Garlic, a kitchen staple beloved by chefs and home cooks alike, is a flavorful addition to numerous dishes and a very easy plant to grow in your vegetable garden. I dedicate a raised bed each fall to growing garlic

Choosing the Right Garlic Variety

Before diving into the specifics of planting garlic in our growing zone, it's important to understand the two primary garlic varieties: soft neck and hard neck.

Soft Neck Garlic: Soft neck garlic is usually grown in warmer climates. This is the variety most commonly found in grocery stores. Soft neck garlic has a flexible stem, making it easy to braid for storage. It typically has a milder flavor and stores well, making it ideal for long-term use.



Hard Neck Garlic: Hard neck garlic is usually grown in colder climates. It has a stiff central stem or "neck" and produces a scape (flowering shoot) that can be harvested and used in various culinary dishes. Hard neck garlic varieties often have a stronger, more complex flavor, making them popular among gourmet chefs and garlic enthusiasts.

It is advisable to diversify the garlic varieties in your garden when growing garlic, as disease can happen. This increases your chances of achieving a successful crop come harvest time.

The Benefits of Fall Planting

I personally prefer to plant my garlic in the fall as it gets a head start on the growing season. It is one of the first things to come up in my garden in the spring. There are several other benefits to planting garlic in the fall.

Winter Preparation: Garlic is a hardy plant that requires a period of cold exposure to form bulbs properly. When planted in the fall, garlic cloves have the entire winter to establish strong root systems and acclimate to the cold. This results in larger, healthier bulbs when compared to spring-planted garlic.

Optimal Growth: Fall-planted garlic enjoys a longer growing season, as it can start growing as soon as the weather warms in the spring. This extra time allows the plant to develop robust bulbs with more cloves, increasing your overall yield.

Weed Suppression: Fall-planted garlic has a head start on spring weeds. By the time weeds start to emerge, your garlic plants will be well-established, making it easier to manage weed growth throughout the growing season.



Pest and Disease Resistance: Garlic planted in the fall often experiences fewer pest and disease issues. Cold weather can help reduce the populations of harmful insects and pathogens that can plague garlic crops.

How to Plant Garlic

Planting Location: Choose a sunny spot in your garden with well-draining soil. Garlic prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil with good organic matter content.

Preparing the Soil: Amend the soil with compost or well-rotted organic matter to improve fertility and drainage. Avoid heavy clay soils, which can cause bulbs to rot.



Choosing Your Garlic: Select high-quality garlic bulbs from a reputable source. Break open the bulb and separate the cloves from the bulb, keeping them intact with their papery covering. Only plant the large cloves. The smaller ones can be used right away in the kitchen.

Planting Depth and Spacing: Plant each garlic clove about 2 inches deep and 4-6 inches apart, with the pointed end facing up. Space rows 12-18 inches apart. I find a hori hori knife super helpful to both create a hole for planting and the correct planting depth. 

Mulching: Cover the planted area with a layer of organic mulch, such as straw or leaves, to help regulate soil temperature and moisture levels.

Watering: Water your garlic thoroughly after planting, and continue to keep the soil consistently moist throughout the growing season.

Fertilizing: In early spring, apply a balanced fertilizer to provide essential nutrients to your garlic plants.



Harvesting: Harvest your garlic when the lower leaves begin to yellow and wither, typically in late spring or early summer.

Book Recommendation:

I found this book packed with really great information about growing garlic.

Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers, by Ron L. Engeland

Article Photos by Robin Harbold, Kathy Smith, Linda LoGiurato, Johanna Tomik, Kris Hall, Gwen Davis

and Mary Ellen Durkin

If you garden, chances are you’ve made some MISTAKES. If not, then you’ve not done enough gardening! As with most experiences, we often learn the hard way. We hope to learn from our errors and avoid repeating the same mistakes. We can learn from, and share with others, laugh along the way, and maybe have some fun stories to tell. The following collection of such stories and samples of gardening experiences gone awry, is brought to you by some of Dutchess County’s Master Gardeners. 

