Growing Garlic In Your Garden

Growing garlic in your backgarden or containers is a lot easier than you may think. Most definately garlic prefers a place in full sun with a well drained, light soil. They will not put up with water logging so you will need to dig in a good amount of organic matter such as compost or well rotted manure that will supply important nutrients for your garlic.

You should very carefully split the bulb into individual cloves, and plant each one approximately 1"- 2" beneath the surface of the soil, with the pointed end facing up.

Cloves should be planted 4"-6" apart and rows should be 12" apart. If birds are a problem you can use a bird netting to protect your precious crop.

In areas that are extremely cold you will want to protect garlic cloves by placing them in trays and covering with a good quality compost, ensuring they are a good 1" deep.

As garlic benefits from a cold snap they should be placed outdoors in a sheltered position. During the spring when they have sprouted they can be removed and placed in their final position.

Garlic planted in the Fall/Autumn will be ready to harvest in June, July and August. Garlic planted during the Spring slightly later. The time to harvest is when the leaves have begun to wither and turn yellow. Simply lift the bulbs, allow to dry under cover and store in a dry cool frost free place.

Until quite recently many people including scientists scoffed at the idea of all the medicinal powers claimed for this amazing herb. But there is now a lot of research that backs up a lot of these claims.

Grow Garlic In Pots And Containers

If you are short on space you can grow garlic in pots or containers. Containers should be not less than 8" in diameter to enable good root growth. Fill your container with a good quality compost and include a handful of fertiliser.

Again, cloves should be planted approximately 1"-2" deep and spaced 4"-6" apart. This allows sufficient space for the bulbs to swell, just ensure that the compost remains moist, particularly during dry weather.

If you are really limited for space you can also try growing garlic indoors for the leaves. They can be added to soups, curries and stir fries. Leaves can be harvested until the bulb is used up. This is a useful method but obviously not as good as as cultivating good quality garlic bulbs outdoors.