Another garlic day is coming soon!  I just placed an order for 4 varieties of garlic with Seed Savers Exchange.  I read some articles about growing garlic and they said to plant several varieties in order to ensure that get a decent harvest even if one or two varieties doesn't do well for whatever reason.  They say to plant one clove every 4-8 inches, so I can plant about 64 cloves in a 4'x4' bed.  We'll see how many cloves are in each bulb that I bought I ordered 2 blubs of 4 varieties, so I should get about 64 cloves, maybe a few less.  I can always adjust the spacing if needed.  Also, a map should be drawn of where each variety is planted so I don't lose track of what is what.  Be sure, there will be more to come on the garlic situation.


In other news, yesterday I had a housewarming party to go to, so I had the idea to feed my need to put my hands in dirt and give the gift of a living thing to the new homeowners.  I purchased two plants, that tolerate low light conditions and decided to split them up and make a little arrangement out of them. 


It's not that I dislike big box stores as a concept; I like the idea of one stop shopping, but the management must not put a lot of passion into the houseplant section over there.  The plants were so dry and root bound, but the leaves looked okay so I asked an associate to water them thoroughly for me while I picked out a new potting container and a small bag of organic potting mix. 


When I got back to the house, I took the plants out of their pots and divided them up and separated the roots carefully.  The potting mix must have been sitting in a dry building for at least a couple years because when I filled the pots with soil and poured water over them and the water sat there as if static electricity was keeping the water from permeating into the soil.  Time was not on my side, so I had to mix it up with my hands and knead it like bread dough to ensure that the soil was evenly moist.  How does everyone else deal with this?  Does everyone else knead their dry potting soil?      


I was thinking all week about how I needed more low light houseplants at the office, so this worked out perfectly for me.  I bought 2 plants and ended up (after dividing them) with 2 plants for gifts and 2 to take to work (always with the ulterior motives).  Score!  Here is to cleaner indoor air.

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If anyone has any suggestions for an attractive, safe landscape mulch that is also harmful-chemical-free and maybe organic, I would greatly appreciate the advice.

Today, back at the house I finished planting my Hardy Chrysanthemums.  They had a pretty good deal on them over at my local Whole Foods Market, 3 for $10.  I always like to buy mums when they are at the stage where none of the flowers have a a full bloom yet, but I can just barely tell what color they are going to be.  That way I can maximize the amount of blooming I get to experience.  I need to remember to water them as much as they need it because in previous years I have tended to neglect the landscape after October first.  I don't want to end up with half-bloomed, brown and crunchy mums.

This year is a little different because I have stepped up my gardening game.  Last winter was not even all that cold or long, it was quite mild, but I had the gardening bug from January on to today.  Gardening is my way of life now, and I want to continue this path of always improving my skills, my techniques and my landscape.