Kris - I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now: 

My ability to be patient when designing a new perennial bed has been one of my biggest challenges. We all like instantaneous beauty and it is so incredibly tempting to want to fill a new bed with perennials. I have done that in the past only to have the plants grow, grow and grow some more, leaving the bed looking stuffed, packed and jammed to the point that it was hard to discern some of the beauties from one another. The bed ends up being out of control in year two instead of growing gracefully. There is a gardening motto, "The first year the plants sleep, the second year they creep and the third year they leap." This has proven to be true and with the right spirit and patience, we can see things develop and enjoy the benefits of a process. The garden needs to come into its own and given my past impatience and excitement for immediate results, I have come to understand the multiple year process!

Mary Ellen’s Lessons Learned:

I have a garden that extends almost the entire length of my backyard which softens to a slight slope from one side to the other. In it I had beautiful perennial flowers and shrubs, bulbs, ground covers - it truly was a delight to the eye, and the pollinators were in heaven. One year, I put it to bed with wood chips from “I don't know where” (my first mistake). I had asked a tree contractor along the road if he needed a place to drop off his load of wood chips and he very happily rid himself of the supply in my garden. 

As time went by, I noticed green, wispy, long-needled seedlings popping up. Instead of promptly researching this new addition, which I thought were some sort of pine seedlings that I could transplant later, I left them to grow (second mistake). Suddenly, they were everywhere and that all too familiar sinking feeling took over. 

Now, I researched!!! Unfortunately, I learned it is Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense). This herbaceous perennial, which is a relative of ferns, spreads from rhizomes which can grow as deep as six feet, making it very difficult to eliminate! 

What I learned from my mistakes: Do not just randomly introduce things to your landscape. Know the source. And always check out (research) those "new arrivals" that pop up along the way, as soon as you notice them.

Gwen -List of Lessons Learned:  

• Over time, I have lost many of my favorite small garden tools. To help me with that I put bright colored duct tape on the handles and have made a tool bucket with a bucket buddy that holds them nicely.
• I have planted things over the years with little regard for the heights of the plants and have been paying for that over the past five years as I move things around. 
• I also made a huge mistake putting my vegetable garden very, very far from the hose spigot on the house – in fact, about five hoses away!! I since have installed three rain barrels for water collection up in the veggie garden.
• My vegetable garden is on a slope and over the last eight years have tried to make tiers but with little success, with soil washing down along with the plants and having plants dry out with only clay soil remaining. So, this past spring raised beds were made to level out the planting areas. It is still on a slope but the plants are much better off with level soil in these beds.
• Now…. Have I made a mistake with these raised bed boxes being too small??!!!! Ugh! I am having trouble rotating my crops because of not much space. I guess I cannot grow everything I want to but as long as I have garlic and tomatoes, I think I can live with that!

One of Johanna’s Many Gardening Mistakes:

I was visiting one of my favorite local nurseries and found a lovely trailing plant with attractive variegated leaves. This is perfect, I thought, it will complement the colorful flowers in my large planter.



I was happy to see how well it did – it even took root where it trailed from the container. Wonderful, I thought……that is until the next spring when this lovely plant seemed to have spread to a 5’ x 5’ area in our woods.

I conscientiously removed every little piece. The next spring, however, found the patch to have spread to a 10’ x 10’ area! “You won’t defeat me”, I thought, and paid my son $200 to get out every last bit of it. It took him two full days of work. The result? It turned into a 30’ x 30’ area.

And here are the final pictures; me, defeated by Lamiastrum galeobdolon. (And people have the NERVE to give it the common name of yellow ARCHANGEL!!!)

I am hoping that these pictures may discourage anyone else from making the same mistake!

Linda - Garden Access: 

One of my early gardening mistakes, that makes maintenance more difficult today, was overzealously planting without giving thought to access. This includes not only access for a lawnmower to get by, but even for the weeding and maintenance of the garden beds.

