garlic III

twenty-five days after parker and i planted...and two days after my last visit, when none was visible, garlic has erupted in both beds it was planted in...this tells me a few things...first the seed garlic i bought is viable ( not that i had expected it wouldn't be )...second, we have root systems developing and being fed that will give us a jump start on spring...third, this growth is pretty much doomed to die back with the first hard frost...fourth, we will be mulching the beds heavily with straw...at least six inches deep...and fifth, we have provided the plants with a suitable environment...they should be fine...garlic is cold hardy and well mulched will be fine over winter even if it gets quite cold...all the garlic we planted in the old garden in fall 2013 came through last winter ( as well as all that i planted in my back yard ) and temperatures reached minus sixteen degrees ( fahrenheit ) and were below zero more than a few days...this is one more plant set to over winter in the garden along with the winter rye, winter vetch, alfalfa, new zealand white clover and the hard as nails jerusalem artichokes...gotta love a perennial ( yes garlic can be grown as a perennial... http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/Article_Garlic_Plant_Once.html )