Growing Great Garlic #1: Planting

by Renee Shepherd and Lindsay Del Carlo

Garlic is both easy to grow and takes up so little space that just about every gardener, even those with very limited space, can raise enough to be happily self-sufficient in this important and healthy cooking essential. Check out the especially flavorful garlic varieties available on our website.

We will be documenting of the whole process of planting, growing and harvesting garlic. Here is our first installment: (our second installment about Harvesting and Curing can be read here.)

The fall weather of early to mid October (the same time as you would plant daffodil or tulip bulbs to over-winter) is a good time to plant garlic in most of the country. (In very mild climates, it can be planted clear through November.) You want to get the garlic plants actively growing before the days get too short and weather turns cold, so plants will over-winter successfully and produce big fat bulbs in early summer.

Garlic varieties ready for planting.

The first step is to prep the beds. We chose a garden bed in full sun and amended with lots of well-aged compost, and worked in a high nitrogen, granular organic fertilizer. We are using Down To Earth brand “Bio-Fish” fertilizer which has a high nitrogen content to grow hefty garlic bulbs, but there are lots of good organic brands of fertilizer choices nowadays available at garden centers; availability varies from region to region. Dr. Earth and MaxSea are two other good brands.

Organic Fertilizer & well-aged compost.            Spread compost evenly over bed & mix in.          Add organic fertilizer evenly & mix in.

Garlic bulbs need to be separated into individual cloves for planting. Each clove is planted 6 inches apart and 1½ inches deep with its tip pointing up and the root end down. Garlic planted in fall will establish vigorous roots before the weather turns cold and days get very short, then plants will grow vigorously throughout spring while each clove grows into a full head underground.

Separate bulb into individual cloves.   Plant cloves with tip pointing up & root end down.   Space cloves 6 in. apart & plant 1½ in. deep.   

Mulch bed with 4-5 in. of straw.

After planting the cloves, we are careful to add a thick straw mulch to the planting bed. Garlic tops will sprout up easily through the open texture of the straw.

Mulching the garlic bed keeps soil moisture consistent while fall weather is still warm after planting, and performs the critical task of protecting the garlic bed from erosion and nutrient leaching during the winter weather. In cold winter climates, where the ground freezes hard, the heavy mulch will also protect plants from frost heaving.


 

As the garlic plants grow and mature, look for several blog posts on taking care of them and on harvesting and curing and enjoying big heads of plump garlic cloves.

September Recipe: Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Silky smooth and richly satisfying—everyone loves this dish! Roasting brings out the sweetness and nuttiness of the garlic to give more dimension to the mashed potatoes. It's even better with garlic you've grown yourself; check out our ready-to-plant varieties available now.

2 whole heads garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 Yellow Finn or other yellow potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot milk
salt and pepper

GARNISH
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Slice tops off of the garlic, toss with the olive oil, then put the heads, tip-side up, in a small baking dish and cover loosely with foil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until garlic is soft and tender. While garlic is roasting, boil or steam potatoes until tender. Drain well. Cool the garlic and squeeze out pulp. Mash pulp with a fork until puréed.

Mash the hot potatoes while mixing in the butter. Beat in the hot milk gradually, mixing until soft and smooth. Stir in the roasted garlic purée. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a warm serving dish, and garnish the dish with parsley and chives. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

 

 

Seed of the Month: Renee's Organic Stirfry Blend

This and many other veggie, herb and
flower seeds are still on sale!
Renee's Garden Year End Sale
Order while supplies last 
 

Exclusive - Our fast-growing leafy blend to give you all the colors, flavors and shapes needed for perfectly balanced quick and easy stirfries. Includes: mizuna, mispoona, mild mustards and Russian kale.

August Recipe: Green Beans in Basil-Walnut Vinaigrette

For a lovely presentation put 1 or 2 radicchio or red cabbage leaves on each salad plate and mound the green beans on top. Visit our online catalog to see all the varieties of green beans we carry.

1 1/2 lb. young green beans, trimmed

Vinaigrette:
1 tsp. chopped garlic
20 basil leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
4 T. white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Garnish:
Chopped walnuts
3 scallions thinly sliced

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, add green beans and cook until just tender-crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain immediately into a colander and pour ice water over beans to stop the cooking action. Drain well.

In a blender or food processor put the garlic, basil, salt and ground pepper. Pulse on and off, then add the mustard and vinegar. Pulse until smooth. Add the oil very slowly in a thin stream with the machine running, just until blended.

Place the beans in a serving bowl and pour the vinaigrette over them. Toss to coat thoroughly. Garnish with the scallions and walnuts.

Serves 6 to 8.

