Growing and Harvesting Garlic
Garlic is not hard to grow. It’s a bulb that gets planted in the fall, just like a tulip bulb and many others.
Its medicinal values are well known and documented. Plus, the Vampire thing!
What some do not understand is that you have a “head” of garlic ,but you plant the “cloves”. The type I favor, hard neck, have larger but fewer cloves so, in the kitchen, easier to peel and slice…more punch for less work. I’ve tried Russian Red, Elephant, Hard and Soft necked varieties, Magic and so many others. Siberian is said to be the most medicinal, due to it’s high levels of allicin.
It’s cultivation isn’t complicated , plant in the fall in rich, well tilled soil. I cover mine with straw to let it winter over, then when you see it poking thru, remove the straw and it grows quickly maturing into gooseneck scapes inside of 2 months. It’s important to cut off the scapes, which otherwise become a flower and go to seed, in order to direct the energy downward to the developing bulb. We want that head of garlic to grow big! And there are many ways to cook and enjoy the scapes, pesto being a favorite.
This year was an early harvest, mine’s been out of the ground for about ten days already…much earlier than last year.
Once the stems dry out I’ll clip them down close to the bulb and store them in a dry, airy spot to throughly cure.
This year I’ll try making fermented black garlic. Click to Seasonal Recipes to get the skinny!
