Grow Your Own Garlic
In only 2 weeks, my garlic is starting to sprout! I can’t believe how quickly it’s coming up. Garlic likes the cold, so plant your own now! I used a container, but you can plant it right in the ground if you like.
All you have to do is take a single clove and bury it about one inch below the top of the soil, keeping the pointed end facing upward. You want the plant to get plenty of sun and the soil to stay moist. The garlic will be ready to harvest in the Spring!
For tips and info about harvesting and drying, check out this site.
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Hampton Island Farmhouse
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This week I interviewed Andy Schwartz, an agricultural overseer at Hampton Island. This remote resort is located about 35 minutes south of Savannah, just before a town called Riceboro, Georgia. Hampton Island is separated on three sides by marsh and one side by a tidal creek, making the only way onto the island by boat or by a single lane bridge. Extravagance is an understatement to describe this incredible getaway, which is even frequented by some celebrities. Many buildings at the cite use reclaimed wood from old barns and other structures.
In addition to having an exclusively open-air kitchen (with chefs on-site) and a sugar cane press, Hampton Island features an organic farm. The farm has a multitude of seasonal vegetables and fruit, currently including: asparagus, salad greens, Asian greens, cauliflower, broccoli, green and purple beans, a multitude of hot peppers, carrots, radishes, turnips and many more.
Four huge brick planter beds frame a courtyard, located in front of the farmhouse. Each of these beds is designated for a single type of plant. One is exclusively for tea plants, like green tea, white tea and jasmine tea. Another bed is only for culinary herbs, including plants such as dill, oregano, thyme and many more. The third bed is designated as the medicinal plant bed, and the fourth is for seedlings. The farm uses a commercial dehydrator to make its own tea blends and dried herbs.
The Island solves many problems on their farm through holistic approaches. Andy told me about how insects are part of a healthy farm, but in order to get rid of the harmful bugs, you have to keep around the helpful ones. A special area is designated as the butterfly bush area, just so butterflies can have somewhere to eat. Ground covering plants are seeded while rows are empty, in order to replenish the soil with nutrients. They use castor oil seedpods to get rid of both moles and mole crickets. When weeds invade, the employees use a blend of hot peppers to kill the plants.
Before Andy started working at Hampton Island in March of this year, he had no previous experience with agriculture. In such a short amount of time, he’s been able to not only learn about growing edible food, but alternatives to using chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, that frequently end up in our grocery stores and kitchens. Andy sells the farm’s produce at the Wednesday evening farmer’s market, and at events in the area.