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Visiting Breeder Field Trials

 by Helen Clary,
Inside Sales Support


Hi there! I’m Helen Clary, one of the newer sales team members at Renee’s Garden. I’ve known Renee for many years and we have enjoyed riding our horses together on many of our beautiful local trails. I have always had a passion for animals, plants and nature and have over the years created a very productive vegetable garden using "our" seeds along with information and advice from Renee herself!  The best part is that now I am part of this amazing, dedicated team of people.

Going down the Trail
Renee's Patches and Ruby; Helen's Missy and April

I’d like to take this opportunity to share a little insight into a most fascinating trip to Sakata Seeds, a 100-year-old Japanese company that produces some of the seed varieties we offer in our line. Renee, Lindsay and I visited the Sakata Field Trials located at their Research Station in Salinas. We walked past huge greenhouses full of exquisitely colored flowers, and alongside fields of vegetables and herbs that seemed to go as far as the eye could see. As we arrived at the rendezvous point, we were met by Tracy Lee who co-leads the Home Gardening department for Sakata Seeds and has known Renee for many years.

    Looking at Baby Leaf Trials      Tracy and Renee discuss Collards

Tracy totally understood what Renee conveyed to her regarding where she sees opportunities to expand the product range while continuing to provide high quality seed and interesting, great tasting varieties at an affordable price for home gardeners. She helped guide us through the trials, pointing out varieties she thinks we would be interested in growing in our trial gardens. We found many future possibilities that Sakata’s veteran breeders are still working on that we hope to trial going forward.

Left to Right: Exciting new Chard colors we will trial; Looking through the
greenhouse window; Fascinating new Cosmos shape to trial

We tasted multiple varieties of spinach, baby greens and beets and Asian greens to name a few.  Lindsay laughed when I said "this tastes a bit like Arugula," pointing out that it was Arugula!  My plant education is expanding rapidly! I couldn’t believe how big some of the cabbages and cauliflowers were and how amazing the colors were for some of the chard varieties.

Renee and Lindsay in the Cauliflower Trial        Supper for Twelve                    

Renee in the Cabbage trial          Cabbage candidates to trial

I now have a better appreciation for the lengths that our company goes to ensure quality and variety. We came away with a number of potential new seed varieties which will undergo our rigorous home-trialing before they ever make it to the status of a "New Variety" for Renee’s Garden.

Renee gets some Flower Power!

July Recipe: Ten Minute Zucchini Pizza

A surefire way for kids (of all ages) to enjoy zucchini. Visit our online catalog to see all the varieties of zucchini we carry.

6 medium zucchini
Extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup pizza sauce
(homemade or store bought)
1/2 cup finely chopped basil
1 3/4 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F

Cut zucchini lengthwise into long 1/4 inch thick slices. Pat dry and brush both sides with olive oil. Arrange side by side on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet or pizza pan. Bake 7 minutes or until just tender when pierced with a fork. Top generously with well-seasoned pizza sauce. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil, freshly grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and put back into the oven for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce is hot and the bubbly and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Serves 6

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Seed of the Month: 30% Off 'Sun Samba' Sunflower

Still time to plant! Order today
and get 30% off Sun Samba
by entering code "sunsamba"
at checkout  (Good thru 8/31/13)

This scintillating color blend is a dancing celebration of all the forms and joyous colors sunflowers offer. You’ll have strong branching stalks with free flowering big blooms in a full array of colors, including sunny yellow, deep gold, lemon, mahogany, bronze and golden orange with many variations. Sun Samba provides endless, strikingly beautiful bouquets and a glorious display that turns heads in the garden.

Creating a Butterfly Garden

It is easy and fun to attract butterflies, the “flowers of the air” to your garden. Planning especially for these beautiful, ephemeral creatures enables you to see their intricate wing patterns up close as well as play an active role in the important work of pollinator conservation. In home gardens, the presence of butterflies flitting and frolicking in carefree flight indicates a healthy and well-integrated habitat.

Butterflies seek flower nectar for nourishment and fuel for flying. With each sip from the heart of a flower blossom, grains of pollen also gather on the butterfly’s body, and it then helps pollinate the garden as it flutters from blossom to blossom. Flowers advertise their unique personal attributes of color, scent, and shape to lure butterflies to land upon them, thus ensuring the spreading of their seeds.

A successfully designed habitat that sustains butterflies includes food, shelter, water and warmth.

Since butterflies are attracted to both flower colors and shapes, plan large groups of plants that provide big splashes of brilliant color to draw them, instead of isolating a single flower plant here and there throughout the garden. Sunny days in the garden are synonymous with a busy freeway of flying butterflies. The hot sun warms their wing muscles, enabling them to soar and fly while going about their job of pollinating, so situate the butterfly garden in the warmest, sunniest area.

