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| Photo: Briana Gerou |
I like to try new crops each year to keep things interesting. This year, I grew garlic and it was a huge success. In this blog, I will share the top ten reasons you should try growing garlic.
Top Ten List for Growing Garlic
10. Easy to plant! Just plop a clove in the ground about three inches deep and six inches apart. Place the clove so the pointed end is facing up. Garlic prefers well drained, loose soil in a full sun location.
9. Rodents, bugs and various other garden wreckers avoid garlic! I had nothing mess with my garlic, and I live in an area with a ton of wildlife.
8. It magically pops up in the spring when you are busy planting everything else. Garlic only needs to be watered in the spring once every 3 to 5 days. It is low maintenance and looks pretty!
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| Photo: Briana Gerou |
7. Thousands of unique varieties from all over the world. Garlic either has a soft neck (most grocery stores carry this kind) or a hard neck. I recommend growing hard neck varieties in Colorado because they are more cold hardy and they also produce a scape, see #1! I have had great luck growing a variety called Music! Large heads and great flavor. You can grow garlic cloves from organic grocery stores like Natural Grocers but not conventional. I recommend ordering cloves from a garlic farm like Filaree.
6. It puts your mulched fall leaves to use by covering the newly planted bed. Garlic loves to be covered with a thick layer of mulched leaves. It keeps the cloves cozy during the winter. It also provides organic nutrients that are slow-released over time.
5. You can grow about 90 heads of garlic in a single 8x4 bed. I kept my rows about 10 inches apart but you can reduce this if you wish. Keep in mind that your bed will be occupied with the garlic from October until late July.
4. After curing, garlic will keep for months! Curing garlic is pretty simple. After harvesting from the ground, you lay or hang the garlic in a well-ventilated area that is away from direct sunlight and heat. It needs to dry for several weeks, then it will be ready to clean and use.
3. People LOVE receiving garlic as a gift. Every time I've given someone a head of garlic, they get very happy. I have also gotten a ton of positive feedback.
2. Growing a crop of garlic means you are already stocked to replant the next season. I am going to use my biggest cloves from this year's harvest to plant this Fall. I don't have to order new cloves to plant! You always want to plant the largest cloves that you have. They will grow the biggest heads of garlic.
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| Photo: Briana Gerou |
1. Garlic scapes! Hard neck garlic produces a garlic scape in the late spring. It is basically the flowering bulb of the plant. Once the scape curls around, you want to clip it off as low as you can. This way, the plant can use its energy making a bigger garlic bulb instead of growing a flower. Take the scapes and make a pesto! Or you can just chop them up in a stir fry.
