Planting Garlic

Here in the baking heat of the southern CA interior valleys, fall is wished for but still far off. It’s too hot to garden during the afternoons, and the salad greens are bolting, but it’s a great time to start picking out garlic and daffodil varieties.

Seeds of Change and Territorial Seed Company have extensive garlic selections including softneck and hardneck varieties. Seeds of Change also has a nice sidebar called “Planting Garlic” with detailed information if this is your first time planting garlic. Seeds of Change is selling 15 different named garlic varieties, and they do look and taste different. This year, before planting 10 different softneck garlic varieties, my son and I taste tested each one.

When you order garlic bulbs, you will receive whole heads of garlic which need to be separated into individual cloves. Plant only the large, nice cloves and save the rest for taste testing (check the Pasta Caprese recipe from an earlier blog posting if you don’t want to try them raw like I did). Garlic should be planted before it gets dried out so don’t procrastinate on planting.

I’ve planted garlic several years in my garden and have a few tips to share with you:

• order early so you get the variety you want. They sell out.

• plant the garlic bulbs before the dry out or get moldy

• harvesting and storing techniques impact whether your garlic will be edible or smelly, moth ball looking things.

I’ll share a posting on harvesting and storing in the spring when your garlic will be ready.Enjoy!

Melissa Saltman, the planet friendly gardener

See also:

1. Still Not Too Late for Planting?
2. Garlic: The Not-So Sweet Smell of Success
3. Fall Garden – Planting Perennials
4. Gardening: Start Thinking About Your Garden
5. Snack on Home-Grown Sunflower Seeds
6. Tips to Creating a Fall Vegetable Garden
7. How to Start a Flower Garden in Five Steps
8. Get Started Gardening
9. Garlic and Daffodils