growing garlic and herbs

if i had known how effortless garlic was, i would have started growing it long ago.

on a whim last fall, i planted some grocery store cloves from the fridge. after reading now was the time to get those garlic bulbs in, i stuck 'em in the 2' by 2' box, and that was that. no fussing, pruning, staking or trellising. yes please.

the cloves sprouted before winter and grew very quickly come spring. eight out of nine made it, but two were very small. this fall i'll choose the largest cloves, and i'd like to plant many more.

the browning leaves are a sign it's time to harvest. mine were ready mid-june.

they were washed and set out to cure on our porch in the shade. it'll be a few weeks more before they are completely dry.

we sampled the two smallest bulbs and oh my, homegrown garlic is gooood.

growing my own has become quite an addiction. a few months ago i planted a piece of ginger root in a pot. today i noticed a little sprout - yippie!=)

in pots we also have cilantro, oregano...

basil, sage and dill. in the ground we've got spearmint, which comes back and spreads every year. it makes a very nice addition to our smoothies. oregano is also a perennial. we cut the tops off and dry them in a brown bag.

in a few weeks the leaves are crunchy enough to be crumbled and stored in a jar.

the rest of my herbs (basil, sage, dill, cilantro) were started from seed. basil seedlings give me such a hard time that i think i'll buy starters next year. if it's not the bugs eating them it's the sun scorching them...