Garlic

Garlic and Beedy's kale, 3-17-11

     I started growing garlic only two years ago, yet now I will never stop.  Garlic should be planted in November or early December by separating a head into the individual cloves.  Plant each clove about one inch deep on four to six inch centers.  The garlic will overwinter in some pretty serious winter areas, and grow to be ready for harvest in June.  You must dry the garlic properly to get good storage time.  My garlic from last year is now either sprouting or drying, so we will need to buy some garlic.  Gasp, grumble.  But those cloves that are not edible now, are certainly destined to go back in the ground for another try.
     The picture above is of some garlic and Beedy's kale that wintered over without protection.  Hard necked garlic puts up a flower stalk that eventually curls like a pig's tail.  The flower will mature to a seed head, that will have lots of mini garlic bulblets.  You can plant those bulblets, but they will take two to three years to mature to edible garlic.  The small plants at the top of the above picture are from bulblets started on my porch from last fall.  Their pictures have graced previous posts referenced to garlic.
     Finally, in an earlier post I had concluded that I had a couple of leek volunteers growing from some blown in seed.  Well I tasted a leaf on each plant, and they are garlic!  My palate will probably remember that they are garlic for a couple of more days.  You can use the stalks and leaves of garlic as "green Garlic".  Just google that and you will get lots of ideas and recipes.