start to grow soon after you plant. Your aim is to get good root development before the plants go dormant. Green shoots may appear in the fall, which is fine.
6 easy steps for a bumper crop of garlic
1. Prepare the soil
To grow nice, big heads of garlic, you need loose, fertile soil. Loosen the soil with a digging fork, spread a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of organic matter over the area, and dig it in. For organic matter, I use a well-aged mixture of compost, leaf mold, and aged rabbit manure. To avoid disease problems, don’t plant garlic in the same spot two years running. Prepare several shallow furrows in the soil that are 6 inches apart.
2. Choose your varieties
There are two main types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Hardnecks have cloves growing around a hard central stalk. This stalk forms a curling scape (or flower stem) on top, which many growers cut off to redirect energy to the bulb. Softneck garlics form more cloves, with big ones around the outside of the head and numerous small ones at the center. Softnecks also tend to keep longer once harvested than hardnecks. Break apart a large head of garlic, and plant only the biggest cloves. The bigger the clove, the greater the likelihood it will yield a nice, big head of garlic. Save the smaller cloves to use in the kitchen.
Hardneck garlic Photo/Illustration: Ruth Lively
Softneck garlic Photo/Illustration: Ruth Lively
3. Plant a clove, get a head
To plant, place the cloves 4 inches apart in a furrow. Hold each clove pointed end up, and push it into the soil about 2 inches deep. After all the cloves are in the ground, smooth the soil surface using your fingers or a rake to fill in the holes, and water well. If you’re planting more than one variety, be sure to label each one clearly. I also make a map of my planting, in case the labels go astray. I wait to mulch for a month or more after planting to give the soil a chance to cool down. When it’s leaf-raking season, I put several inches of chopped leaves over the bed.
Photo/Illustration: Melissa Lucas
4. Fertilize and water
Top growth starts in earnest in spring, when the weather warms and the days lengthen. I fertilize twice with a solution of liquid kelp and fish emulsion: once, when the garlic has started growing strongly—about mid-April in my area—and, again, a month later. Garlic isn’t greedy for water, but it doesn’t like to dry out, either. When the soil feels dry an inch below the surface, it’s time to water. In mid- to late June, I stop watering. By that time, the garlic has sized up and the heads are starting to form cloves.
Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais
5. Time the harvest carefully
Harvest in late spring or early summer when the plants have five or six green leaves, with no more than one or two beginning to turn brown. Each green leaf represents a wrapper layer surrounding the head. During harvest, you’re liable to damage the outer layer. Later, while cleaning the heads, you’re apt to lose another one or two layers. Your goal is to end up with two or three tight, papery layers enclosing each bulb. To harvest, drive a garden fork beneath the plants (be careful not to damage the bulbs), gently pry them loose, and then pull them out. Shake off any excess soil, and lay the plants in a pile. As soon as you’ve finished harvesting, move the plants to an airy location that is protected from sun and rain. If you’re growing more than one variety, keep each variety separate and well labeled so that you know what’s what.
Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais
6. Cure, clean, and store the heads
To cure garlic in preparation for storage, hang the bare bulbs with their foliage in bundles or spread them out on a table or rack. You can begin eating them right away, but bulbs intended for storage must be cured.
After a few weeks of curing, it’s bulb-cleaning time. Trim the stalks to 12 inch above the bulb, and trim the roots close to the bulb. Rub off the outer layer of skin around the bulb, and use a nailbrush or toothbrush to gently remove any soil clinging to the base. Try not to remove more wrapper layers than you have to. Store the bulbs in a well-ventilated, dark spot. If you want, set aside the biggest bulbs for planting in the fall.
And then there is this article on common garlic-planting mistakes:
How to plant garlic: Three mistakes to avoid
Jeri Baker
iStockphoto®/MamaMiaPL
October 29, 2013
I love garlic. But failed completely the first time I tried to plant garlic.
After attending a garlic festival sponsored by the Pikes Peak Urban Gardens, I stopped at a local nursery, bought garlic bulbs, and without much knowledge at hand, went home and planted my garlic. I was so disappointed the following August when very few of the plants came up and the bulbs themselves were puny.
