Garlic is a delicious product to incorporate into its recipes. You can put it in your spaghetti sauce, when you cook some vegetables or in the sauce of your favorite meat.
So it’s a good idea to want to grow it in your backyard. Even people with small gardens can grow them.
All you have to do is plant the right varieties of garlic at the right time of year and in the right soil. Then you reap the garlic when the time comes.
Here are tips to grow garlic at home.
1. Chose a variety.
If you look in a specialized catalog, you will find dozens of varieties of garlic, but generally, the most important difference is between softneck and hardneck.
The softnecks get their name because the whole green plant disappears, leaving only the bulb and the flexible stems that are easy to braid. The hardnecks have a stiff stem in the center that ends in a beautiful flower – or a group of small blisters – then dries to a rigid stick that makes braiding impossible.
Softnecks, standard in grocery stores, are the easiest to grow in soft areas. Hardnecks are more suitable in winter because they are more vulnerable to division – or simply refuse to breed – in hot climates.
Plant Garlic.
In mid-autumn plant garlic bulbs in loose, fertile soils that are as free of weeds as possible. Insert the cloves down about 8 inches apart in all directions, burying the tips about 2 inches down. Green shoots will appear. Put a mulch around them with straw.
In spring, remove mulch when new shoots emerge. Give them a mixture of fish emulsion and liquid algae. Sprinkle them only if the soil is 2 inches or more dry and never pour water into the crowns of the plants.
Source:
Good Housekeeping
2. Cut flowers of garlic
1. There is no harm in taking some of the flowers to eat them, but do not expect them to be large. Most flowers for sale are 4 to 6 inches long. They should be of this length for a better flavor and texture.
2. You can cut some to put them in a vase too, but do not take them too early.
Source:
Good Housekeeping
3. Harvesting garlic.
Garlic varieties are divided into early, mid-season and late, depending on your climatic zone and weather during the growing year. The heat accelerates their growth, the cold slows down.
The ampoules are ready when most of the lower leaves have gilded. The highest will still be green.
Choose a covered day when the soil is dry. Loosen the floor with a fork, insert it far away from the heads, then lift them off the row and place them in a flat support.
Source:
Good Housekeeping
4. How to store garlic glove.
The ideal temperature is between 55 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with moderate humidity and good air circulation. Garlic must have light, but be out of the sun. You can store your garlic in an unheated but isolated cupboard.
Source:
Good Housekeeping
