Thinking Of Growing Your Own Garlic?
If you are planning on growing your own garlic this year, you should start thinking about planting it soon because the Fall is the best time to plant garlic! Here are some quick tips on growing your own garlic from the folks at Garlic Chop HQ.
The fall is when many gardeners will start to plant bulbs for tulips, daffodils and crocuses so that these bulbs will bloom in the spring. Garlic is a bulb too, and so if you’re thinking of growing your own garlic so you always have some on hand to add to your recipes, now is the time to get started! You can normally buy garlic bulbs for planting in your local gardening center, but if you can’t find any there you can even try planting store bought garlic that has started to sprout some green shoots at the top. The problem is that this type of garlic might have been treated just to stop it growing these shoots – after all – you don’t really want to eat green shoots with your garlic, do you! You can try a local farmer’s market and ask some of the people selling garlic to give you some advice on the best types of bulb to plant, and the internet is also a great resource for finding out where you can buy garlic plants to grow. You might be able to find mail-order garlic plants too.
If you’re planting garlic, do it in the fall before it gets too cold and plant your garlic in a place that will get plenty of sun. Separate the garlic into cloves and make sure that the root is pointing down and the tip is pointed up. Push the garlic cloves down two or three inches into the soil and make sure you leave each garlic clove about a half a foot from the others. In case you were wondering, a pH neutral soil is the best, and one that is quite loamy (which means the soil has some sand, silt, and clay in it). If it gets very cold in your area, you can use a layer of straw over your planted garlic to protect it from the frost. If your garlic plants are doing well, remember to harvest them in late spring or early summer. Then all you need is a Garlic Chop, to chop that garlic quickly and easily to use in all your garlic recipes!
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