Friday, Nov. 6 was a cloudy and drizzly day. Perfect for gardening. Wait, what?

At Rittall Farm on Wiscasset Road in Boothbay, Dominic Hastings and Scott Rittall were hard at work planting garlic for the coming year.

“It's one of the easiest crops to plant,” Hastings said, while sprinkling Maine-made kelp meal over the garlic beds. “You break up the cloves like you were going to eat it, but instead plant it in the soil.”

Hastings said garlic needs to be planted when the weather is just starting to turn cold, which is usually around Columbus Day, but that this fall has been unusually mild.

“The ground needs to be warm enough that the roots will still take hold, but before the scape (the edible flower bud of the plant) starts growing up through the soil,” Hastings said. This is so when the freeze hits, the garlic will be protected. Hastings said if garlic is planted too early, it's possible to mulch over the top of any scapes with pine needles or other insulation.

Hastings and Rittall are both big believers in farming and sustainable living. They were both actively involved in the community garden located on Rittall Farm, which this year grew over 800 pounds of food for the community.

“My dream is to see a community college down here,” Rittall said, “one that teaches farming, and the arts, maybe boatbuilding. Five hundred year-round college students, or 1,000. Just think of what that would do for our community.”

Rittall and Hastings said the key to their work is in small, grassroots movements that come together, such as the community garden and the music festival held at the farm in August.

“The more we do with the garden, the more people we bring in and who are interested, the stronger and bigger it grows,” Rittall said. “Maybe some people can give time to volunteer. Maybe others can donate land we can grow on.” Rittall used as an example Tony Heyl, owner of A Silver Lining, who allowed Rittall part of his land to plant asparagus on.

“We can grow everything we need right here if the community comes together with small, individual ideas,” Rittall said. “I'm doing this for my daughter to leave a better place for her and the next generation.”