Garlic was planted in the garden the same day we planted fava beans. It was the middle of October. I made notes of what was planted where but forgot to note the date. As Bugs Bunny would say, “What a maroon!”
By the middle of November the garlic cloves had sprouted and grew enough so that about 2 inches of the sprouts were sticking out of the ground.
Both crops, the fava beans and garlic, should overwinter just fine.
The weather was so mild in the last of Autumn and the start of Winter. We even had a day warm enough last month to break a high temperature record at 64 degrees. Any time we get to feel the 60s in December is an oddity in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
To assure that the eventually harsh winter won’t freeze out the young plants, they surely should have been mulched. That would afford some protection against wild swings in temperatures come Spring. Oh well, we like to test the extremes around here, so we’ll see what happens to the garlic and fava beans without a layer of winter mulch. We’ll make sure to add some old straw once the pile of snow melts away.
The garlic varieties that were planted came from Nichol’s Garden Nursery out of Albany, Oregon: Garlic Duganskij and Garlic Chesnok Red. We picked these garlic varieties from the ones we liked the best out of their Garlic Sampler that we planted two years ago.
Sure, you can find garlic offered for sale on Amazon, like Chesnok Red Garlic