Mimicking Nature: The Secrets of Garlic

The weeks of planting garlic are here, so what can we learn from garlic as it settle into the soils of our gardens.

I hold a basket of garlic bulbs in my arms on a chilly November day. A few frosts have hit the soil. Snow is not yet to fall and I am feeling ready after such a transformative year in me and a larger feeling of uncertainty for the world at large to store hope in the soil with the garlic.

Planting anything is an act of reckless hope. To believe that we will see the fruition of a seed into sustenance 6 - 8 months after planting is hard to fathom. Sometimes I have more gusto when I drop the garlic into the ground than others. Sometimes I have this unfailing belief that we are going to all be just fine. Sometimes I feel the earth even if shifting is going to shift well. My beliefs this year aren’t as certain, but I hold the belief that by poking holes deep into the soil, even in uncertain times the plants will find a way to thrive and teach us how to do the same.

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