I just came in from the garden. Such a gift to be out there on November 16th in a sweatshirt. It’s a good thing it was warm because I hadn’t planted my garlic yet. I can be such a procrastinator and many times that means I get burned (or frozen) by the weather. Not this time! I planted one pound of Metechi garlic which is a nice, hardy. long necked variety. This will probably get me about ten pounds of garlic next summer. It couldn’t be easier to grow.
The best time to plant garlic is in October or November if you have warm enough weather to get out there. You need a garden bed with rich, well drained soil that doesn’t get soggy. Take your heads of garlic and break them up into cloves. Don’t remove the papery covering as this helps protect the clove from pests. Plant each clove about 3-4 inches deep with the pointy side up about 6 inches apart. Keep your rows about 12 inches apart. Keep the bed well watered but not saturated until winter truly sets in and that’s it!
In the spring you will see growth begin that will resemble onions. Keep them watered and weed free and preferably mulched. They may send up some flower stalks called scapes which if you cut them off as far down as you can are delicious sauteed. Let them grow until the foliage turns brown and falls over. Then carefully dig them and hang them to dry. You can store them in a cool, dry place for a very long time. Save the largest heads for seed for the next year’s crop.
Tomorrow should be nice. Get some garlic and get out to the garden!
Cheers!