October 20 :: All About Garlic

Hello again!

It's nearly time to plant the amazing crop we affectionately call 'garlic'. So much more than just a culinary addition, garlic acts as a slug and deer repellent and is therefore many an organic farmer's best friend. It's also something that can be planted in the autumn, just as the rest of the crops are coming out of the ground. It'll stay in the ground until almost July, though, so make sure you put it in a place where you won't want to plant something else come spring.

In September I went to the Common Ground fair in search of seed garlic. Seed garlic is technically the same thing as the garlic you eat, but garlic growers reserve the biggest, strongest, and best heads of garlic to replant the next year, and they'll sell all the rest for table garlic. Buying garlic to use as seed, therefore, is a little more expensive and it is even more important that it be top quality.

I bought garlic from two different farms. From the first i purchased Broadlead Czech, a hard neck variety good for cold climates. It is a large head of garlic with large cloves in a single, circular row.



From the second farm i purchased another hard neck variety, German Extra Hardy, which is supposed to be their most rugged and (according to the name) hardy garlic variety. This one also has large cloves, like the Broadleaf Czech.


Also from the second farm i purchased Susanville Softneck. Soft necked garlic is generally more common - it's probably the kind you usually buy in the store - and it has a soft, papery stem that is flexible and can be braided. We thought we'd try it out and see if we could braid some of our heads when they are ready next summer. Soft necked varieties often have multiple layers of cloves where there are cloves in the center of the head and others around the perimeter.


All three varieties are ready to go into the ground next week, after we have a few more hard freezes and no more warm spells. To plant, i'll break all of the cloves apart from the head and plant them pointy side up. Each clove will grow into another head. If we have success, we, like the farmers from which i bought the garlic, will save our biggest and best heads to grow again next season.

Since i haven't yet had a chance to taste these different types of garlic, you'll have to check back in this summer to see which ones were the favorites.

Until then,
Your Garlic Grower