Garlic

Garlic has been around for thousands of years, dating as far back as the Egyptian pyramids. It has been widely used as both food and medicine in many cultures over the years. Garlic is really easy to grow if you plant it at the right time. If you would like a garlic flavour in your cooking all year round you can plant garlic chives as well.

Planting

In general, plant autumn-winter in a sunny spot in well drained soil, pointy end up so they are just below the surface. Like onions, they will not grow well in acid soils, so sprinkle around some dolomite or garden lime at planting. Adding potash and some mild compost is fine too.

Garlic is traditionally planted just after the autumn equinox (around March 20th) for maximum growing time. This is because the shorter days make the leafy part of the garlic grow. When we pass the spring equinox (around September 22nd), the energy stored in the leaves starts getting used to make you some nice fat garlic bulbs for the summer harvest. We usually can't get bulbs in stock until the end of May or early June, so you have to plant from tube stock if you want them in before this. You can plant later than this but the later you leave it, the less leafy growth there is to feed the bulb.

Garlic plants, like onions, prefer a more alkaline soil. Sprinkle some dolomite or garden lime around the area before planting. Single cloves can often form large, single bulbs, called rounds, in their first year. If these are kept and planted out next autumn they will form large, multi-cloved bulbs in their second year.

Feeding

Overfeeding with manures is not recommended as it will encourage rot. You are far better off planting in a soil that was enriched for the crop beforehand. Garlic will really benefit from regular seaweed fertiliser applications.

Harvest

Bulbs develop in spring / summer, and can be harvested when the leaves are yellow. A tip is to bend the foliage and flower stem to the ground in late spring / summer. This helps to put more energy into the bulb. Dry your garlic before storage. They look great and store well if you plait the stems together and hang them in a cool, airy spot away from direct sun.

Uses

What's a pizza, a garlic bread or a stir fry without garlic? You can use garlic to flavour any savoury dish... pizza, pasta, meats, stirfries, stews, butter, bread. Its use is really only limited by your imagination in the kitchen.

If you're worried about your breath after eating garlic, chew on some parsley to neutralise the smell. Better yet, fed it to your partner as well which will keep you both healthy and smooching.

Medicinally, garlic fights infections, colds and flu… and is a natural antibiotic and immune booster. Don't forget it also repels vampires.

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