The next year I had a bumper crop of nice-sized garlic. I was delighted. After all, garlic is not only a healthy addition to any diet, but a key ingredient in many Mediterranean dishes.
Here are three top mistakes to avoid when planting your garlic.
1. Neglecting your soil
Garlic loves loose, loamy soils that are rich in nitrogen. Here's my first mistake, I have clay soil that compacts and restricts root development and bulb growth. Be sure to add compost or manure along with a rich topsoil to prepare your garden bed. Because my soil is clay, I also add some sand to discourage soil compaction during the growing season.
Also, if you intend on planting garlic every year, be sure to rotate your crop. The garlic will soon deplete the nitrogen. During the growing season, use a 10-10-10 fertilizer to help keep your garlic well nourished and growing to it's full potential. Be sure your soil is well drained. If amending your soil is more work than you want to tackle, you can plant your garlic in containers and grow them indoors.
2. Being stingy with your water
Water your garlic frequently, especially after you first plant them. Don't over water, but keep the soil moist. If you live in an arid climate, you will find a good layer of mulch will help retain moisture and protect the bulbs from any severe cold snaps. I use between 4 - 6 inches of mulch depending on the plant's location in my garden.
You will either plant your bulbs in fall (September 15th - October 15), or wait until spring. I always recommend planting in the fall, but you have to be vigilant about monitoring the moisture. If you have not had much snow or rainfall, you will need to do winter watering to ensure the plants get the moisture they need to form a good root system.
You can reduce watering when the weather begins to warm and new sprouts emerge, but you must ensure they do not dry out. Watering is particularly crucial when growing the garlic in containers. It is important to check the soil moisture regularly.
3. Plant garlic in the shade
Garlic loves the sun. The first year I planted garlic, I planted them too close to a large tree. They only got about 4 hours of full sun each day, which produced smaller and slightly deformed garlic. The optimum is 6 - 8 hours of full sun.
As garlic is a southern European native, they love nice sunny locations. Because of my arid location, with frequent water restrictions, I pull the mulch away from the sprout to form a 4 - 6" circle, but leave the mulch on the ground to help keep the root system moist during the heat of the day. In more humid locations you may not find this necessary. Your sun-loving garlic will produce larger and better-formed bulbs to show its appreciation of the sunshine.
Plant each clove in your row approximately 6" apart, and space the rows about a foot apart. Overcrowding your garlic plants can also result in smaller and even deformed bulbs.
There are quite a few variations on this layered cocktail around. If you don't like the ingredients of this one, I'm sure a quick search would turn up something more to your taste!
Ingredients
1/4 cup (2 ounces) blue curaçao
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) grenadine syrup
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cranberry juice
1/4 cup (2 ounces) whipping (heavy) cream
Directions
Chill cordial glasses, blue curaçao and grenadine in freezer several hours before serving.
In cup or separate glass, mix grenadine and cranberry juice; stir well. Pour equal amounts (about 1 tablespoon) into each cordial glass.
Into each glass, gently pour 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) blue curaçao over back of a spoon onto grenadine mixture. Gently pour 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) whipping cream over back of spoon onto curaçao.
I have had a very strange day, but it has left me feeling mellow nevertheless.
Here's a lovely mellow song to accompany it, full of peace within strangeness and strain:
I'm going to dress up tonight And I'll look real pretty for I don't know who I'll find my own way around this great big city And I'm gonna sit at a bar and I'll have a drink
I'll leave you to revel in your youthful yearnings I know you like to visit them from time to time And like a thief I steal the words you write to her I take them to my heart and I wish them to be mine
But this is nothing new But it ain't nothing Well this is nothing new But it ain't nothing
You long for sweetness Does mine make you sickly Or maybe I no longer have the sweetness you require There's nothing sweet about a heart so embittered It's ugly and it's cold and tonight it's out for hire
But it ain't nothing new But this ain't nothing Well this is nothing new But it ain't nothing
We live through this day after day And complacency's a curse But you just can't escape it And I've arrived at that place where my tolerance gave way And I struggle to hold my head up high
But it ain't nothing new Well this is nothing new But it ain't nothing
It's funny, I think people see the Tom Sawyer of this song as an admirable character. It certainly catches the charisma of the person of whom they are singing. But the essence of the song is about psychic vampire: a high energy person who keeps his energy up by sucking it out of other people.
