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Garlic Needs to Be Planted Now!

Posted on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment 

When I was growing up, my mom served meat and potatoes nearly every night. Our vegetable was  peas or cooked carrots, and once a week or so we had an iceberg lettuce salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots with dressing from a bottle. So I don’t really know how I developed a taste for complex flavors. But I grow – and cook with – a lot of garlic, and find it adds depth and intensity to soups and stews. Now is the time to plant some for next year.

 

Growing garlic involves less work than anything else I grow. There really are only 3 steps: plant it, mulch it, and harvest it. Once you have an established bed of garlic, it’s also the least expensive crop. I planted this year’s crop from last year’s crop, and that one I planted from the crop of the year before. You really only have to buy garlic once – so long as you plant some extra and save it each year for planting. I choose my best looking, biggest garlic each year for planting. 

 

The hardest part of planting garlic for the first time might be to find garlic sold for planting. You can’t just go to the grocery store to get garlic because much of it has been treated with chemicals to prevent it from sprouting, and most is the wrong kind for New England.

 

I went on-line to see about buying “seed” garlic. Many major suppliers are already sold out, and prices have sky rocketed since last year. Try your local farmer or farmer’s market – they may still have some.

 

There are basically just two kinds of garlic: soft neck garlic, which is what you probably get at your grocery store, and the stuff we grow here in the Northeast called hard neck garlic. Most soft neck garlic (the kind that is braided and hung on walls) comes from California and keeps nearly forever. It is less hardy than hard neck garlic, a bit bland, and less interesting to cook with.

 

Hardneck garlic has a stiff stem in the middle of each bulb. In my opinion it has a much more complex flavor. It will keep in a cool place until spring, but not much longer. Then it either sprouts or dries up. There are many named varieties of hardneck garlic- but all are excellent.

 

To plant garlic, take a bulb (or head) of garlic and separate it into the cloves that surround the hard “neck” or flower scape. Depending on the variety of garlic, you might have just five cloves, or as many as a dozen. I like big cloves, as they are easier to peel and use. So each year I select for big cloves and plant them. Over the years my crop has produced bigger bulbs and bigger cloves.

 

Garlic needs full sun (defined as 6 hours of sunshine) and rich soil. In a 30-inch wide raised bed I add a couple of inches of compost, and stir it into the soil, loosening the soil in the top 6 inches. To plant, I draw furrows 8- to 12-inches apart with my CobraHead weeder, a single-tine tool that is curved like a bent finger. Next I push cloves into the soil so that they are 3 or 4 inches apart and about 3 inches deep. Always plant them with the pointy end up. After covering them with soil I pat the soil down with my hands.

 

This thick layer of hay helps to prevent weeds in the garlic

The last step is to mulch your garlic. I use mulch hay or straw and put almost a foot of fluffy material over the bed. Fall rains and winter snows will cause the hay to settle – I end up with about 4 to 6 inches of material in the spring.

 

The mulch keeps the soil from freezing until January, allowing roots to get well established before the garlic cloves go dormant. It also prevents most weeds from germinating and growing next year, though I weed the bed well before planting, which helps, too. Garlic is tough stuff and will push right through my layer of mulch, though most weeds do not.

 

Depending on the weather and when you plant, your garlic may send up green stalks this fall. Don’t fret if it does. Those sprouts will die back in winter, but the garlic will send up new ones in the spring.

 

Next July the garlic you planted this year will be ready to harvest. Each bulb grows about 7 long pointy leaves that surround the cloves and protect them. When 3 or 4 leaves have turned brown and started to dry up, it’s time to harvest. If you wait too long, all the leaves will have dried up and the garlic will not store as well – it will dry out too soon.

 

You can store garlic best in a cool, dry place. Ideally 50 degrees with moderate humidity. You can also freeze garlic instead of storing it at room temperature, I’ve read (but I’ve never tried that). For freezing, separate the cloves, but don’t peel them. You can freeze them in a zipper bag or jar for a year or more. Don’t store garlic at room temperature in oil, as it can produce deadly botulism. 

 

For centuries some cultures have believed that garlic helps ward off colds and the flu. Maybe it will even help to defeat Covid-19. Or maybe good garlic breath will just get that guy behind you in the check-out line with no mask to stand back a little!

 

Henry can be reached at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He is available for consultations or to speak to your group via Zoom.

Filed under Article · Tagged with best garlic mulch, growing garlic, hardneck garlic

Now is the Time to Plant Garlic!

Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2019 · Leave a Comment 

The easiest crop I grow every year is garlic. I plant it in October, mulch it well, and harvest it in early August. That’s it. If it’s well mulched, I don’t even have weed the bed more than once or twice.   Not only that, I use this year’s harvest to plant next year’s crop, so it’s free. Each year my garlic crop gets better as I use the best of this year’s harvest to plant next year’s crop. My garlic is well adapted to my soil and climate.  

 

 

If you want to grow garlic but don’t have any for planting, you can buy some “seed garlic” on-line, or you can check with a local farm stand for garlic you can plant. Don’t use grocery store garlic. Much commercial garlic has been treated with chemicals to prevent sprouting. And most grocery store garlic is the wrong kind for planting in New England – and some of it is from China. I avoid anything grown in China, due to concerns about toxic chemicals used there.

 

 

There are two basic categories of garlic: soft neck garlic and hard neck garlic. Grocery store garlic is usually soft neck, the kind you see braided and hung up in Italian restaurants. It is less hardy than hard neck garlic, a bit bland and less interesting to cook with.

 

 

Hardneck Garlic ready for planting

Here in New England we should plant hard neck garlic, which has a stiff “scape” or stem that starts in the middle of the bulb, and grows up as the stalk and produces a flower in July. The fresh scapes can be cut and used in sauces or omelets. 

 

 

To plant garlic, begin by selecting a bed in full sunshine. Weed it well and make sure the soil is loose and fluffy. In a bed 24- to 30-inches wide I plant 3 rows of garlic. I make furrows with a hand tool or hoe and add some organic fertilizer which I then stir into the soil.

 

 

Divide a bulb of garlic into individual cloves for planting. Mine vary from 4 or 5 cloves per bulb up to a dozen. Most have 6 or 8 cloves per bulb. I plant my cloves a hands-width apart, which is about 5 inches. I push each bulb into the soil so that the bottom of the clove is about 3 inches deep, or with the tips 2 inches from the soil surface.

 

 

Place your garlic cloves on the soil to establish space before planting

When I plant the second row I stagger the cloves so that they are not lined up with the first row. In the third row I match the cloves with those in the first row. Staggering the bulbs insures a little extra space between bulbs. When all are in the soil I push soil over the cloves and pat the soil down with my hands. If your soil is sandy or a heavy clay, adding some compost before planting is good.

 

 

The last step is mulching your bed. You can use straw or mulch hay. Straw should not have any seeds, but it is much more expensive to buy – usually more than $10/bale. Mulch hay is just hay for cows that got wet and is no longer tasty to them. It should be under $5/bale.

 

 

Take a section of a bale and shake it over the bed. It will fall apart and spread out. I put 8 to 12 inches of loose hay or straw over the bed. By spring it will have compacted to 3 inches of mulch, and the garlic will grow right through it – though weeds won’t. The mulch will keep the soil warm for a while this fall, which is good. The garlic needs to grow roots and get established before the soil freezes.

 

 

Garlic grows through th mulch, shown here in May

Sometimes garlic will send up a green shoot in the fall. When this happens, gardeners write me, asking if their garlic will suffer if it grows in the fall. Nope. The frost will kill the greenery, but not harm its potential, come spring.

 

 

Garlic has many uses. Not only will it scare away vampires, it is an important ingredient in many dishes. And it can be used medicinally. Vermont herbalist Rosemary Gladstar is famous for her fire cider recipe. This concoction is used to help prevent colds and other winter plagues. It contains garlic, raw apple cider, horseradish, hot peppers and other natural ingredients. It can have quite a kick, depending on how you make it.

 

 

Fire Cider book cover

Rosemary Gladstar and a group of her colleagues and students have put together a lovely book called, “Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies Made with Apple Cider Vinegar” published by Storey Publishing in 2019. Nearly every one of the recipes includes garlic. The book also tells the tale of how a company tried to trademark the name Fire Cider, though recently, I have learned, the upstarts lost in court.

 

 

What else is garlic food for? Here is my recipe for garlic bread, which is good with almost any dinner: Crush 2 to 3 cloves of garlic in a press, and mix with a stick of butter that is soft and slightly warm. Add 3 tablespoons of grated Romano or Parmesan cheese and ½ teaspoon of tarragon, and mix with a fork. Slather liberally on sliced Italian or French bread, wrap in aluminum foil, and heat in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Consume! This has no calories if you use your own garlic.