As you can see in this early photo, there is no way to trim plants or work in the garden without stepping on, and potentially destroying, other plants.

As you can see in this early photo, there is no way to trim plants or work in the garden without stepping on, and potentially destroying, other plants. My solution after many years was to put in a diagonal path to allow access (second photo). The path makes working in the garden so much easier. 

The final photo shows the addition of a large rock and shrubbery that I thought would work in this area behind my house. Access has once again, become a problem. Today I have a passage that the lawnmower can’t get through! I wish I had thought more in the early days about creating easy access for easier maintenance in the long run.

Kathy - Growth via Mistakes and Experiences:

In the Beginning, I bought plants just because I liked their blooms, leaves, and color, and planted them with no design in mind. Even though the plant tag said shade, I thought I could plant it in sun with special care!!   

Now, I buy natives, if possible, for the pollinators and native creatures; I buy mostly perennials; and I buy based on knowing where they will fit in my garden design/landscape and plant based on plants’ requirements.

In the Beginning, I planted plants too close together regardless of their size requirements, as I wanted an ‘instant’ garden. That resulting in my moving lots of plants, some of which do not like to be moved!

Now, I leave room for the plant to grow into its full beauty.



In the Beginning, I never tested the soil. I planted ten gorgeous doublefile viburnum in a beautiful location as a screen only to see a few die each year. So, I would just replant with another one. After five years of doing this, I had the soil tested to find out the soil had 400% more phosphorus than normal – must have been some fertilizer spill in the past (I live on an old farm). There is really no remedy for that big of any area, so I am letting them die one by one and have planted a row of pines away from the section of soil.

Now, if an area of my garden is not doing well, I will have the soil tested within that year and take action accordingly. Also, if I am doing a large landscape planting, I test the soil first.

Most Recent “Mistakes”

Lemon Lace Elderbery is one of Kathy’s favorite plants. During the drought last year, she nearly loved it to death with overwatering. A newly purchased water meter will aid in preventing future over (or under) watering. Note also, the stakes around the plant are to keep the deer from rubbing their antlers on the stems in September.

Here is Kathy’s ‘Hill-of-Shame’ she has been working on for decade. Determined to cover the entire hill in pachysandra to keep the weeds out and the soil in place on the steep slope, she planted about 300 plants each year. Then about three years ago, had to remove two ash trees due to the emerald ash borer. 

The previously shady hill then became sunny. It was doing ok until last year’s drought did it in! This year Kathy replanted the hill with ajuga which can grow anywhere!

Robin’s Tales of Woe: Johanna’s Archangel experience is one I think many of us can relate to (minus the awesome pictures capturing the attack plant)! Mint is a prime example. How many of us first thought it a harmless, refreshing little plant in our garden, not knowing it would take multiple years to eradicate? And morning glories – when mine did not return the following year, I thought, what’s all this fuss I hear? Well, somehow, they relocated to the opposite side of my driveway and are climbing up and around every tree and into the pavement. 

Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny) may be friend or foe, depending who you ask. I have heard many gardeners complain of its invasiveness, as they fight relentlessly to remove after its unexpected takeover. I have had mine for four years, and I have to say, it has not been problematic and I love it for its beautiful chartreuse color, its expansive ground coverage, and its hardiness. 

And then there are the plants that we grow quite intentionally, but don’t survive, and in fact, don’t seem to emerge at all – neither as germinated seed, nor returning perennials. For years, I planted seeds for Papaver (poppies). How does everyone else have them effortlessly popping up all over the yard? Well, eventually, after I finally did have some success, I realized, it was likely I had perhaps been overzealous in my early season weeding, pulling up my would-be poppies before they ever had a chance! I suspect my rudbeckias and others, suffered the same fate! Lesson learned: Label, track, and identify BEFORE yanking out. 

Though we love to get in our daily steps, I’ve recently learned to make mine more productive by keeping an empty bucket or recycled potting container tucked away in each garden and any location where weeding on the run is a regular event. With a receptacle handy, I’m much more likely to yank some weeds as I spot them along the walkway, without the risk of delaying my trip to the garden nursery. 

