You might be thinking that it's time to rip up the plants in the garden and start thinking about next year. Well, I wouldn't exactly agree with that. Now is the perfect time to plant garlic. We're big garlic lovers here. My philosophy of cooking is that there is no such thing as too much butter, chocolate, or garlic! They are my three favorite flavors.
Somehow I fell off the email list of the two places where I've purchased garlic in the past, but as a member of Seed Savers, I received their email reminding me that garlic planting time was fast approaching. Unfortunately, almost all of their garlic had already been reserved. I was able to get five bulbs each of the German extra hardy, which is a hardneck that usually has only three or four cloves. I do hope it's not as blah as elephant garlic. I love a good hot-spicy garlic. I was also able to order the broadleaf Czech garlic, which looks a lot like the garlic you buy in the store, but it is much larger and has a rosier color to the skin.
Now that my garlic has arrived, I just need to think about where to plant it. I've been a fan of companion planting in the past. Roses supposedly like garlic, so I've planted it next to rose bushes, which always die, but I don't blame the garlic. (I blame our clay soil.) Planting garlic under peach trees is supposed to detract borers, so I've planted it there in the past also. We have some two-year-old peach trees that don't have garlic under them, so I'll probably put a few bulbs there. Perhaps a few cloves in the herb garden? But where else? It definitely needs to be somewhere that won't be forgotten. You see, this is also garlic harvesting time, and I'm not exactly sure where the garlic is hiding out there right now. . . .
This post is part of Fight Back Friday. Check out more posts on real food at Food Renegade!
5 comments:
I'm so glad you posted this. I did an awful job with my summer garden (I had lots of help from the groundhogs, too) but I thought since we all love garlic I would plant some this fall. Then I promptly forgot.
Do you have any recommendations about where to get garlic this late?
I've ordered from http://www.thegarlicstore.com in the past and was happy with what I received. After I posted, I clicked on the Seed Saver link to make sure it worked, and it looks like the only variety they have left is the German extra hardy.
Thanks for the reminder about garlic. I planted store bought garlic cloves that had sprouted last April/May knowing they wouldn't do much. And they didn't. But it was enough to prove that garlic will grow here. I'll let you know what I decide on.
Are you planting seeds, or cloves? I've been researching planting garlic and shallots this fall, but have found people either/or on the subject. They say that you can plant from cloves, but I'm looking for some varieties that I can't readily get at my supermarket . . . might have to make a run to the nursery this weekend! :)
Best,
Sarah
I'm planting cloves. I haven't seen garlic seeds, which is interesting because I've seen seeds for chives and onions, which are closely related. One little clove makes a whole new bulb. If you aren't able to get them planted this fall, you can plant in the spring, but the bulbs don't get as big.
I've read that garlic in the store is usually from China, and it won't grow in our climate, but I suppose that depends on where you live. Check out The Garlic Store and other sources online. There are dozens of varieties!
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