On gusty summer days, they need protection from the wind, which is easily provided by arranging tall flowering plants at the back of the border to make it comfortable for the butterflies while they are “nectaring.”

As children are attracted to puddles of water, so are butterflies. A shallow water element in the form of a bird bath, decorative stone water container, or small water garden situated in the ground will serve their needs and add interest to the garden.

Be sure to include a mix of different flowering plants. Here are a few of my favorites:

For the back of a border, the shiny, fern-like, coppery foliage of “SMOKEY” BRONZE FENNEL with its golden umbrella-like flowers is a stunning backdrop for lower growing plants. A long dramatic row of “TORCH” TITHONIA planted at the back of the border makes a blazing hedge of brilliant orange-red landing pad blossoms, and provides both a convenient perch and windscreen for winged visitors. “CINNAMON SUN” or CHOCOLATE CHERRY” SUNFLOWERS glow in deep and deeper red colors and “SUN SAMBA” dances in a full range of bright colors: from cream yellow and deep gold to bicolors in shades of bronze and mahogany over gold.

For the mid-border, air-waltzing butterflies will be attracted to the searing scarlet and orange colors of “PERSIAN CARPET” or “LITTLE LION” ZINNIAS. Charming semi-dwarf “MUSIC BOX” SUNFLOWER offers a range of pretty, golden yellow shades and bicolors that add visual interest or choose “LITTLE LADYBIRDS” or “WHITE SEASHELLS” COSMOS. “BERGAMO” MONARDA is another midrange butterfly magnet.

Line the front of the border with fluffy apricot pillows of “SUMMER PEACHES” ALYSSUM, or “SUMMER SPLASH” or “SIGNET STARFIRE” MARIGOLDS to create a welcoming effect. Or, plant FRENCH or CREEPING THYME, MARJORAM or OREGANO, as the blossoms of these perennial herbs also attract butterflies big-time.

All of these flower selections are excellent choices not only for butterflies, but for gardeners as well as they are beautiful and long blooming garden flowers through the season.


Browse our complete list of Renee’s Garden Butterfly Flowers and Herbs, or choose our Seeds For A Butterfly Garden Bonus Pack, which includes 3 individual packets of easy to grow heirloom butterfly flower varieties to bring butterflies all summer long. It includes complete planting and growing instructions and garden design information.

Seed of the Month: Smokey Bronze Fennel

Striking Bronze Fennel has 4 to 5 foot plumes of filigreed coppery leaves and lacy golden flower
umbels that ripen mellow anise-flavored seeds. These plants are stunning additions to herb or
flower beds and are major nectar hosts for many butterfly species (especially swallowtails).

Season seafood, salads or cooked vegetables with sprigs of the feathery copper-bronze leaves.
Tea made from the aromatic leaves or sweet seeds soothes upset stomachs and calms the nerves.

June Recipe: Classic Fresh Pesto Sauce

One of the best ways to enjoy an abundant basil harvest. Visit our online catalog to see the 11 varieties of basil we carry.

3 1/2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 large cloves garlic (more if you love it)
1 1/2 tsp. fresh oregano or 3/4 tsp. dried
1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper (or to taste)
1/2 to 2/3 cup fruity extra virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts or pecan meats
Salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients except the cheese and nuts in a food processor or blender, adding enough olive oil to make a thick, smooth sauce. Add the nuts and cheese and combine, then add salt to taste.

Serve immediately over any kind of pasta, rice, hot baked potatoes, cooked spaghetti squash, baked chicken pieces, baked or BBQ salmon.

Makes about 2 cups (enough to combine with 4 servings of pasta).

If you are planning to freeze excess sauce, leave out the garlic and add when you are ready to use.

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Pinching Basil to Promote Lush Plants & Long Harvests

Mrs. Burn's Lemon Basil

Everyone loves basil (we carry 11 varieties) for its wonderful flavor and fragrance. Each season we look forward to growing an abundance of basil in our trial garden to use in everyday cooking, delicious fresh pesto sauce and aromatic herbal vinegars for salads and deglazing sautés.
 

Here are a few good basil recipes from Renee's cookbooks:
Basil Vinegar Chicken, Green Bean Pate with Basil, Pickled Basil Beans, Herbal Jellies

Basil grows quickly and easily from seed sown directly into well prepared garden beds – but only if it is planted after both day and night temperatures have risen above 50°F (10°C). Seedlings thrive in warm summer temperatures planted in full sun in soil that has been well amended with plenty of compost or other good organic material.

To keep plants productive for the longest period of time, it is important to start harvesting by pinching the stems back to encourage branching growth and discourage plants from flowering. Once basil plants initiate flowering, it is nearly impossible to stop the process and the leaves of flowering plants are smaller and less flavorful.

