Garlic in the convenience of your back yard

While we were planting the tulips and daffodils we thought why not try out some garlic for the garden!  We had moved into our beautifully landscaped home and with it on the side, the original home owner had the builders put this 3-tier space for a garden.  We have been so busy bringing everything up to par (this is a whole other story) we have not had the time to begin our garden until now.

I chose garlic because well, I love garlic!  And it just so happened to be the perfect time to plant them.  Garlic adds this something special to so many of my meals I just have to have it!  So here it is the Fall why not try my hand at garlic?  Why not have my own supply of nice fresh cloves to use when making my families meals?

I did some reading and found out that the best time to grow garlic is during the cool weather.  The idea is to plant it in the fall, around the first frost date, to mature the following summer.  In warm-winter areas, you can plant until January.  In cool climates, you can also plant in spring as soon as the soil is workable, but just know you may end up with smaller bulbs. 

I chose Elephant Garlic.  I planted it in well drained soil as it has a good chance to rot in poorly drained soil amended with compost or other organic matter.  I set the individual cloves pointy side up, about 2-3 inches deep, and 6 inches apart.  This is my first time so because I went with the larger garlic I just bought one package of three.  I did not need to do any rows but if I did I would do it in rows 1-2 feet apart.

We did it at just the right time, we planted them the night before the storm moved in.  That should help to provide these elephant garlic a good amount of moisture to start out.  Garlic needs to have regular moisture and a water-soluble plant food may help once a week until the foliage starts to turn brown before harvest.  But since mine will be buried in at least three feet of snow I will just have to see.  Come on Spring 2011!