The garlic plants are nestled snug in their beds for the winter

Planting the seed garlic for next spring’s crop has been a longer process than in recent years. Because I sold more braids this year, I purchased new seed of two of the varieties I grow and braid to add to the seed I’d saved from my own harvest in June and July. And those additional bulbs from two garlic seed suppliers, AllicinsRanch.com and FilareeFarms.com meant I had to have more space to grow. Consequently, in order to plant the extra seed, we had to build some new garden beds at our garlic farm in Monticello, Kentucky.

My husband, the builder of the 12 foot by 4 foot bed frames, purchased red cedar boards, 8 feet long x 2” thick x 8” high. Those had to cure for at least a month before he coated them with linseed oil. Then he laid out the beds on the ground and dug out the sod and leveled the dirt floor of each bed.

Jim coats cedar boards with linseed oil.

Dirt floor leveled. Install frames.

Compost hauled from UoL Compost Co-op to mix into new Monti beds.

Purchased topsoil/sand mix and compost added. Ready to plant.

Purchased topsoil/sand mix. In the background, level dirt in North bed .

Music already growing when Thai Fire cloves were planted at the end of the bed.

Once the frames were in place, I watered the soil deeply and planted the seed the next day. It was up within two weeks and is strong now. I had only the Thai Fire to plant when we returned to the garlic farm. And those few rows were all that was needed to fill both of the new beds.

The garlic plants will go dormant during the cold and send out new leaves in the spring. We settle in for our long winter’s rest … and wait. This resting is one part I really like about growing garlic.