Garlic harvest

I love to toil in the soil. Not everyone does. I have a corner lot and as cars drive past my vegetable garden I'm sure some folks are thinking- "what a dope that guy is, if he added up all of his time and expenses he'd see it's cheaper to go to Safeway for his veggies."

I harvested my 'German White' hard-neck garlic on Saturday. I created a new 16 ft. X 4 ft. bed last fall and planted 4 rows of 55 cloves each last November. My investment was 10 lbs. of garlic ($50) for planting, 4 bags of compost ($16) and some fertilizer ($3)- a total of $69. I don't put a $ value on my gardening time- it's a gift to myself, my family and friends.

I harvested 205 solid bulbs (about 45 lbs.) and discarded about 15 bulbs that were way small or rotted.I would have to pay about $200 to buy that much good, fresh garlic at a farmers market and about $135 to buy much lower quality garlic from a supermarket.

I also harvested garlic greens and scapes from April through June that would have cost another $20.And with the garlic out of the ground I'm ready to come back with a double row of bush beans that I'll put in the freezer.

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