Free Online Article Directory. For Article Authors & Publishers
The Stinking Orchid
I stopped to grab some gladiolas from my old friend Herman's roadside stand. It's the thought that counts, and three stalks for $5 was a great bargain for a happy wife. There, on the table next to the stand rested fresh garlic. I had never seen such beautiful garlic.
Not the shriveled, white dried out stuff from the grocery story but pungent, purplish bulbs almost the size of a billiard balls, with stalks still attached.
My favorite vegetable in more glory than I had ever seen. Suddenly, I heard a buzzer ring.
"I'll be right there, ma" Herman said as he rose from the old couch on his front porch to head inside.
On my last visit, he'd told me it was OK to wander around his half-acre garden.
"You might learn something" Herman had said.
He was 85, walked with a spade for a cane and lived to care for his garden and his loving wife who was immobilized by physical ailments and lost in a sea of dementia.
I wrapped the flower stalks in paper towels, knotted a shopping bag around the base and tossed them on the front seat of my truck with the garlic and headed home. Herman was nowhere to be found.
Two days later, as I headed to the North Tonawanda City Market, I stopped again. Looking across the garden I spied Herman leaning on his trusty shovel.
I wandered toward him. He eyed me suspiciously. A smile came to his face.
"You're the fella from the newspaper," he said. "Sometimes it takes a minute to remember. Glad you came back."
"Herman," I said, "I bought some of your garlic the other day. Why is it so different."
"It's because I know how to grow it.
"You need to start with good seed stock – something grown around here is best. Mine is rocambole. They call the good kinds for the north 'hard neck'. Plant it late in the summer or early in the fall. When it throws up a flower stalk in May or June, pick it off. Some people think its better eating the stalks than the bulb.
"Late July or mid August, the leaves will start to dry off. That's Harvest time. That's about it."
"What else do I need to do," I asked.
"After you dig the bulbs, let them dry for a few weeks, out of the sun, in the air. One other thing – leave your healthiest few bulbs in the ground. They will keep growing and separating and then you can dig them up later and use them for next year's crop."
"What about fertilizer?" I asked.
"Just add some organic matter, like the rest of your garden. No different, and be careful to keep the weeds down. Garlic doesn't compete well. Help me pull some weeds and I'll give you some seed."
That was it. An hour later, I'd pulled oodles of creeping charlie from his tomatoes and was on my way with a quart of individual cloves. I've been successfully growing garlic from that stock ever since. The important thing in our zone five climate is to be certain to start with good seed stock – the dried out mass-produced garlic from the grocery store gives poor results, at least in Western New York.
And those seed heads – they call them "scapes" have become a favorite treat when in season. They even sell them at the farm market in town now.
Author Resource:-
About the Author Joe Genco is a struggling gardener and recovering journalist who works as a financial advisor in Clarence, NY and a contributing writer for Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC the exclusive home for the Seeds of the Month Club.
There are actually various giant hogweed eradication methods but there's no single method that will do the job alone. Often, a minimum of two(2) solutions are being used for higher chances of effectiveness. Severing is amongst the widely applied techniques in preventing the spread or killing off of hogweed. Just like many other plants, it grows by its roots and propagates through its seeds. Therefore slicing the roots seems to be the best solution, but this by itself does not guarantee success.
The days are getting a little longer. In our Zone 5, Western New York neck of the woods, the sap is running. The arrowwood shrubs are red. The willow twigs are bright yellow. Snowdrops have been peaking through. It can only mean one thing. Spring will be here soon.
The charm of country living is found in the rustic garden furniture. One of many big reasons individuals tend to love rustic garden furniture is as a result of it's usually not made in a manufacturing facility .The rustic garden furniture is exclusive with chairs, tables, benches, and arbors that depict early America.
Many times when people get ready to select a floral gift from their local Santa Rosa florists shop for someone that they care about they have a hard time determining exactly what that person would like best.
A business is more than just an office space. It is made up of ideas, hard work and determination. However, having an appropriate office space goes a long way towards creating the image you need to project to your clients and customers.
You can give an arrangement of sympathy flowers Portland designers help you create. The loss of a loved one is tough to deal with, and expressing your feelings is often difficult.
We sometimes wonder when we look at trees and say, I wonder what kind of tree that is? The proper way to identify different variations is by looking at their leaves.
The Red Maple tree is one of the most commonly found trees in North America. It is known for its ability to grow under nearly any conditions, as well as its beautiful leaf colors. These trees are often used in landscaping designs in street landscaping, parks, homes, and community centers.
Springtime brings about a huge variety of newly budding plants. A walk through a flower garden will reveal plants that are common and easily identified by just looking at them.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlelisted.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Bruce Tucker's Author Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 