Right Plant, Right Place is key in successful planning and planting. How about those beautiful rose bushes right on the corner of the house, you know – right next to the sidewalk? – OUCH. And my Caryoptersis divaricata 'snow fairy' – Gorgeous Yes, but the onion scent when you brush against its foliage, not ideal.

One of the most important lessons for me is simply that there is so much more to learn – a wealth of knowledge so vast it can never be fully consumed, not in a training, not in a lifetime. On top of that, weather is ever changing, new pests appear, new challenges emerge, and yes, new mistake opportunities are ever present!! 

Thankfully, resources are available to help us increase our success, and minimize our mishaps. But beware . . . google searches may return to you a selection of sales pitches, untested cure-alls, and so-called hacks that will leave you scratching your head. So, proceed with caution. Use science-based research and trusted sources like Cornell Garden-Based Learning. 

Yes, You Can Eat That Squash!

By Mary Nisley, Master Gardener Volunteer

 As the days shorten and the nights get colder, some winter squashes go into overdrive blooming and setting fruit. With autumn progressing there is very little chance those baby squashes will mature. What’s a gardener to do?

Winter squashes, such as acorn and butternut, are usually harvested when they reach mature color and their skin is firm. When stored at 50 ° - 55 ° and 50% – 70% humidity, mature winter squashes will keep from 3-6 months depending on the variety and they continue to mature and sweeten during storage.

Squashes are edible at any stage. Winter squash can be harvested young and treated like zucchini. Typically we harvest zucchini before the skin hardens and while the seeds are soft. Baby zucchini are considered gourmet food. Winter squashes can also be harvested young and stored in the refrigerator for a couple weeks. Their flavor will similar to zucchini, without most of the sweetness found in a mature winter squash.

Winter squashes this young are entirely edible. The skin is tender and the seeds have barely started forming. Simply wash and slice. Try them both peeled and unpeeled to determine which flavor you like better. This young pumpkin would be a tender addition to a vegetable medley. The flavor might depend on whether it was bred for eating or decoration.

This Tetsukabuto squash is a bit older. I don’t like the texture of the seeds in slightly older squashes so I scoop them out with a spoon. I usually peel Tetsukabutos.

I accidentally had three spaghetti squash plants this year instead of my usual two plants and all vigorously set fruit. In late July there were nine big squashes, probably more than we will eat this winter. I had to prevent more fruit but I didn’t want to clip the vines because more foliage means better flavored fruit. Instead I started harvesting the baby spaghetti squashes. I used them in sautées and stir-fries and even in zucchini bread. A recent post on Atlas Obscura detailed the history of spaghetti squash in the U.S. and quoted from the 1943 Burgess seed catalog “This vegetable is also delicious fried like egg plant when small and tender.” No, I haven’t tried this.

I’ve also eaten very young cantaloupe. They were harvested from plants dying of bacterial wilt (spread by cucumber beetles.) Peeled, but with the seeds left in, the baby cantaloupes tasted similar to cucumbers but were less juicy.

If you have young squash on the vines, be brave! Experiment with cooking them, both peeled and unpeeled and either with or without seeds.

Recipes:

This is a most yummy and easy sorbet to make if you have lemon verbena or lemon balm.

Lemon Verbena Sorbet

Susan Kavy

Makes 6- 8 Cups

Ingredients:

1. 2 C lemon verbena leaves

2. 3 oz. sugar or 1 Cup minus 8 T

3. 1 lemon squeezed and zest

4. 2 C white grape juice unsweetened

Prep:

1. Use zest of lemon/3 strips

2. Juice the lemon

3. Use a Cuisinart and layer the sugar, verbena leaves, zest, sugar, verbena leaves, zest, etc.

4. Mix until sand like

5. Put into a large bowl and add 2 C of white grape juice and lemon juice

6. Stir well

7. Cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

8. Strain leaves from liquid.

9. Churn in an ice cream maker about 20-25 minutes. Freeze.

*Note: When you take the sorbet from the freezer it melts very, very quickly so be ready to

scoop it fast. I made scoops and put them on a plate covered with plastic wrap, put them back

in the freezer, and was able to serve 6 people very quickly.

