Michael built raised-bed gardens many years ago. As Irene and Clyde aged, the gardens grew more portulaca than tomatoes. One of the first projects we undertook when we arrived last August was to reclaim these gardens so that we would have a place to plant the garlic strains my sister Mariluz from Washington and Friend Dave from Maine Had fostered for us in our garden-poor days. Garlic should be planted in the fall. It ripens mid-summer...which is NOW!

We planted German Red, Rocambole, River Giant, Siberian White, and French Germinador.

We rub the dirt off as we harvest as the dirt sticks if allowed to dry in place. If the garlic sits in the ground too long, the protective "paper" deteriorates, impacting storage quality. Contact with water also affects the "paper."

Just as blueberries ripen when the butterfly weed first shows, harvest garlic when the bergamot blooms.