Garlic (Allium sativum) has been given this honorary common name, though there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer as to why. Of course the “stinking” adjective is appropriate! But the rose part can be misleading. Garlic is an allium, which is part of the Liliaceae family. So, garlic is actually closer to a lily than a rose! The closest explanation I found is that if looked at from underneath, a garlic bulb can resemble a white rose with the large ends of the cloves forming the petals. Definitely evidence that we should use proper nomenclature!
If you’ve never grown garlic before, here’s my top seven list of why you should:
- It’s easy to grow!
- Deer, rabbits and other critters are not fond of it.
- The majority of garlic you buy in the grocery store comes from China. Why not grow local?
- It doesn’t take up a lot of space in your garden.
- For each bulb harvested in July, you’ll have 6-7 cloves to plant in the fall.
- There are a lot of different varieties with various flavor profiles that are fun to try.
- Besides the flavor they add to food, garlic has great health benefits. Its medicinal uses include: anti-lipidemic, antimicrobial, antiasthmatic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiplatelet, antidiabetic and potential anticancer.
Now, to the actual how-to of planting!
Seed Garlic: For best results, buy high quality seed garlic. It’s a bit of an investment, but worth it as far as yield and quality. There are two major types of garlic: Hardneck garlic (Allium sativum ssp. ophioscorodon) and softneck garlic (Allium sativum ssp. sativum). Most of what you buy in the grocery store is the mild flavored, softneck garlic.
Softneck garlic grows best in climates with mild winters, such as California. On the other hand, hardneck garlic is more hardy and so grows well here in the NRV climate. As an added bonus, hardneck garlic produces a flowering scape in late spring. In order for the bulbs underneath the soil to receive the maximum energy they need, the scape is harvested and is edible!
Where to buy your garlic? There are a number of online suppliers of seed garlic. We’ve had success purchasing from Territorial Seed Company and The Maine Potato Lady If you’re looking for a recommendation of what kind to buy, my husband (who is a serial foodie!) likes Premium Northern White as a good overall culinary garlic that has a nice sized bulb. Territorial Seed carries this variety. For a really intense flavor for cooking, try Georgian Fire. It’s a smaller bulb but packed with flavor. Not as many companies carry this variety but we’ve bought some from The Maine Potato Lady.
Where, When and How to Plant: Garlic likes lots of sun. It grows well in loose, rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.4-6.8. Add a couple of inches of compost and well-rotted manure to the soil before planting. The best time to plant is the fall. We usually like to plant the seed garlic in October but have known growers to get it into the soil as late as early December (as long as the ground isn’t frozen). Fall planting gives the garlic a chance to get a head start on growing before going dormant in the winter.
You will need to separate each garlic bulb into individual cloves before you plant. Try to keep the skins on the cloves as you separate. Wait until you are ready to plant before doing this so the cloves don’t dry out. You’ll want to place each clove pointed side up, about 3 inches into the ground 6 – 8 inches apart. We used plastic when we grew our garlic on a large scale. The plastic protected again severe winter cold and weeds. In our raised bed here at Brush Mountain, we’ll cover our planted garlic with several inches of leaf mulch. Keep in mind that too much water is not good for garlic, so you may need to pull away some of the leaf mulch if there’s too much moisture, especially in the spring.
Now….wait and let it grow! During the fall you’ll get green stalks sprout up to about 4-6 inches. The garlic will go dormant during the winter and then once the warm weather begins you’ll see it start to grow again. Be patient, you won’t harvest the bulbs until July! You will be rewarded, though, with green scapes you’ll harvest and eat around Memorial Day.