Planting Fall Garlic

About a month or so ago, I planted my first-ever crop of garlic. It's great for a fall garden because it doesn't have to be covered during the freezing temperatures (although apparently there are two schools of thought on this matter) and seems to be pretty low-maintenance, which is also helpful since during the week I only see daylight from the window on the other side of my cubicle glass. (Seriously, I suffer from Daylight Savings Time Depression.)

Somehow, like many things in life that I don't know until my mom tells me, I had never made the connection that the clove is actually the seed of garlic – to grow garlic, you plant a clove.

Simply peel a garlic bulb, find a nice-sized clove and put it upright in a little furrow in the soil with the pointy end up, the flatter end down. (Just the way a bulb of garlic would sit when upright.)

As always, please excuse my horrible iPhone camera.

Plant the garlic cloves about two inches apart from each other, covered with about an inch and a half of dirt.

Soon enough, you'll see their green shoots sticking out of the ground – a nice sight to see amongst the browns and browns of November.

This top photo was taken about a month ago, just a week or two after I planted the garlic.

The above photo was taken today, November 28, about a month and a half and several freezes after planting my fall garlic.

I just planted more fall garlic today to see if it will survive. I feel like you just can't ever have enough garlic. It's healthy and flavorful, and I put it in everything, in omelets, on salmon, in vinaigrettes – and my mom's Lentil Soup, a nice warm recipe for a forecast of highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s this week. Brrr.

Lentil Soup
¼ cup good quality olive oil
1 red onion
1 medium leek
1 medium carrot, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, mashed with coarse salt
1 large celery stalk, diced
1 cup lentils, rinsed
5 cups water or stock
1 tsp. salt

Sauté veggies in olive oil until just turning brown, about 7 minutes, on medium high heat. Add lentils, water/stock and salt.

Cook for 45 minutes. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer, partially covering with lid. Skim off foam, stir every now and then until cooked. Taste for salt, add pepper, cover again and let sit for 20 minutes. Can drizzle with olive oil upon serving. Delectable!