It’s interesting that although garlic is one of the easiest garden crops to grow, requires relatively little maintenance, and generally grows better in our climate than more southern ones, Canada imports virtually all its garlic! But to anyone who appreciates garlic, whether for cooking or medicine, the taste and texture of what's available commercially cannot compare to home-grown or local garlic.

Varieties

Of the 52 garlics I’ve acquired so far, most strains have come to me with names of countries attached, such as Russian, French, Italian and Spanish. Some strains are named after people, such as Purple Max. And one variety of unknown origin, which has been grown here on Salt Spring Island for 25 years, I’ve come to call Salt Spring garlic.

The commercial garlic best known to consumers has small cloves clustered piggyback-style in concentric layers with no central stalk; this kind of garlic is often referred to as a "non-bolting" or "soft-necked"’ garlic. By contrast, Rocambole garlics are "hard-necked," with cloves placed adjacent to each other around a thick central stalk. Rocamboles are a pleasure to use because their cloves are very large and easy to peel, making them popular with my customers.

Elephant garlic is not a true garlic but is in fact a member of the leek family. It is in demand because of its size and excellent storage quality. It’s not as robust in flavor as regular garlic and has a characteristic bitterness, although it is good for baking. Some regular garlics certainly grow as large as Ele-phant garlic.

A complete database of Salt Spring Seeds garlic varieties is available for $6. [Address at end of article.]

Planting Considerations

The best time to plant garlic is between August and December, though I most often recommend late September or October. Planting any time in this period will give the plants the earliest possible start in spring, and result in a harvest of large bulbs the following summer. Garlic puts down an extensive root system in the fall and winter, then sprouts green growth in early spring. Spring sowings work but give the plants less chance to size up before shorter days trigger bulbs to form. It needs a minimum of 100 days to mature.

Planting in the fall will help make garlic the carefree crop that it can be. Moisture in the soil is generally enough for the entire growing period, and one rarely has to water garlic unless May or June are unusually dry. The fall headstart ensures garlic will stay ahead of the weeds in spring. Another bonus is that garlic goes right into the ground, so no transplant stage is needed. And happily, pests and diseases are rarely a factor in growing garlic.

Garlic will do well in many types of soil. However, like its cousin, the onion, it appreciates rich, well-drained, sandy loam with plenty of humus. For poor and acidic (below 5.5 pH) soil, you’d do well to dig in compost or aged manure along with wood ashes, dolomite lime or crushed oyster shells. A caution, however, against too rich a soil, which may cause the tops to overdevelop. I’ve found soils that are only moderately fertile yield the finest garlics.

You may know that garlic repels some pests. For this reason, it is often recommended as a companion for roses, tomatoes and cabbages: something you could consider when choosing its location in your garden. On this note, garlic’s repellent qualities make it effective as a garden spray – see our "Garden Remedy" section.

Cultivation and Maintenance

Garlic can be planted in single or double rows or in intensive beds with five or six plants across. Choose a sunny location. To begin, break apart the bulbs without peeling any of the skin. Plant individual cloves, wide part down, about two inches (5 cm) deep so that the pointed end is slightly below the soil surface. I usually leave four or five inches (10-13 cm) between plants but cloves can be planted even closer in rich soil.

A mulch will encourage root growth in winter. In cold climates, snow serves as a mulch. Mulching material, such as straw or grass clippings, will also slow weed growth in the spring. Repeated applications of mulch will minimize weeding as well as keep the soil moist and friable. If possible, avoid mulching with hay containing viable seed: garlic does not appreciate competition from weeds for light and nourishment. When weeding, practise shallow cultivation to avoid disturbing roots near the soil surface.

Other than weeding, garlic needs little care once it’s planted. An occasional dose of fish fertilizer or seaweed solution will boost leaf and bulb growth. Because most growth occurs before the summer sun starts to dry out the soil, garlic normally doesn’t require much irrigation. To allow for optimum underground bulb-curing, avoid watering for a few weeks before harvest, which is usually around the end of July. If flower heads form at any time (usually in June), cut them right back so that the plants put all their energy into bulb growth rather than seed formation.

If garlic does flower, the bulbils that may later form in clusters at the top of the stalk can be used as an alternate way of multiplying your crop. (A few varieties have bulbils that form part way up the stem.) Bulbils planted in the fall of one year develop small, undivided bulbs or bulbs of tiny cloves by the next fall. These must be dug and replanted to produce fill-sized bulbs in the following year.

Harvesting and Storage

Most garlics grow about waist-high and come to maturity towards the end of July or early August. However, plants started from store-bought garlic may mature as late as September in the first year. The best time to harvest garlic is when at least half to 80% of the foliage has turned yellow. For braiding, it’s best to harvest when stalks are still half green. Stalks of some varieties will fall over when mature. If well mulched, plants can be pulled easily by hand. Otherwise, dig them up carefully to avoid puncturing. Sometimes a fork plunged into the soil near but not against the plant is all that’s needed to loosen the soil for pulling.

Some sources recommend curing garlic in the sun for two days to two weeks, bringing it in or covering it if dew or rain is expected. I used to leave my harvest outside for several days and always with good success. But given the atmospheric changes of recent years, and hearing stories of friends’ garlic frying in the sun on excessively hot summer days has made me wary. I’ve decided to hang my fresh-pulled garlic to cure in the large loft of our barn. Bulbs curing with insufficient air flow may mildew as their moisture leaves them, and individual cloves exposed to the sun may turn green.

After curing for ten days to two weeks, the dirty outer skins of the bulbs and lower stalk will slip off easily. The cloves on good bulbs will still be held together neatly by a white, purplish or brownish, paper-thin skin. Remove the dirt gently, but leave as much skin as possible intact. The roots can be twisted off or cut at this point. Garlic plants with pliant stalks can be now braided or hung in bunches. Alternately, cut the bulbs off the stalk, leaving an inch (2.5 cm) of the top to facilitate later clove separation. These can be hung in mesh bags. Whatever the method, garlic should be kept in a cool airy room for optimum storage.

Save the biggest cloves from your biggest bulbs for planting, which you can do almost at once. The rest are ready to eat. Use bruised, punctured, exposed or otherwise suspect cloves first. Don’t store your bulbs in a refrigerator as the cold causes cloves to sprout, changing their flavor and texture. We keep our house garlic in open baskets in a cool room.

The cloves you save for eating will last almost to the next summer’s crop. We tend to eat the more delicate and perishable garlics, such as French or Italian first, and then graze through diverse textures and taste as the winter progresses. We find the smaller, less oily varieties, such as Russian or Stein Valley, will last longest.

While you wait for the year’s harvest, you can enjoy garlic leaves and flowering tops. They are excellent, though relatively unknown. They can be used fresh, refrigerated for long periods, or frozen, and cooked in many of the ways you’d use the cloves themselves. If you save the tops you’ve culled from your hard-necked varieties for a few weeks, they will continue to ripen and you can eat the small bulbils forming within the flower.

For more information, or to receive our garlic mailer, please contact me at Salt Spring Seeds, P. 0. Box 444, Ganges, Salt Spring Island BC V8K 2W1, phone (604) 537-5269.

"Growing Great Garlic" was reprinted, with permission, from Salt Spring Seeds Garlic Book by Dan Jason and Paul Ingraham (1996). This valuable book also has chapters on garlic as medicine and as home and garden remedies, and a plethora of garlic recipes, from dips and sauces to main dishes and even desserts! Copies of Salt Spring Seeds Garlic Book may be ordered from Salt Spring Seeds (address above) for $14 each.