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WELCOME TO THE GARLIC PATCH!
For vegetable farmers in the northeast the slender red tips
of the garlic are of the first signs of life we see from the
soil. It usually comes in early March when the soil temperature
hits 40-45 degrees 2” under the dark earth, the young sprout,
whose roots are 24” deep, stirs and climbs toward the sun,
arise! As it comes above the soil’s surface the tender tissue
will face both cold temperatures and snowfall/wind chill,
but nothing can detour this plant. Every spring I find cloves
that, for whatever reason, have over-wintered on the surface
of the ground and yet it has sprouted leaves and roots which
somehow have found the earth. Many years ago, with a bushel
of very small bulbs, I “seeded” several hedgerows from the
tractor seat and now, with the trees yet to leaf, the garlic
flourishes along the rock walls soaking up all the sun they
can get. Three weeks from now their world will become dark.
Our first garlic field observation is survival, the second
is vigor. Healthy garlic is very uniform in growth and differences
appear rapidly. We observe the weed species and population
density. These early weeds (chickweed, henbit, shepherd’s
purse, speedwell, and creeping Charlie) are great early scavengers
and have evolved to take advantage in the lack of competition.
They create powerful root systems to hold the soil and rapid
biomass above ground to keep the soil cool, prevent wind erosion,
and discourage any new plants from emerging. They are often
called the “footsteps of man” as they only occur in agricultural
soils, rarely in undisturbed ground. In my garlic field I
can also observe the oats that I planted last August, in which
I planted my garlic. Most winters will kill the oats but 2005-6
was the warmest ever and the oats did not die. What we once
called a cover crop (dead mulch), we now call a weed (a plant
growing where it shouldn’t).
Throughout the northeast and at all the national locations,
the growth cycle goes as it had for 5000 years. Cooperators
are regularly walking their garlic: observing, counting, measuring,
photographing, and writing notes as well. Some of the photos
will be up on this site as they come in. Cooperators are meeting
together in late September, 2006 in Albany, NY prior to the
Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. We appreciate the Kiwanis Club
of Saugerties for their generous support of the cooperators.
I have asked that each cooperator choose a date/time/location
to display their garlic collection to the public. This shall
also be posted on this site when it becomes available. Gayle
is putting together a map
so you’ll be able to locate each cooperating site.
Thanks again for visiting this site. I hope that your ground
is fertile, the sun warm, the rains often and gentle, and
your bulbs grow large and tasty.
- David
Stern
Archives: Winter
2005
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Spring
2006