Because of the climate in Massachusetts, garlic is planted in the fall, overwinters in the ground and then sprouts in the spring. Kevin’s going to mulch the garlic thickly with straw later this week to help insulate it this winter and prevent weeds next spring and summer.

For the bulk of the crop we bought a little over 5o lbs of organic hardneck seed garlic from Still Point Community Farm in Amenia, NY, right on the Connecticut border. We chose a variety called Music, which is known for its excellent, slightly spicy flavor and its big, easy-to-peel cloves. It’s a good keeper and is considered a specialty garlic.

We’re also planting a much smaller quantity of a softneck garlic called Silver Rose. Softneck varieties are good for making garlic braids.

That 50 lbs of hardneck should turn into thousands of fat heads of garlic when we harvest it next summer. Then we’ll cure it in the sun or in the greenhouse for about 6 weeks. After we’ll clean it up a bit, knocking the dirt off and trimming the roots, it will be ready to go into CSA baskets and out to our farmers markets. We’ll hopefully be able to save plenty for planting again next fall.

]]> http://langwaterfarm.com/2009/10/26/music/feed/ 6 roryodwyer Michelle and Kate planting garlic kevin raking garlic beds