 

 

If you don’t have a vegetable garden, plant some in a flower bed. The scapes in mid-summer are curly and stiff, and great in flower arrangements. So get some garlic, plant some, eat some and stay healthy!

 

 

E-mail Henry if you are interested in joining him on a Viking Cruise from Paris to Normandy and back next June. He’s at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

 

 

 

 

Filed under Article · Tagged with fire cider, garlic recipes, hardneck garlic, planting garlic, Rosemary Gladstar

Garlic

Garlic is the least work of any vegetable I grow: I plant it, mulch it, harvest it. Some years I need to weed it once, too. But properly mulched in a weed-free bed, little or no weeding is required. And it’s essentially free: I will plant next year’s crop from this year’s harvest. October is the time to plant.

I’ve been growing my own garlic for decades, and  each year I plant the biggest, best looking bulbs. Over time I’ve been able to develop varieties that work best in my climate and my soil.

There are two types of garlic: hard-neck and soft neck. Soft neck garlic is the kind you generally find at the grocery store, and some of it now comes from China, which I try to avoid as I don’t trust their use of chemicals. Most soft-neck garlic is pretty much the same in terms of flavor. It stores well but soft neck garlic is adapted for growing in warmer climates, so I don’t recommend it for New England.

Hardneck garlic ready for planting

Hard-neck garlic is so named because each bulb has a stiff stem that is surrounded by the cloves. There are several distinct types (purple striped, Porcelain, and Rocambole, among others) and each has its own distinct flavor. Just as not all tomatoes taste the same, not all garlic is the same.

Plant garlic by separating the cloves of a head or bulb of garlic and planting it in rich soil well amended with compost and a little organic fertilizer. Cloves should be planted about 2 inches deep, pointy end up. Space them 3-4 inches apart in rows that are 8 to 12 inches apart. Grocery store garlic has probably been treated to prevent sprouting, so do not plant it.

Garlic mulching

Here is the key to success: mulch your garlic bed well with straw or mulch hay when you plant. A 6- to 12-inch layer of well fluffed mulch hay accomplishes two things. First, it insulates the ground as the cloves of garlic get their roots started. The soil is warm now and the roots will grow until the soil freezes. You want as much root growth now as possible, and the mulch will hold in the heat. Second, the mulch will keep weeds down next summer. Garlic doesn’t compete well with weeds, so keeping it mulched keeps it happy.

Garlic in May

Your fall-planted garlic will establish its roots and may even send up shoots before snow flies, but don’t worry about that. Come spring it will send up new leaves. Garlic will push up through your layer of mulch, but weeds generally won’t.

The garlic scapes, or stems with flowers, will shoot up in mid-summer, twisting and turning in sculptural forms. Some gardeners believe that cutting the scapes will increase bulb size, though I have never noticed that it makes any difference. The scapes make wonderful components in flower arrangements, and are tasty in a stir fry.

Some herbalists say that you should smash or crush your garlic and then let the garlic rest for 10 minutes before putting it in the frying pan. They say that doing so allows garlic to release chemicals that help to prevent cancer. Who knows? For years now I have prepared it, set it aside, and let it rest before using. It can’t hurt to do so.

Michael Phillips, a garlic and apple grower in Groveton, NH taught me that garlic needs to cure before you cut off the tops. Harvest it, and then let it hang in a cool dry location for a couple of weeks before you cut off the tops. He said the bulbs will reabsorb some of the nutrients in the stalk while it cures. I store my garlic on a wooden orchard rack I got from Gardeners Supply (www.gardeners.com) in a cool, dry location.

If you have excess garlic, here is a simple recipe that I love.

Roast Garlic with Goat Cheese on Toast

Peel several cloves of garlic – 4 or 5 for each dinner guest – and place in a small ceramic oven-proof baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Herbes de Provence. Bake at 400 degrees for half an hour or until the garlic turns golden brown, soft, and slightly translucent. Toast slices of a baguette and spread with the now-soft garlic. Then spread Feta or any soft cheese on top. You’ll see that the sharpness of the garlic has disappeared. Yum!

Looking to buy some seed garlic? Try your local farm stand or farmers market. If none is available locally, you can get some organic garlic from High Mowing Seeds (www.highmowingseeds.com). They have several good varieties.

Garlic may not really keep away vampires, but it’s so tasty and so easy to grow you should try it. Once you do, you’ll grow it forever – and probably live longer for doing so.

Read Henry’s blogs at https://dailyuv.com/gardeningguy. His website is www.Gardening-guy.com. He is on vacation and will not be answering-mail this week.

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