Plump, healthy garlic
Garlic (Allium sativum) has been grown for centuries for its nutritional and medicinal properties. According to the University of Minnesota, garlic has lost its ability to produce true seed through cultivation, and should be planted from cloves. Avoid grocery store cloves for planting, because store-bought garlic is often from temperate climes and will not be cold hardy. Plant it early, tend it well, and you'll have your own crop of tender, fresh garlic by late fall or early winter. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Purchase garlic seed cloves from your local garden center or nursery in late winter. Choose firm, dry bulbs that show no signs of moisture, softness or rot.
2. Prepare a soil bed for garlic cloves in fall, after the first killing frost. Plant in December or January in warmer climates. Garlic needs a bit of winter's chill in order to germinate and grow strong shoots.
3. Turn a bed in your garden with a shovel. Amend clay soils with equal parts peat and sand for a loose, rich mix, 8 inches in depth.
4. Separate cloves from the garlic bulb no more than 48 hours before planting to avoid dehydration of the cloves.
5. Plant garlic cloves, one at a time, 6 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart, at a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Plant individual cloves, because planting a double clove will result in a two fused bulbs. Plant them pointed side up, or shoots will be warped, twisted and weak.
6. Mulch with 3 to 4 inches of weed-free straw to insulate the soil from deep winter cold and wide fluctuations in temperature. Remove the straw in mid-April. Mulch is not necessary in warmer climates.
Tags: cloves from, garlic cloves, warmer climates