Garlic -- Time to Plant

Dear Folks,

Some of my garlic harvest from last spring is shown in the picture here. I was as excited as a kid in a candy store with the bounty! A pungent candy store to be sure, but the results were amazing. I did blog about it before, but I'm doing so again, because now is the time to prepare to plant garlic. Optimal time is October 1st through November 1st to ensure a sufficient cold potential through the winter here in the desert. While the 6 or so months of growing time seems like a lot of time to spend growing something large and consumed quickly, the efficient use of space makes it worthwhile. Garlic cloves can be planted as close together as 4 inches. In an approximate 17 x 3 foot section of the garden I harvested 124 heads of superior Purple Haze garlic. This year I'm trying out a Russian Porcelain Giant in addition to the Purple Haze - I hope to double my harvest next spring between these two varieties.
The picture to the right shows some of the garlic rinsed off and braided. Next spring I will go over the harvesting steps. (I used that picture before to show how lovely the garlic looks.)
STEPS to Success with Garlic:
1) The spot you choose must have 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day, or more.
2) The soil must be organic rich and well draining.
3) Separate a head of garlic into cloves, do not remove paper, discard any that are rotted.
4) Plant pointy end up with 1 inch cover soil (basically 2 inches deep.
5) Water well and as needed - as with other herbs and edibles do not let the soil dry out completely between watering.
6) Keep the garlic bed weed free.

That's it! Plant, water, weed and wait. Now, where to get your planting garlic. You can start with a head of garlic from your local farmers market or grocer. Or you can purchase from my supplier ronnigers.com. Click here to go to their website.

Folks, I may be duplicating this info in several places, but that is because I want you to know how easy it is to grow garlic in your own backyard garden.

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LOCAL FOCUS

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Have a great day in the garden,



-- Catherine, The Herb Lady