today's Tom Sawyer He gets high on you And the energy you trade
A modern day warrior Mean, mean stride Today's Tom Sawyer Mean, mean pride
Though his mind is not for rent Don't put him down as arrogant His reserve, a quiet defense Riding out the day's events The river
What you say about his company Is what you say about society Catch the mist, catch the myth Catch the mystery, catch the drift
The world is, the world is Love and life are deep Maybe as his skies Are wide
Today's Tom Sawyer He gets high on you And the space he invades He gets by on you
No, his mind is not for rent To any god or government Always hopeful, yet discontent He knows changes aren't permanent But change is
And what you say about his company Is what you say about society Catch the witness, catch the wit Catch the spirit, catch the spit
The world is, the world is Love and life are deep Maybe as his eyes are wide
Exit the warrior, today's Tom Sawyer He gets high on you And the energy you trade He gets right on to the friction of the day
I have terrible nutrient-poor clay soil here. I've been amending it for a couple of years now, but it's still pretty bad. I'm actually considering tearing it out of our raised beds and replacing it with new soil. I might try making up some of my own potting mix, following a recipe I found here:
To make your own mix, combine the following in a wheelbarrow:
2 five gallon buckets full of sphagnum peat moss 1 five gallon bucket full of rotted horse manure, compost, or worm castings 1 and 1/2 cup garden lime 1 large coffee can full of perlite 1 handful of Epsom salts
Ah, it was nice to revisit this song and revisit the pleasure of not being in love with my ghost. I once thought I would never have that.
There's a letter on the desktop that I dug out of a drawer The last truce we ever came to from our adolescent war And I start to feel the fever from the warm air through the screen You come regular like seasons shadowing my dreams
And the Mississippi's mighty, but it starts in Minnesota At a place that you could walk across with five steps down And I guess that's how you started, like a pinprick to my heart But at this point you rush right through me and I start to drown
And there's not enough room, in this world for my pain Signals cross and love gets lost and time passed makes it plain Of all my demon spirits, I need you the most I'm in love with your ghost, I'm in love with your ghost
Dark and dangerous like a secret, it whispered in a hush (Don't tell a soul) When I wake the things I dreamed about you last night make me blush (Don't tell a soul) And you kiss me like a lover then you sting me like a viper I go follow to the river play your memory like a piper
And I feel it like a sickness how this love is killing me But I'd walk into the fingers of your fire willingly And dance the edge of sanity, I've never been this close In love with your ghost
Unknowing captor you never know how much you Pierce my spirit but I can't touch you Can you hear it, a cry to be free? Oh I'm forever under lock and key as you pass through me
Now I see your face before me I would launch a thousand ships To bring your heart back to my island as the sand beneath me slips As I burn up in your presence and I know now how it feels To be weakened like Achilles with you always at my heels
My bitter pill to swallow is the silence that I keep It poisons me I can't swim free the river is too deep Though I'm baptized by your touch I am no worse than most In love with your ghost
You are shadowing my dreams (In love with your ghost) (In love with your ghost) (In love with your ghost)
That spring everything grew wild and the rain came down like punishment. You sat on the fire escape until the ashtrays were snow drifts. Change came ugly then. Showed up alone with moldy suitcases and too many demands, speaking the language of hard looks and wine headaches.
The memories are hazy now. Something about a girl like a light at the end of the tunnel. Something about panic in your chest and a new scar on your thigh. Something about an tearful phone call on the overnight train back home. What no one ever talks about is how dangerous hope can be. Call it forgiveness with teeth.
I met her in the Museum of Paleontology And I make no bones about it I said: "If you wish to study dinosaurs, I know a specimen whoseinterestis undoubted"
Trapped in a body that is failing me Well, please allow me to be succinct: I wanna love you whilst we both still have flesh upon our bones Before we both become extinct
That's what I told her: "I wanna be your lover" And then I told her twice: "I wanna be your lover"
Well, he says he loves you like a sister Well I guess, I guess that's relative He says that he wants to make love to you Well instead of 'to', shouldn't that be 'with'?
