Have you ever considered growing your own garlic? Does the thought of pulling out a bulb of fresh, homegrown garlic from your veggie garden to use in your cooking delight you? Perhaps you insist on an organic diet for you and your family’s health and wellbeing and want to be absolutely sure that your garlic contains no chemicals?
Whatever your reason, its not that difficult to grow this magnificent member of the onion family.
There are a number of reasons why you would grow garlic in the backyard, particularly if you are a lover of organically-grown food. Growing your own garlic gives you the fresh, delicious and superbly pungent taste which not only gives your cooking an amazing lift but also delivers recognised medicinal qualities. All for next to nothing compared to buying.
For centuries folk medicine has linked garlic to better health and curative properties from everything from the common cold to more serious maladies. Of course growing in your own backyard means you can also avoid harmful chemicals as would be found in many commercial varieties available in shops.
So how do you grow your own garlic? Well it’s easy. While a slow growing crop, if you plant enough and stagger the crop throughout the year, you may have enough to last you for your own consumption (depending on how much you eat of course!). Best planted in autumn so the cool months help to set the bulbs, garlic is ready for harvest once the tops die off and turn brown.
First start with a number of organic bulbs that you can buy from farmer’s markets, co-ops or organic grocers. Separate the bulbs into cloves. Then instead of throwing out the bulbs that age and start to sprout, plant them in the garden. It’s really that simple, a matter of plant ‘em (about 8 cm deep) and forget ‘em!
The harvested garlic will keep for many months if stored correctly in a cool, dry place.
Hint: leave a few bulbs in the ground to kick start your garlic harvest for the next year!
So that’s how easy it is to grow your own garlic. You’ll have a ready supply of garlic for your cooking, you’ll be the envy of your neighbours and vampires will give your place a wide berth!
