Good Gardening: Planting Garlic

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John Fischer

Garlic breath- radio technology doesn't allow that to be transmitted- yet.

But without garlic many of your favorite foods would be bland and boring.  Imagine lasagna, spaghetti, pesto without the spice that makes them great.

  Fortunately garlic is easy to grow, and now is the time to plant it.  One reason it does so well is that you don't grow it from seed, you clone it. Each garlic bulb is made up of 10 or more cloves- the little piece you use in cooking.  When you put one clove into the ground in the fall, it will grow, and produce a bulb of the exact same strain- down to the individual genes. If you have a favorite garlic- plant a clove, and you will get more with precisely the flavor you like.

   Before you get you hands all dirty let's talk about basic garlic types.  Hardnecked- they produce a flower that is also edible, and softnecked- no flower, but more cloves per bulb.  Since the softnecked varieties also tend to store better- a year or more- make sure you plant at least some softnecked

   If you don't have any garlic around, you can get it at the grocery store, or farmers market, but you'll be better off buying certified disease free cloves at a nursery or garden store.  Of course you can also save some of your own garlic each year for fall planting.  I have a variety that grows with a full 360 degree loop in the stem that I plant every year.- It does that same curl every year.

Credit John Fischer

  Now comes the easy part- planting. Turn the soil over- a shovel is fine- and stick the cloves in about an inch with the pointy end facing up.  A little weeding over the winter, and a layer of mulch around the plants once they sprout in February will give you better yields.

  Another plant,  Elephant Garlic,   is actually related to leeks, but has a mild garlicy flavor, and produces huge tasty cloves.  Plant it the same way- except 2 to 3 inches deep.

  By the way, garlic breath doesn't smell like garlic- it smells like the by-products of garlic produced after it is eaten and digested. A clove of fresh garlic smells good- garlic breath well-- doesn't

Credit John Fischer

  Your garlic will tell you when it is ready to harvest- the tops will die, and you will dig it out of the ground, hang it in the house for storage, and start the whole garlic breath cycle over again
 

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