We’re having a mini-heatwave in central Maine. It was 44F this morning at 6AM. Although the weather forecast was for cloudy, dry skies, it misted off and on during the day. Maybe that was to dampen the dust of discord as voters from across the US went to the polls. As Dylan put it many years ago, “If the arrow is straight and the point is slick, it will pierce through dust no matter how thick.” We voted.
Garlic dibble
And we planted the garlic. We save out our best heads for planting. (We avoid using garlic from other sources to minimize the chance of importing disease.) We divide the heads up into cloves and then set them out 10” apart and 2-3” deep. We use a home-made, long-handled tool modeled on the traditional bulb planter (aka dibble). It allows us to create the holes for planting at the desired depth and distance apart. I made it long ago. We use it once a year, but it was worth the effort and works like a charm.
As darkness fell we finally picked about half the Wicksons. We’ll pick the other half tomorrow. They ripen late and sweeten in the frosty weather. We’ll turn them into a single-variety cider. Check back in two years for the report.