Almost that time of year to plant garlic! I LOVE garlic!!! I use it in just about everything I cook. Last year was my first time planting garlic. It actually came out pretty well.
Growing your own garlic is really easy too.
All you do is take a single garlic clove and put it in a hole about an inch deep. Cover it and lay mulch on top. Each clove will grow into a garlic bulb with multiple garlic cloves. I planted 27 garlic cloves and ended up with 27 garlic bulbs, so it doesn't take much to grow a lot of garlic. Any garlic clove will do, but it's best to plant an organic garlic clove from your local farmer's market.
Garlic is planted in the fall. The middle of October is a good time to plant garlic. Last year I planted my garlic Columbus Day weekend.
In the spring, you will see the garlic shoots. When you see the long, curly garlic scapes growing out, cut them off, but don't throw them away. You can eat them. They taste just like garlic, but aren't hot. I eat them raw in salads or cooked in a recipe just like I would use green onions or garlic cloves. You can freeze the garlic scapes too. Just wash, cut them into pieces, freeze and take them out as needed. There are a lot of garlic scape pesto recipes, but I haven't tried any of them. Cutting off the garlic scapes is supposed to result in a bigger garlic bulb.
Harvesting garlic is a little trickier. You have to time it just right. Too early and the bulb will be small. Too late and the bulb will split. Either way you can still eat it though. I should have kept better track this year when I was harvesting, but the end of July, early August seemed to result in the best garlic bulbs. According to The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
, when the top 2, 3 leaves start turning brown, it's time to harvest.
To harvest the garlic, just dig out around the plant. Gently loosen the soil and pull the garlic plant free. Be careful you don't dig too close to the plant or you might dig into the garlic bulb. Once the garlic is dug up, gently wipe the dirt off and let dry for 2 - 3 weeks. When the garlic bulb is dry, scrape off any dried on dirt & peel away the first layer of peeling. If you want, cut off the stem or look into braiding the garlic. Store the garlic bulbs in a cool, dry place. The stored garlic will last about 8 months.
Once the garlic is dry, be sure to use a little garlic right away, so you can see how fresh it is. The oil which pours out of a super fresh garlic clove is simply amazing. Last year I cut up 4 garlic cloves I bought at the Mohawk Valley Garlic & Herb Festival. By the time I was done, my hand was dripping with garlic oil. It was really amazing & so cool!
More Garlic Planting Info
Growing your own garlic is really easy too.
All you do is take a single garlic clove and put it in a hole about an inch deep. Cover it and lay mulch on top. Each clove will grow into a garlic bulb with multiple garlic cloves. I planted 27 garlic cloves and ended up with 27 garlic bulbs, so it doesn't take much to grow a lot of garlic. Any garlic clove will do, but it's best to plant an organic garlic clove from your local farmer's market.
Garlic is planted in the fall. The middle of October is a good time to plant garlic. Last year I planted my garlic Columbus Day weekend.
In the spring, you will see the garlic shoots. When you see the long, curly garlic scapes growing out, cut them off, but don't throw them away. You can eat them. They taste just like garlic, but aren't hot. I eat them raw in salads or cooked in a recipe just like I would use green onions or garlic cloves. You can freeze the garlic scapes too. Just wash, cut them into pieces, freeze and take them out as needed. There are a lot of garlic scape pesto recipes, but I haven't tried any of them. Cutting off the garlic scapes is supposed to result in a bigger garlic bulb.
Harvesting garlic is a little trickier. You have to time it just right. Too early and the bulb will be small. Too late and the bulb will split. Either way you can still eat it though. I should have kept better track this year when I was harvesting, but the end of July, early August seemed to result in the best garlic bulbs. According to The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
, when the top 2, 3 leaves start turning brown, it's time to harvest.To harvest the garlic, just dig out around the plant. Gently loosen the soil and pull the garlic plant free. Be careful you don't dig too close to the plant or you might dig into the garlic bulb. Once the garlic is dug up, gently wipe the dirt off and let dry for 2 - 3 weeks. When the garlic bulb is dry, scrape off any dried on dirt & peel away the first layer of peeling. If you want, cut off the stem or look into braiding the garlic. Store the garlic bulbs in a cool, dry place. The stored garlic will last about 8 months.
Once the garlic is dry, be sure to use a little garlic right away, so you can see how fresh it is. The oil which pours out of a super fresh garlic clove is simply amazing. Last year I cut up 4 garlic cloves I bought at the Mohawk Valley Garlic & Herb Festival. By the time I was done, my hand was dripping with garlic oil. It was really amazing & so cool!
More Garlic Planting Info
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