Oh, I told you once: "I wanna be your lover" And now I've told you twice,Homes: "I wanna be your lover"
And so I come to you filled with guilt and self-loathing And I amprayingthat you could make me good And so I fall upon your neck just like a vampire Yeah, like a vampire who faints at the sight of blood, yeah
And I told you once: "I wanna be your lover" I'm gonna say it again And then I told you twice: "I wanna be your lover"
Well this is my CV and I've got no-one else to blame So I will state, state my case, yeah, I will state it again
Come and help yourself to leftovers Got a little surplus love and affection And getting cuddly, so won't you cuddle me? I could be your teddy bear, oh yeah
I know I ain't no eligible bachelor This is no mouth-wateringproposition Make no mistake, you're in big trouble, little lady If we start a-huggin' and a-kissin' And a-kissin', are you listening?
'Cause I told you once And then I told you twice And now I told you three times And at the risk of repeating myself I'm gonna say it again
Yeah I wanna be your lover Yeah yeah yeah yeah I wanna be your lover Yeah yeah yeah yeah I wanna be your lover Yeah yeah yeah yeah I wanna be your lover Yeah yeah yeah yeah I wanna be your lover
I stopped going to therapy because I knew my therapist was right and I wanted to keep being wrong. I wanted to keep my bad habits like charms on a bracelet. I did not want to be brave. I think I like my brain best in a bar fight with my heart. I think I like myself a little broken. I’m ok if that makes me less loved. I like poetry better than therapy anyway. The poems never judge me for healing wrong.
I just found this beautiful haunting song. Fortunately the sentiments within haven't applied to me for many years now. But there's still a beauty in a certain sadness.
Nevermind me 'cause I've been dead Out of my body been out of my head Nevermind the songs they hum Don't want to sing along There's nothin' that I said That'll bring you happiness happiness Is hard to come by I confess I'm bad at this thing happiness If you find it share it with the rest of us Nevermind the words that came Out of my mouth when all that I could feel was pain The difference in the two of us Comes down to the way You wrestle with things I just put down That'll bring you happiness happiness Is hard to come by I confess I'm bad at this thing happiness If you find it share it with the rest of us Rest of us Ooh ooh ooh
I don't know how I hadn't discovered this one before:
2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake, "Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?, I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season" Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes Like they have any right at all to criticize, Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table No one can find the rewind button, girl. So cradle your head in your hands And breathe... just breathe, Oh breathe, just breathe
May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss "Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist, "Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year." Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while, But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles, Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.
Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, boys, So cradle your head in your hands, And breathe... just breathe, Oh breathe, just breathe
There's a light at each end of this tunnel, You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again If you'd only try turning around.
2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me, Threatening the life it belongs to And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud And I know that you'll use them, however you want to
But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table No one can find the rewind button now Sing it if you understand. and breathe, just breathe woah breathe, just breathe, Oh breathe, just breathe, Oh breathe, just breathe.
"I'm no heroine at least, not last time I checked I'm too easy to roll over I'm too easy to wreck I just write about what I should have done I just sing what I wish I could say and hope somewhere some woman hears my music and it helps her through her day"
you think I wouldn't have him unless I could have him by the balls you think I just dish it out you don't think I take it at all you think I am stronger you think I walk taller than the rest you think I'm usually wearing the pants just 'cause I rarely wear a dress
well...
when you look at me you see my purpose, see my pride you think I just saddle up my anger and ride and ride and ride you think I stand so firm you think I sit so high on my trusty steed let me tell you I'm usually face down on the ground when there's a stampede
I'm no heroine at least, not last time I checked I'm too easy to roll over I'm too easy to wreck I just write about what I should have done I just sing what I wish I could say and hope somewhere some woman hears my music and it helps her through her day
'cause some guy designed these shoes I use to walk around some big man's business turns a profit every time I lay my money down some guy designed the room I'm standing in another built it with his own tools who says I like right angles? these are not my laws there are not my rules
I'm no heroine I still answer to the other half of the race I don't fool myself like I fool you I don't have the power we just don't run this place
I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart's core.
