- 1). Cultivate the garlic bed with the rototiller. Work the soil as deep as possible. Remove all errant weeds, roots and rocks. The garlic bed can be any size you desire. It is best to make the bed 2 to 3 feet wide. This ensures easy reach across the bed for pulling weeds and the later harvest.
- 2). Spread 2 lbs. of the rotted manure and a generous sprinkling of wood ashes, approximately 1lb., over the growing bed for every 100 square feet. Work this material into the soil with the rototiller.
- 3). Add the following materials as an organic fertilizer to feed the growing garlic bulbs. The end result will be 4 lbs. of the fertilizer per 100 square feet of growing bed. Mix 3 parts granite dust with 1 part dried blood meal and 1 part bone meal. To this mixture add an additional 5 parts seaweed. Each part is equal to 6 1/2 oz. of material.
- 4). Broadcast the organic fertilizer evenly over the soil. Rototill the materials into the ground. This should make at least three separate cultivations to the garlic growing bed. In other words, the garlic bed should have now been rototilled three times. The multiple cultivations aid in eradicating ground dwelling insects.
- 5). Plant the garlic bulbs in rows spaced 12 inches apart, 1 to 2 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches from each other within the row. Separate each garlic head into single cloves. Set the larger root end into the ground. The root end will be flat while the top of the bulb comes to a fine tip. Cover the bulbs with soil. Depending on the variety of the garlic, green shoots should appear within 30 to 45 days. No winter protection is necessary as the underground cloves will require the colder temperatures for rapid spring growth and development.
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