It’s not too late to pick up a bag of garlic cloves at your local garden center and get planting this fall so you can enjoy a tasty harvest of garlic scapes (the curly flowering stalks) and the full heads of hardneck or softneck garlic next summer. “You haven’t lived until you grow your own garlic and the time to plant is now!” says landscape designer Vicki Nowicki. She and her husband, landscape architect Ron Nowicki, have devoted their entire Downers Grove yard to growing vegetables, flowers, and not a blade of lawn. The Nowickis are offering several hands-on vegetable gardening classes this fall at their home and garden. On Thursday October 8 from 1 to 3 and Saturday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.,, Vicki will host a 2-hour class on growing, harvesting and using garlic. She’ll show you how to make your own fresh garlic powder. “You simply must come and try this and all the other garlic treats to be tasted!” she says. The class is  $30 and will be held at 907 Summit Street in Downers Grove. Call 630-852-5263 for more information on this class and others this fall. 

— Nina Koziol