Planting Garlic In Your Own Gardens Is Easy And Enjoyable
Growing your own food is rewarding in so many ways from your pocket book to your taste buds
. Planting garlic is no exception. Particularly if you live in the North you are able to grow varieties of garlic that you dont find in your conventional supermarkets. Planting garlic with flavors that are so rich and deep you wonder why it has taken you so long to truly experience what garlic is supposed to be like. Conventional garlic in the supermarkets is mass produced and often comes from China. It is commonly a group called silverskins or Softneck. Of which means it has lost its ability to flower and reproduce through bulbils. To me a scary thought!
Planting garlic in your own gardens is easy and enjoyable. It doesnt require any more special attention than any other vegetable in your garden. Here is a brief summary of my quick guide to planting garlic.
Choose good soils that drain well and have rich nutrients, as you would for any garden. Choose the best seed possible. You can plant garlic from the bulb itself get a bulb of garlic and break it into cloves. Plant each clove with a minimum of six inches apart, and about three inches deep. I like to plant in beds with four across if you want to plant in rows that is fine as well. I plant in early to mid-October this allows for good root development before the ground freezes but not for the tops to break the surface. Cover them with a good couple inches of mulch this allows for the snow to smash it down to about half inch. Let them have an enjoyable winter with a beautiful blanket of white.
With the emergence of spring you can choose to take the mulch off if you desire, it shouldnt be necessary because the garlic will poke right through your mulch. If you desire to give them a shot of some organic fertilizer now would be a good time. Hopefully your soils are good and rich so you dont need add anything. This is also a time to stay ahead of the weeds. Garlic is hearty and will survive no problem but if you want big beautiful bulbs come harvest time then you need to keep them weed free. Water them as you would any garden, keeping the soils moist but not soaking wet I begin harvesting in late July to Early August when the leaves are almost half dried out. Let them hang out of the sun for three weeks and there you go planting garlic for your first time was a success.