Planting Garlic & Harvesting the First Greens of the Season

Village Farm Team,

We had a great turnout at the Halloween farmers market this past weekend despite the unseasonably warm weather. Our vendors loved being able to pass out treats to the kiddos and we enjoyed seeing everyone vote on their favorite Farm Club scarecrow. Our winning scarecrow can be seen below, already hard at work frightening away pests from the winner’s Farm Club plot!

About ten days ago we planted garlic in a couple of our raised beds and we are already starting to see the greens sprout through the soil. Planting garlic starts with a whole bulb. Each bulb is broken into individual cloves to be planted as each clove will grow and form a new bulb. The cloves are planted about two inches deep in the soil before being completely covered. Since garlic does best in well-drained soil, we opted to plant it in our raised beds. Now comes the hard part: waiting! Our garlic won’t be ready to harvest until next summer.

We’ve officially transitioned to fall crops on the farm as our okra is finally done. This past weekend we harvested the first of our Chinese cabbage and mustard greens. Chinese cabbages, also referred to as Napa cabbages, have an oblong shape, crinkled leaves, and a mild taste. The variety we have growing on the farm is called Bilko. In addition to the first of our greens, we harvested our first few bunches of beets. We have a rainbow of varieties growing from the golden Touchstone to the candy cane striped Chioggia. Make sure you come by the farmers market on Saturdays so you can pick up these delicious veggies!