Growing Garlic
Garlic is fun and easy to grow at home.
You can buy garlic from the nursery to grow, but if you’re going to try growing it from garlic you’ve bought from the fruit shop or supermarket, make sure you only buy organic garlic as it’s more likely to grow. It’s just a matter of breaking up the head into individual cloves, plant them, point up, into a sunny, well-drained spot (either in the garden or in a pot).
The bottom of a garlic is flat, the top is usually pointed. Space your garlic about 10cm apart (about 4 inches), and push them gently into the ground so they’re nicely covered. If you gently squeeze your garlic clove and it’s not firm, don’t plant it, throw it out. You need to mulch the area well as garlic does not like competing with weeds.
Plant in Autumn and harvest in Spring. The garlic will take about six to eight months before you’ll be eating them, but they’ll be worth it. You’ll know your garlic is ready to harvest when the tops are turning brown. You need to dry the bulbs for about 2 weeks in a dry area with lots of air-flow.
When planting in a large vegetable garden, it’s best not to squash your soil and use a board to kneel on. It’s like when you park a car on grass, not a good idea as it crushes your soil and nothing will grow in crushed soil.
Tip: to plant in a straight line in a vegie patch, simply place a long pipe or stick on your soil and tread on it gently to make an indentation in your garden bed and plant along the line!