UPCOMING EVENTS

What's Bugging You?—First Fridays Webinar

Practical Solutions to Pest Problems.

Remaining 2023 Schedule

• October 6: Jumping worms | Roof gutter pests
• November 3: Winter garden prep | Tick check reminder
• December 1: Houseplant IPM | Firewood pests

Click to Register

What’s Out There Weekend (WOTW) Rhinebeck & the Mid-Hudson Valley:

Wethersfield Tour

October 1 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

257 Pugsley Hill Road, Amenia, NY 12501

WOTW will be visiting Wethersfield Estate & Garden on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 11am with tour guide, Toshi Yano, Wethersfield consultant and former Director of Horticulture. Toshi was invaluable in revitalizing Wethersfield Estate & Garden from 2019 to 2022.

All tours are free, spots are limited. Registration required.

More Information

The Garden Conservancy presents Open Garden Days:

The Brine Garden--Duncan & Julia Brine

Saturday October 21 & Sunday, October 22

Hours: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Pawling, Dutchess County, NY, 12564

This naturalistic, six-acre, garden connects diverse topographical areas of a former dairy farm. The garden has an ecological approach; however, it's not purist. Mature native communities of shrubs and trees combine with select non-native plants.

More information and to register

Bear Creek Farm

Saturday, October 21

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Stanfordville, Dutchess County, NY, 12581

Acclaimed for its "Best Dahlias" by New York magazine, Bear Creek Farm is quickly becoming the premier flower farm in the Hudson Valley. Realizing nature's capacity to reduce stress and enhance overall wellness, the farm focuses on an innovative approach of integrating growing fields with living spaces. Each of the meadows and multiple growing areas has its own aesthetic. 

More information and to register

Other Gardening Classes and Continuing Education

New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG)

is offering gardening classes and lectures

both online and in person.

Classes like:

Botanical Latin (online) class begins 10/2

Basic Color Theory for Gardeners (online) begins 10/17

Fundamentals of Garden Design (online) class begins on 10/18

Plants for Landscaping (NYBG) class begins 10/19

Soil Science for Gardeners (NYBG) class begins 10/24

Perennials Plant Combinations (online) class begins 10/26

Cut Flower Farming (online) class begins 10/26

and many more....

For more information including schedules and fees.

SUBMIT UPCOMING EVENTS

Would you like information on an upcoming gardening event to be shared in this newsletter? 

Please include the date, time, location, a short description, cost and contact information for more details.

Send an email to: Francheska Kuilan at fk232@cornell.edu by the 20^th of each month to be included in the next month’s newsletter.



ARTICLES OF INTEREST

High school students explore the language of plants High school students taking part in this summer’s CATALYST Academy engineering program at Cornell found themselves engaged on a topic they may not have initially connected with engineering: plants, and the complex systems that help them grow, respond and thrive

Seeds of Survival and Celebration returns Last year, Cornell Botanic Gardens launched “Seeds of Survival and Celebration: Plants and the Black Experience,” a garden installation and exhibit that honors the plants and plant knowledge significant to African American culture dating to the transatlantic slave trade. In summer and fall 2023, the exhibition returns with an expanded plant collection, more stories, and vernacular garden features reflective of African American culture.

Pollinator Network at Cornell We offer a variety of resources for beekeepers, growers, homeowners and property managers to promote and protect healthy pollinator populations across New York state.

Box Tree Moth poses a threat to boxwood plantings The Box Tree Moth (BTM) is an exotic insect pest native to North China and Korea which poses a threat to boxwood plantings. Box Tree Moth’s presence in Europe was initially detected in 2006, spreading throughout the continent over the subsequent 15 years primarily from nursery stock shipments. BTM first appeared in New York State in 2021, likely carried on a storm from a recent infestation just across the border in Ontario, Canada.

