It’s fall in The Shire. Time to get the bulbs in and time is running short.
If you want to dig up big fat bulbs of fragrant, healing garlic in July, now is your last chance. Put on your wellies and your woollies and get yourself to the garden.
Here’s what you need-
- Heads of garlic. There is a difference between “seed” garlic and “culinary” garlic, or so they say. I just use the largest, best heads from the previous years harvest.
- A sunny location with rich compost and good drainage.
- A dibble, or as I use, an iron pipe. Sounds strange, but it works perfectly for me. It’s about an inch wide and a little shy of 2 feet long. The perfect size for me to poke holes just big enough. You could use a stick of any kind. Just don’t make it wider than an inch or so.
- Mulch. Because this happens in fall and there are always an abundance of freshly fallen leaves needing attending to, I use them to mulch my gardens. The trees do most of the work for me.
Poke holes in the ground 2-3 inches deep about 4 to 6 inches apart. The more room they have to grow, the bigger they will get. But Charles Dowding of the No Dig Method said 4 was fine so I have used 4 with good success.
Break up your garlic heads into cloves. I usually do this inside while listening to an audiobook or on the rare occasion I watch something on television. I feel less guilty about sitting on the couch with a glass of vino while the projects stack up and wait if I’m tending to garden tasks at the same time.
Place one clove in each hole, root side down. It’s pretty easy to tell which side is which. The top comes to a point, while the bottom or root side is flat and usually a little bit tough or rough.
Give the soil a little rub or rake to cover the hole and cover with about 4 inches of those fallen leaves or straw.
Ideally you want to plant garlic in mid Autumn. Enough time to start growing roots without sprouting before snow flies.
Garlic Varieties
I’ve grown a few different varieties over the years, including popping in some of that store bought stuff, which went better than I expected. Currently I am only growing Russian Red and German Hard Neck. Mostly because I had about 300 Russian Red cloves to get in and just simply ran out of room. Time to add new gardens! I have found that both of these grow really well here in New Hampshire. They offer good sized fragrant heads and aren’t so strong that you can’t use more than half a clove. When choosing your variety it’s a good idea to pick one that you know others are growing with success around you. Buying your seeds from local farmers at farmers markets and stands is the best way to know you are getting a variety that will give you good results. But don’t be afraid to experiment! Garlic is really easy to grow and doesn’t take up a ton of space. Unless you are planting hundreds of cloves. Eh hem.
Hard neck vs soft neck
The difference between hard neck and soft neck is exactly how it sounds. Hard neck will produce a stiff flower stalk in the center. Where as soft neck does not have this stalk. In my personal opinion you want this stalk. Have you ever had sauted garlic scapes? No? You are missing out! Hard necks also store far better than soft neck varieties. Soft neck will grow larger bulbs with far more cloves, but here in zone 5 they just aren’t as hardy. And with our shorter growing season we have to plan on storing our bounty through the winter. If you are planting garlic in The Shire and can only choose one, definitely choose a hard neck variety. But if you have space, by all means experiment with soft neck.
And don’t forget to cut all those scapes in June! Not only are they delicious, cutting them allows the plant to focus on growing the bulb rather than producing seeds so you get bigger bulbs.
And just to get you inspired, here is a crazy simple recipe for Garlic Soup
8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup white wine
20 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
pinch of red pepper flake
salt and pepper to taste
*I love herbs to I like to add a bit of what I have picked in the garden or have handy. Rosemary is my favorite. Add a pinch or two of whatever you like.
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium/medium-low and simmer covered for about an hour, until the garlic is soft. Strain and serve. If you really love garlic, blend in the garlic, or some of it, with and immersion blender or throw it in your Vitamix or blender and give it whirl.
☆Garlic Folklore☆
- When the Full Moon rises in October attention often turns to ghouls, ghosts and demons. Garlic is the sure cure for those pesky vampires. Garlic is a Mars herb, with a link to Hecate, the goddess of magick, witchcraft, the moon, ghosts and necromancy. Appease and honor Hecate in October by leaving a handful of garlic at a crossroad.
- Garlic is part of the original Four Thieves Vinegar recipe. During the European plague outbreak thieves were robbing the dead and sick. When caught, they offered to trade their secrets in exchange for leniency. Their secret was a mixture of herbs, including garlic, that allowed them to be in close proximity to the sick without contracting the disease. Today Four Thieves is still a popular remedy and preventative.
- Egyptian workers were given a daily ration of garlic while working on the pyramids, as it was believed to ward off illness and increase strength.
- Roman soldiers consumed garlic to guarantee the blessings of Mars, patron god of Rome. They also believed that garlic induced courage. Thus, their generals planted fields of garlic in countries they conquered, believing that courage was transferred to the battlefield.
- Pliny, the first-century Roman scholar, recorded that garlic could cure over sixty diseases and disorders.
- The people of Korea once ate pickled garlic before moving through a mountain pass because they believed tigers disliked it.