Garlic, raspberry, blackberry, kiwis,... anyone else wanting to get things started before next spring? I haven't done this before but have been reading about it and want to go ahead. I'm in Vancouver and just wondering if I'm misguided to plant in November.....
Garlic is better planted in October, but I bet it will still do fine. Other berry plants should be fine, since our fall is continuing to be nice and mild...the roots should have some time still to grow a wee bit before the worst of winter, and get a small jump on growth come spring. Sooner the better I'd guess...
With the mild climate in Vancouver, now can be a good time to plant many things. We certainly can't do it here though. We got a foot of snow on friday and I don't think it's going away until spring. It is times like these that I wish that I still lived in the lower mainland.
I'd like to weigh in, because even though I currently live in the tropics, I used to be from zone 3a. Now is the time to plant raspberry/blackberry canes, bulb-veggies (onions, garlic, chives, shallots, etc), and tulips. I personally wouldn't start a kiwi in the ground just now, but then again you are in a milder zone than I was.
I'm not far from you in North Saanich, near Victoria. I planted garlic in October thinking it would just sit in the ground until the soil warmed up a bit in the Spring. The darn stuff poked out of the soil in a couple of weeks so I mulched with leaves. But it kept on growing and now is about 6 inches tall. I keep mulching and it keeps growing. As you know we haven't really had a hard frost yet so who knows if it will survive. I'll keep mulching. I have a good crop of leeks, planted in about July. We have been thinning them and will use them all winter in soups and stews. They're a great vegetable to have available in the depths of winter. We have a bit of Swiss Chard still growing and it will do until the first serious cold. This year, for the first time, I also planted a few celery sets and it grew like crazy. I read that it's better mounded up and eaten after a few frosts. I'd like to have more vegetables growing for the winter but didn't plan well in the summer. I should have put some broccoli in for sure. Anyway, trying to become a locavore is a bit of a challenge but fun nevertheless.
Galiano, don't put more than a few inches, maybe 4, on top of the garlic. You will mess up the growth process come spring. Yes, you are seeing growth, as all of us without a hard freeze right now. Mine is doing the same, but it will go dormat soon, then grow prolifically come spring. They are bulbs, just like tulips. Go to garden stores and look at their bulbs, you will see growth right now. Nothin big, they go dormant too. Stop with extra mulch. Clear some if you went to crazy in depth of it.
