Planting Garlic

Planting Garlic… oh la.. la

Have you ever planted your own garlic before? It’s really easy to grow your own garlic.  There are lots of different varieties of garlic available.  You can grow Elephant Garlic, which is a huge bulb of garlic to Germidor, which is an early variety with a mild flavour. If you’re looking for a stronger flavour garlic I recommend you plant Primor.

How to Plant Garlic

The Garlic comes in bulbs, which you then separate into cloves and plant individually in the ground. Every clove of garlic that you sow will turn into another bulb of garlic.

The garlic doesn’t need to be planted too deeply or too far apart.  I made that mistake the first year I sowed them.  Plant them about 2-4 inches below the soil with the pointed end facing upwards. Space them approximately  8-10 inches (20-25cm) apart.   They really don’t need too much space.  I know people that have planted them into old Belfast sinks in the garden.  Garlic loves to be planted in full sun.

Planting your  Garlic in October means that it will get the blast of cold weather it needs to separate the bulb of garlic into individual cloves. You can stop the birds from pulling up your newly planted cloves by covering them with fleece or even netting.

Caring for your Garlic Bulbs

Water during the start of the Spring if we get very dry weather. When the plants are small, a little weeding will go along way to ensure you’re bulbs don’t get overcrowded with weeds.

Harvesting your Garlic Bulbs

You will know that your garlic is ready for harvesting once the leaves start to turn yellow. Once his happens you can pull up the garlic bulbs and leave to dry in a polytunnel, greenhouse, or on a wire tray. Just remember if you have them outside to bring them in if it starts to rain. Once you have dried them, you can tie them together and store in a cool room away from bright sunlight. Garlic bulbs should store for months.

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Growing your own Garlic

Garlic is one of those things that are really easy to grow. They are perfect to plant as a project as they can be planted into bigger pots or old sinks if you don’t have a big garden available to you. Recently, more and more people are spending time outdoors and if you’re looking for something to do while you’re there… planting garlic is easy. It will be worth the reward when you are harvesting your own chemical free garlic bulbs for using in your own stir fry, or even your home made sauce. They are also very handy for warding off vampires, should the need arise!

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