Garlic needs 3 weeks to cure — hung in a dry warm place, with air moving about. In this heat, I was not about to consign my 54 triumphs to the metal garden shed. If the heat didn’t melt them, the chipmunks and other dark assassins would cut them short — robbing the bulbs of their graduation from ground to airy suspension.
My three children are away for weeks. The family room is clean, free of teen clutter. And now it is beautiful as well, with garlic hanging in bunches of 5, from 3 wooden stakes, over spread newspaper. They wave gently from the fan. My husband is resigned and I am elated. I have the garlic close by, to gaze at as long as my husband is patient, knowing me as he does, that the prospect of coming home from work to find garlic-in-progress in my family room is a deeply gratifying reward.
Soon, the caked mud will be dry enough to brush away. I will cut off the dried roots, and peel away the purple dirt-stained papery husk, and hold my breath, waiting to see the clean, white paper husk beneath. I will eat them. I will give them away. I will learn more about these startling plants, that were so easy to grow, and even easier to harvest.
I will share photos with you soon.
Amy in the Garden 
I’m smiling, smiling, smiling. Poor old Will. Lucky the-rest-of-us! Tell us more!!
Thank you, Wren — what a lovely way to start this adventure! I will indeed!
We are loving the fruits of your thoughts & labor. It’s a good day to read e-mails. Yours was the only one with recognizable feelings. I really admire that you would type so much for your friends as well as sharing the bounty you created. Thank you both for being our “new” Neighbors . J&C
Hi Judy and Carmine! Thank you for reading everything that I type — I think that is a great definition of a friend: “I will read what you write, despite the length!” I’m hoping you will give me permission to mention you both, now and again, as worthy neighbors and sources of advice, expertise, and hav-a-hart traps. We’ll talk.
Planting… harvesting… eating…
This is so exciting! You are such an inspiration! Maybe one day, we’ll skip the supermarkets all together.
Wouldn’t that be nice! No more end-of-aisle displays to crash into! No more carts with wobbly wheels! Thanks — glad you liked this and hope you’ll keep checking in!