The New Gardener:By DOROTHY READ
Whether you need a good crop of garlic to ward off vampires, to help improve your health, or just to add a flavorful zip to a sauce, there are many varieties from which to choose. Northern gardeners should look for varieties in seed catalogues that are grown specifically for short-season, cold climates that have long summer days. And, they should plant their garlic in the fall even though all the garden centers and hardware stores probably want to sell them to you for spring planting.
For New England, late September or early October are the ideal time to plant your garlic cloves, and you will get a better crop than if you planted in the spring. You want your cloves to activate and start sending out a nice set of roots before the hard freeze comes on. Garlic responds to our long summer days by bulbing up. The new plants need to be as large as possible before this happens, and starting in the fall ensures this. In the spring, your garlic shoots will be the first green in your vegetable patch, often starting to sprout before the snow in melted on top of it! You simply cannot achieve this by planting in the spring.
From Massachusetts north, gardeners should add a heavy layer of mulch to the garlic bed after planting to reduce possible winter loss. This is essential in USDA Zones 3 and 4.
If you buy your garlic bulbs from a mail-order source, inspect them as soon as they arrive. They should be hard and plump with no signs of deterioration or mold. Contact the company immediately if there is a problem.
The best source for garlic to plant is a local farm stand in late summer and early fall. Ask if the garlic was grown locally or bought in for sales. If it was grown here, you know it will do well in your specific climate. Avoid supermarket garlic as they were probably grown in a vastly different climate.
Pick the biggest heads of garlic with the biggest cloves, and use only the largest outside and middle cloves when you plant. Reserve the thin, inside cloves for your next pesto recipe. The larger the clove, the larger the head will grow the next year, but expect that your new head will probably be a bit smaller than what you originally started with.
Garlic likes a nice rich soil that has plenty of nutrients, including trace elements. This is the bed to make a point of adding a little greensand to, and to work in a nice two-inch layer of your best compost. Sprinkle in some organic fertilizer, according to directions, and start with a nice smooth planting area. Two wide row plantings, three-feet by six-feet, with garlic cloves planted six inches apart, will supply enough of a crop for an entire year for a family of four that uses a lot of garlic.
Just before planting, take bulbs apart. Do not peel them. Place them pointy side up about two inches deep. Water well, and place a nice layer of mulch on top. Grass clippings work well.
You will harvest your garlic the next summer, mid to late July or early August depending on where you are in New England. Wait until the tops have turned yellow and started to fall over before harvesting. Once they have turned yellow, withhold water for a week before pulling.
Dry outside in a shady spot for about a week. If it is wet, dry in a well-ventilated garage or room in the house. You can either cut the tops off, or braid together to hang in the kitchen. Long-term winter storage should be in a cool spot, between 35 to 45 degrees. A braided garlic in the kitchen will last several months (if it is not eaten).
There are many health reasons for including garlic in the diet. Even traditional medicine is now looking at this ancient remedy for possible treatment of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and hardening of the arteries. It also has proven antibacterial and anti-fungal properties which make it quite a miracle food in itself.
Remember when cooking with garlic that the strong flavor is produced when cutting across the membranes of the cells in the garlic. Only when the garlic is chopped or cut in some way is the chemical allicin produced. If the garlic is cooked first, the enzymes that produce the chemical are dramatically inactivated.
Chopped raw garlic has the distinctive sharp flavor, while roasted, whole garlic is much milder. It's also why you can roast a chicken with a hundred cloves of garlic and be able to eat it!
Family: Amaryillidaceae
pH: 6.0 to 6.8
soil type: rich, well-drained
Plant: when the moon is waning, preferably the third quarter, and if possible, in the moon signs of Aquarius, Taurus, or Pisces
Copyright 1997 by The Garden Sampler, PO Box 7, Peru, VT 05152 . All rights
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You can e-mail us at : garden@sover.netLast updated Feburary 1997