NINA'S GARLIC FARM

NINA'S GARLIC FARM

Most people wouldn't get excited about

THIS:

Garlic Labels-I Used Rocks Which I Painted With Acrylic and Sealed

or THIS:

Hard to Believe This Was Once A Steep Slope and Now Will Be the Home of my Garlic Farm

or THIS:

Look at the Size of the Late Italian Garlic!

or THIS:

The Elephant Garlic is the Size of a Softball!

or THIS:

Lots of Hay for Mulching-We are Supposed to Have a Very Cold Winter Here in Virginia

But I DO!

Since my grandchildren call me Nina, I thought it might be fun to use that name for my garlic farm. I was really excited when my first batch of seed garlic arrived from Territorial Seed Company over the weekend. I was anxious to dig in and make a dent in the hundreds and hundreds of seeds I must plant. After doing more research, I find that the best time to plant garlic in Virginia where I am, is October. So, I am putting it off for a few more weeks. Last year I made the mistake of planting in September and had several false starts whereas the greens from garlic grew pretty tall in warmer weather and then when we'd have a freeze, they would break off. This happened several times which I believe is why I ended up with rather small garlic. It tasted delicious though!

I painted a sign designating my garden and have painted several rocks in various colors naming each variety. I will spray them with a good sealer before placing outside.

Plans for the future for the garden include 3 tall sculptures of women with baskets. They will be either planting the garden or harvesting. I will use Ferro Cement, something I just learned about recently. After applying cement to my figures, I plan to mosaic their aprons and hats. I'm hoping to get these at least started before winter sets in. I tend to plan very big and sometimes things get done-other times, they stay on the back burner. Unfortunately, these tall sculptures have been on the back burner for several years. Now at least, I have a place I want to put them and maybe that will force me to get started.

I have a few garlic keepers for sale in my Etsy shop. Below are some pictures. Just click on my Etsy shop and take a look. You can purchase directly from there or send me an e-mail if you'd like any one in particular.

Luscious Brown

Rich Blue

Deep Purple