​Planting Garlic

Thursday 28th September
Once again I arrived in mid-afternoon! I had bought some garlic and onion sets in InExcess last week so decided it was time to plant some.
I used the cultivator to smooth a patch where the potatoes had been growing and marked out a row. I plant garlic fairly deep, given the light soil, so I used my dibber to make holes 8" apart. (Afterwards I read that garlic should be planted 12" apart!) Two of the three bulbs had enough cloves for the row leaving one bulb to give some to fill in gaps later. I finished with a row of Germidour and a row of Casablanca both of which I think are soft neck varieties which keep well.
My Leaf Beet and Mooli  are both growing well and needed thinning. The Leaf Beet is a staple winter/spring crop I grow every year but the Mooli, described as a winter radish, is a first for me. I thinned them leaving a couple of inches between each but had obviously left it a bit late as the thinnings were as big as carrots so I sorted out the bigger ones and set them apart to take home. I offered a couple to neighbours to try before they think about growing them and will see for myself when I try them sliced up with my salad tomorrow!
Then I realised I had forgotten to bring down the overflowing kitchen waste bin for the compost bin and, as it was teatime, decided to pick the raspberries and blackberries and take them home while I fetched the bin.
After tea I returned to the plot to finish weeding the young Kohl Rabi plants. They had been attacked by pigeons so I draped a length of netting over them after I had finished. The radishes and Swedes in the next rows also need weeding - next time.
By the time I had finished it was getting dark and I cleared up leaving just one plotter finishing off so I left the gate ready to lock up as I went.