Garlic time: Now through October is the best time to plant garlic for earlier, bigger bulbs next summer. Each clove will produce one plant with a single bulb, which may in turn contain up to 20 cloves. Plant cloves individually, upright and about an inch under the surface and 4 inches apart in a sunny, well-drained location.
Root down: Now is an excellent time to plant trees and shrubs. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the root ball but the same depth. Water thoroughly and keep moist until the soil freezes.
Cover up: Plant oats in open areas of your vegetable garden to reduce soil erosion and add organic matter to the soil. Oats are inexpensive, grow quickly are completely winterkilled, providing a great mulch over the winter.
U-pick local apples: (All numbers are in the 828 area code.)
Edneyville: Wilkie’s Orchard, 685-8438
Flat Rock: Sky Top Orchard, 692-7930
Hendersonville: Billy Laughter Orchards, 685-3241; Creasman Farms, 685-7728; Granddad’s Apples, 685-1685; Henry Barnwell Farms, 685-7371
Leicester: Long Branch Environmental Education Center, 683-3662
Weaverville: Dogwood Hills Farm, 645-6286
