Garlic

This week we are taking time to discuss Garlic. Garlic is incredibly useful in the kitchen and surprisingly easy to grow in the garden.

Just like onions and other plants in the Allium family, garlic is sensitive to day length and matures during the longest days.

HOW TO PLANT GARLIC

Garlic is extremely easy to grow, but good soil preparation is necessary if you want to produce the best and biggest bulbs.

They need deeply cultivated, well-drained, rich soil with a pH of 6.4-6.8. Add 2-3 inches of compost and well-rotted manure to the bed before planting.

Use quality seed garlic and plant several different varieties just in case one does poorly. Separate the cloves no more than 48 hours before planting to keep them from drying out.

The largest cloves will produce the biggest bulbs. Plant individual cloves, peels intact, pointy end up, 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart.

Mulch 5-8 inches deep with seedless straw and this help to keep the weeds down during the growing season.

Before you know it, your garlic will be ready to grow, sending up tiny green shoots as soon as the ground thaws.

Yours in the garden Farm2Markt