Last week, the Linwood Community Daycare had an absolutely record week of produce sales….over $500!  If only we could do that EVERY week!  The really interesting thing is that we are just starting to get bigger harvests out of our gardens.  We have had an extraordinarily slow growing season – tomatoes and peppers are not really growing, neither are melons.  We are having much more severe problems with blight and powdery mildew than in years past.  However, our cool weather crops are doing alright.  We have been growing lots and lots of lettuce!  It’s been fairly cold and rainy with the exception of a week or so in July, and we are hoping that August weather will be more on track to be normal, though it hasn’t looked good so far since August is halfway over (how did THAT happen???).

So, back to revenue!  High Rocks got us started on garlic last season (thanks High Rocks!).  This year, we planted double the number of cloves (approximately 200) and then made garlic braids from the softneck garlic that we harvested in early July.  They sold like hotcakes for between $8 and $12 a piece.  We wanted to share some pictures and a braiding tutorial so that those of you who haven’t can try it!

I learned to braid from one of our participants, and then used this tutorial to guide me when I couldn’t remember exactly how to do it :-):  http://www.wikihow.com/Braid-Garlic .  There’s some good advice on growing garlic in general as well.  I like garlic because you get to set it and forget it for 6 months or longer!

Here are a few pics of the garlic before and after I cleaned it up, and the finished product:

Growing garlic and making braids to sell is something I would highly recommend for all Grow sites!  The braids sold much more quickly than loose garlic and brought in more per head also.  Many people mentioned giving them as gifts, and of course you can add any decorations that you like to make them even more appealing!

Happy gardening,

Kelley