Companion planting is the practice of combining plants together which help each other in some way. Some plants make other plants taste better (such as basil, which makes tomatoes more flavorful) or repel insects (onions with insects that prey on cabbage) or attract insects (nasturtiums, which are more attractive to predatory insects than most plants, so attract away harmful pests).
Companion planting also includes which plants to not plant together. Basil may kill rosemary, for example.
There are a ton of useful sites online. This is one of my favorites, because it spends more time explaining why to plant certain things together.
some people never go crazy. me, sometimes I'll lie down behind the couch for 3 or 4 days. they'll find me there. it's Cherub, they'll say, and they pour wine down my throat rub my chest sprinkle me with oils. then, I'll rise with a roar, rant, rage - curse them and the universe as I send them scattering over the lawn. I'll feel much better, sit down to toast and eggs, hum a little tune, suddenly become as lovable as a pink overfed whale. some people never go crazy. what truly horrible lives they must lead.
1 (large) zucchini, cut into 1/8" - 1/4" slices 1/3 cup whole grain breadcrumbs, optional Panko 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, reduced fat 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Kosher or sea salt to taste 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 tablespoons low-fat milk
Directions thinly slice the zucchini with a mandolin slicer. Mix all dry ingredients together, except zucchini. Dip slices in the milk then dump them into a gallon size bag filled with the dry seasoning, shake to coat, dump onto a cookie sheet, bake at 425F until crispy brown
I don't want to strive for nothing anymore, I just want to lie here with you, Keep the wolves outside the door, There is nothing in this world you could ever show me that could ever matter more.
Little baby In the next room dreaming, Is just icing on the cake, There is nothing like dancing, A dance of give and take, One step forward, One step sideways, A helpless feeling, When the earth shakes.
I will always be your lover, Even after our atoms are dispersed, We'll be pushing up daisies, And my crush will just be getting worse, I will follow you into the next life, Like a dog chasing after a hearse.
I just don't want to strive for nothing anymore, I just want to lie here with you, Keep the wolves outside the door, There is nothing in this world you could ever show me that could ever matter more...
I've been having a bit of an emotionally tough week. I'm doing a lot of very valuable internal work. Today it's left me with a sense of simple peace, and with this oldie-but-goodie earworm:
One of those days That just comes and goes It's not so special
She watches the birds Shat rest on a ledge Outside her room
The wallpaper old and faded A crack in the window pane The radio just keeps playing Playing that same old song
She smiles to herself They think that I'm strange They say I'm a dreamer
But I don't complain Though I don't have much To call my own
She's not a movie star, no She's not a beauty queen She'll tell you it doesn't matter She's not the only one
She says, "I know a place Where I keep the best of things I'm not gonna wait For my piece of heaven"
"And where there's a road Leads to the promised land I just turn the key Key to the kingdom"
She stares at the page Of a new magazine The morning papers
She walks into town And catches a show If she can find the time
She's not a movie star, no She's not a beauty queen She'll tell you it doesn't matter She's not the only one
She says, "I know a place Where I keep the best of things I'm not gonna wait For my piece of heaven"
"And where there's a road Leads to the promised land I just turn the key Key to the kingdom"
I know a place Where I keep the best of things I'm not gonna wait For my piece of heaven
Where there's a road It leads to the promised land I just turn the key Key to the kingdom
I know a place Where I keep the best of things I'm not gonna wait For my piece of heaven
And where there's a road Leads to the promised land I just turn the key Key to the kingdom
I know a place Where I keep the best of things I'm not gonna wait For my piece of heaven
Where there's a road It leads to the promised land I just turn the key Key to the kingdom
There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good There was no promise made The part you played The chance you took
There are no boundaries set The time and yet You waste it still So it slips through your hands Like grains of sand You watch it go
There's no time to be lost You'll pay the cost So get it right There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good
There never was there an answer There an answer Not without listening Without seeing
There are no answers here When you look out You don't see in There was no promise made The part you played The chance you took
There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good
There never was there an answer There an answer Not without listening Without seeing
There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good There was no promise made The part you played The chance you took
There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good There are no answers here When you look out You don't see in There's no way out of here When you come in You're in for good