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One of the questions this past week was on planting garlic. The answer is now is the time to plant garlic. Another question was on the harvest of onions.

One of the singular characteristics of garlic is that it makes you wait. Radishes and spinach make you wait only a month or so. For lettuce, carrots, summer squash, or green beans, you need to wait for a couple of months. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and winter squash you need to wait another month.

For garlic you must wait seven to nine months from planting to harvest. Part of this time you don't see anything because it's below the frozen ground. A garlic clove planted in late September will not send up any sign of life until the following March or even early April.

The best bulbs are from a catalog or garden center. If you must buy from a grocery store be sure they are in a bulk bin. The last resort is to purchase ones that are pre-packaged. The bigger the clove, the bigger the eventual bulb.

Grow garlic in rich, deep, well-drained soil, with rows spaced two feet apart and the cloves two inches deep and three to five inches apart. Pointed tips should face upward.

Leaves will emerge in the spring and turn yellow in mid to late summer. Dig up the bulbs with a garden fork when most of the leaves have turned brown. Dry the bulbs in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place.

This past spring the Chisago County Master Gardeners added bare root onions to our list of plants we offer for sale to the public. In fact, we sold almost 4,000 onion sets. We also had a class on how to raise onions that was well attended. Now I am receiving calls on when to pick them and how to store them.

Onion tops turn yellow and fall over when the growing process is complete. Bending the tops over early will only speed up the process and decrease bulb size. Pull the onions out of the ground and let them dry in the sun for a couple of days. Lay the tops of one row of bulbs over the bulbs of another to prevent sunscald. When onions dry, clip roots and cut back tops to one inch or braid uncut tops together and hang onions in an airy spot. The best way to store onions is in a mesh bag, or nylon stockings.

Another suggestion is to spread the onions out on a screen to allow adequate ventilation. Remember to keep them from touching each other. As a general rule, the sweeter onions have higher water content therefore, have a shorter shelf life. A more pungent onion will store longer. If you bought from us that would be the Copra which I don't use until after Christmas. The sweet varieties we sold are Candy and Spanish Yellow.

Go through the onions every few weeks and throw away the bad or soft ones. It's true with onions as with other fruits and vegetables bad ones will make ones next to them bad also.

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Plant clinics are finished for this year. Please note there is no longer staff at the North Branch Office who can answer gardening questions.

VOICE MAIL: You can leave a question for a volunteer Master Gardener at 651-674-4417. Depending on the volume of calls, they try to respond within a couple of days. During office hours ask for the Master Gardener voicemail, after hours, select ext. 18. You can also get your question answered on the web at: www.extension.umn. edu/askmg

UPCOMING CLASSES: Join the Master Gardeners Saturday, Oct. 13 for Fall Clean-Up to Control Insects from 10-11 a.m. Dr. Vera Krischik, Associate Professor, Department of Entomology, U of M, will talk about what steps you can take now and in early spring to control insects in your yard and garden. You are invited to join us after the class for a harvest potluck lunch. This would also be a good opportunity for anyone thinking about becoming a Master Gardener to see what we do and get more information about the program.

The class will be held at the Senior Center in North Branch. You can call 651-674-4417 for more info. This would also be a good opportunity for anyone thinking about becoming a Master Gardener to see what we do and get more information about the program.

A cutback in staffing has made it necessary for the Extension Office to limit hours of operation. We would suggest that you call ahead to verify that the office is open if you plan to stop by.

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