Garlic, a Very Good Place to Start

I have to say, there is a certain sadness that comes with the conclusion of Summer harvests. The exhilaration of growing food – of witnessing what worked – what didn’t – what worked too well (zucchini and tomatillos this year) is all coming to an end. 

That’s not to say there isn’t also relief in the rest that accompanies the cold months ahead as well as the excitement of planning next year’s garden. 

(Full disclosure – I am merely a weeder and waterer in the garden. Patrick is the one doing the bulk of the cultivation. I am mostly cooking and eating what he brings to me. So, my sadness is mostly connected to the lack of yummy tomatoes than to the loss of actual labor invested in growing those tomatoes). 

All that sadness aside, there is a sort of sweet swan song to be sung or maybe it’s a ballad of beginning as Terra Brockman describes it as in her book  “The Seasons on Henry’s Farm: A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm”. Brockman begins her book with the planting of garlic. She chose planting garlic not only as the beginning of her book but as the beginning of the farm year. 

I don’t know why, but I find this so comforting. We are at the beginning not the ending. It’s similar to the end of a sports season. We can feel a bit of melancholy for the end, but most athletes, coaches, or fans celebrate or mourn for a day and then immediately begin thinking about next year. 

We planted our garlic last Friday. And thus, next year’s gardens have already begun. 

We plunged those pungent and powerful cloves into the dark soil. Pat will cover them with rich mulch, and then nature will eventually blanket them in white snow. 

There they will be – all winter long – our garden’s beginning, and hopeful reminder of what’s to come.