These basil plants are the perfect size for initial harvesting
and shaping. Pinching the central stem of each plant back
by half encourages branching and abundant leafy growth

Basil plants initially grow one central stem. Once they are reach 6-8 inches tall, pinch the central stem back by half and about ¼ inch above the leaf axils. This will force the plants to branch and grow more leaves. As the plants keep sending out new branching stems, continue to pinch them back in the same manner.

Pinch the stems back half way down
the plant just above the leaf axil.

Leave no more than ¼ inch of stem
above the leaf axil after pinching.

Fish emulsion is an inexpensive and
effective high nitrogen fertilizer that
organic gardeners rely on. Apply at
the dilution rate on the label.

Along with pinching the plant’s stems, it is important to give your actively growing basil plants supplemental feeding with a high nitrogen fertilizer like fish emulsion every few weeks. Nitrogen promotes vegetative growth and will help to grow abundant large, flavorful leaves and helps inhibit flowering.

Seed of the Month: Double Cosmos 'Rose Bon Bon'

From the very best French breeders, florist–quality Rose Bon Bon has extra fancy,
uniformly double blossoms densely packed with frilled petals in a rich romantic rose.
This exceptionally beautiful and care-free cosmos produces 3-inch flowers that bloom non-
stop on long stems, making them perfect for cutting abundant bouquets all summer long.
Butterflies love to visit these lovely blossoms as they sway above finely cut foliage.

May Recipe: Radishes in Creamy Dressing

This appetizing salad is crunchy and creamy all at once. Visit our online catalog to see the many kinds and colors of radishes we carry.

Ingredients:
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
(about 10 to 12)

Dressing:
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup fresh plain yogurt
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. prepared horseradish
1 T. chopped parsley

Garnish:
Lettuce leaves
1 T. minced chives

Thoroughly combine dressing ingredients, add radishes, and mix together well. Serve on lettuce leaves, garnished with chives.

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Gardening with Kids -- Resources

By Beth Benjamin, Horticultural Advisor at Renee’s Garden



 As the Renee’s Garden Horticultural Advisor, I get letters from grandparents asking for recommendations for children’s gardening books. In my experience, a love for books and for plants are the two best gifts you can give a child – gifts that will last a lifetime. Even if circumstances don’t always allow for actual gardening, being rooted early in the principles and practice of growing things will instill a lifelong appreciation for food, flowers, farmers, cooking and wild nature too.

I do think introducing kids to gardening activities works best when parents are also gardening, for a child to have a corner of a parent’s garden so there is always something thriving that isn’t dependent on the child’s attention (just in case) to ensure success, and because working outside with another person nearby feels so good.

There are several books I’d love to recommend. Life Lab is a non-profit organization based in Santa Cruz, California that is a national leader in farm and garden based education.  They have many charming and useful publications that bring learning to life in the garden. I bought their Kid’s Garden Activity Cards and The Book of Garden Projects for Kids for my daughter who was working with her school’s garden as well as with her own children at home.

Author and garden educator Sharon Lovejoy has written several great books on children’s gardening that definitely work well to encourage family gardening. My favorite is Sunflower Houses: Inspiration from the Garden - A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups.

Some lifestyle stores are also great resources. For example, Susanna James is one of our new California customers who has created a lively store called Dandelions that has been voted Style Magazine’s #1 Reader’s Choice in her El Dorado foothills region for both toy and children’s stores. In the store, Susanna has created a cozy gardening corner with tools, books and Renee’s Garden seed selections chosen especially for kids’ gardening. Her mission of raising children naturally and celebrating childhood with art and imagination ties into making gardening part of the growing up experience.

To that end, Renee’s Garden now offers a Children's Collection with specially chosen seeds. My own grandkids’ first choices year after year are Sugar Snap peas, Baby Green Fingers cucumbers, Sungold tomatoes and Musica beans. We plant them in the bed along the fence on the way through the back yard from my front door to their porch. There is something thrilling about picking a sweet crunchy pod or a golden tomato nugget off a tall vine, and they quickly learn how not to pull the plants’ tendrils off their supports. But the girls’ newest favorite is Mikado, the baby Japanese turnip coming to Renee’s Garden in 2014!

Seed of the Month: Climbing Italian Summer Squash 'Trombetta di Albenga'

This wonderful Italian heirloom summer squash is a vigorous climbing vine,
producing many 12 to 15-inch, lime-green fruits with a curvaceous trumpet
shape and a delicate mild taste with a hint of nutty artichoke flavor.

Trombetta's flesh is seedless and firm and doesn't get watery or mushy like
regular zucchini. The rambling plants will soon cover a trellis, fence or stakes
with graceful fruits that hang like jade ornaments cloaked in a lush canopy of
big, heart-shaped leaves.