All about garlic

As winter creeps up upon us and I’m still moaning about that summer, it’s easy to think there’s not much to do in the garden at this time of year. Yet it is a very busy time of year if you want it to be.

This is the time of year you catch up on all those things you meant to get done over the summer months and all those things that will make spring just easier. I’m guilty most summers of losing my gardening bug and riding on the back of all the work I did in the spring and winter months. I use winter to focus on our soil for a bountiful next growing season. I may need to hibernate from the long winter chilling days, yet burying buckets of Bokashi goodness all winter long will help me grow monster crops in the next growing season. Gathering all those leaves and making leaf mold compost piles is adding long term fertility to my wee biosphere.

If you just need to feel like the greatness of vegetable gardening then garlic is the multi-award winning, adrenaline hitting, almost fool-proof crop for you. In recent years growing garlic has gotten a little harder as garlic ‘rust’ rampaged through the country testing this once stoic crop. Even with the rust attack we can still grow great garlic.

Garlic growing top tips:

1. We can plant garlic from April onwards, with the shortest day being the traditional time. I find it’s usually getting too cold by then and my enthusiasm has waned. Some will even plant as late as September but this really is reducing your growing season. Those winter growing months shouldn’t be underestimated.
2. Clove size does make a difference. I break up my bulbs and sort them into planting and eating grade. Keeping only the best and biggest for planting. Big cloves means bigger bulbs.
3. If you haven’t saved any of last years’ garlic bulbs and none of your friends have any to spare, get online and buy yourself some heritage garlic varieties. We’ve got hardnecks and softnecks. They all vary a little and are worth a try. Remember a lot of supermarket garlic is treated with a whole load of Armageddon chemicals. Not sure about this one? A quick AI gander and you’ll never buy supermarket garlic again.
4. Pre soak those cloves. I like to chuck them in a container with some diluted liquid seaweed for 24-48 hours.
5. Plant them into a pre prepped bed. By pre prepping I’ve weeded and put 1-2cm compost on the soil surface. Then plant 10cm between plants in a row, rows are about 15cm wide. Make a hole and chuck a handful of compost into the hole. The clove is then shoved with the thicker end of the clove downwards. Remember to sow this clove as deep as the clove is tall. So 2-3cm into the soil. Then gently tamper that soil down with the palm of your hand. We’re trying to prevent the clove popping back out with the freeze thaw activity of our crispy mornings.
6. Mulch. Either some light wood chips or some straw. The straw needs to be loosened right up so the garlic can pop its head through. A 5cm thick layer of straw should do you for the life of the crop slowing down weed competition, breaking down slowly feeding your soil.
7. Until the garlic pops up through the straw I cover with some frost cloth or windbreak. This stops the birds having fun. I just lay it over the straw lightly and hold the ends down with whatever’s handy to stop it blowing away.
8. You’re done. Look to harvest around the longest day. Garlic’s ready to harvest when the bottom 2-3 leaves are wilting back and going yellow.
9. Limited for space you could grow garlic in an old bucket with some holes drilled in the bottom. Fill with compost. Plant at a more dense spacing. Look at 8cm spaced grid.
10. Remember to save your biggest bulbs as seed for the following season