Chrysanthemum White Rust

Nectria Twig Blight (Coral Spot) of Apple (factsheet)

When is the best time to apply Fungicides for Foliar Diseases?

Copper Fungicides for Organic and Conventional Disease Management in Vegetables

Report an Invasive (Insect/Plant)

eDNA study detects genetic diversity of invasive fish

New York Rare Plant Status Lists (12/22)

MASTER GARDENERS SPEAKERS BUREAU

Master Gardener Volunteers offer lectures on a wide array of subjects for gardeners.

Favorite topics include: Vegetable Gardening; Pollinator Gardens; Home Composting; Sustainable Gardening Best Practices; Gardening in Small Spaces; Deer Defense; Bulbs for All Seasons; Spotted Lanternfly; Jumping Worms, Putting the Garden to Bed in Fall; and Nature in Winter. Additional topics can be prepared to meet a particular group’s needs or interests.

The talks are 45 minutes in duration, followed by 10-15 minutes for questions from the group. A fee of $75 per lecture (or 3 for $200) helps support our numerous community projects. 

To arrange for a speaker and get more details on offerings, contact Francheska Kuilan at fk232@cornell.edu

UPCOMING LIBRARY & GARDEN CLUB TALKS:

Note: We have a brand new presentation on 'Spongy Moths'. Let your local library know you are interested in hearing it and find out what you can do at home to help minimize the damage next year.

October

Two chances to catch this talk in October...

October 11 at 10:00 am

Friendship Garden Club presents

“Putting Your Garden to Bed” by CCEDC MGV Tori Rolfe

Stanfordville Library, 6035 RT 82, Stanfordville, NY 12581

October 11 at 7:00 pm

Tioranda Garden Club presents

“Putting Your Garden to Bed” by CCEDC MGV Phil Kiernan 

Howland Library, 313 Main St., Beacon 12508

ASK A MASTER GARDENER

Did you know ??? Where to look for our booth this month...

Saturday, September 30th

Harvest Festival at StonyKill Foundation

79 Farmstead Lane Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

11am - 3pm

October 7th

Millbrook Community Day

9am - 2 pm

ANNOUNCEMENTS



Need Soil pH Testing? Need Lawn or Plant Diagnosis?

Have any gardening questions?

The Horticulture Hotline, (845) 677-5067 is open April through October, each Wednesday from 9am to noon. Diagnostics questions can also be submitted to our website or you can use this quick link Submit Questions Here. If a photograph is included, please ensure it is focused and as close up as possible. 

Our office is open to the public with staff occasionally working from home. Please call before bringing soil or diagnostic samples to the office at 845-677-8223 or email fk232@cornell.edu to arrange sample drop-off.

For more information, including required forms and a listing of our current service fees:

• Horticulture Diagnostic Lab website

Cornell University Diagnostic Services:

• Cornell University Insect Diagnostic Laboratory
• Cornell University Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic

Gardening Information:

• Visit the Cornell Garden Based Learning Website to learn more about vegetables, fruits, lawns, trees, shrubs, houseplants, soil, composting and pests.
• New York State Integrated Pest Management for Communities for structural and garden pests.
• Websites for Gardeners  - many topics, including bees, nuisance wildlife, mushrooms, invasive plants, certified arborists and weed ID. 

Last Month:

This "golf ball" like thing is growing in my yard. Anyone know what it is?

Answer: Puffball mushroom.

Puffballs are sometimes found in a large circle called a “fairy ring”. Check out the page on fairy rings to learn more about this fun phenomenon.

What is wrong with my Lilac?

Websites mentioned in Dutchess Dirt are provided as a courtesy to our readers. Mention of these websites does not imply endorsement by Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension or by the author. 

Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

The programs provided by this agency are partially funded by monies received from the County of Dutchess.