Why I Grow Garlic (and You Should, too)
I love the pungent aroma and spicy flavor these miraculous cloves impart on any dish — and its easy to grow, too!
ANKENY — It seemed counterintuitive. The instructions that came with my first garlic growing kit noted it should be planted in the fall, not the spring or early summer.
Then it all made sense. Garlic — one of the world’s oldest cultivated horticultural crops — is a wholly different beast in the garden. It’s not colorful. It’s certainly not sweet. But it is a workhorse that makes everything in which it’s minced more delectable, adding enormous depth of flavor and giving the gardener two crops instead of one.
So I planted 20 or so cloves that fall several years ago and waited. It snowed. It got frigidly cold. I fretted as a peered out of our back windows at the raised bed I’d sown the garlic crop in, worried that nothing would come up in the spring.
Well, that was stupid. That first crop actually put on some new growth in the dead of winter during an unusually warm spell. Then it died back when the temperature inevitably tumbled soon thereafter. No matter. By early spring, I watched shoots stretch toward the sky and by mid-spring, I was harvesting garlic scapes. Yes, garlic scapes: the first crop to come from these mighty cloves that eventually form a mature bulb in early summer.
Now, you might not know about garlic scapes if you’ve never grown the plant. But if you have any culinary curiosity, you’ve likely heard of them, or tasted them (Note: Only hardneck garlic, which is best suited for growing in Iowa and more northern climes, forms scapes).
So what are they? They’re the fibrous stalks that spiral off from the main stem of the plant as it matures. Each plant should have one. If left untrimmed and uneaten (which I highly advise against for myriad reasons — primarily missing out on the sumptuous flavor), they’ll flower and set seed. Someday I may let that happen as an experiment, but until then, I won’t let go of my annual tradition of turning the scapes into a lovely sautéed side dish or a rich pesto filled with flavor that will knock your socks off. If you know, you know.
But back to the ‘why’ part. Why precisely do I grow garlic?
1. Because I can. It’s ridiculously easy and you can use your biggest cloves from the previous year’s harvest, so it’s also free (eventually).
2. Nothing beats the flavor of homegrown garlic. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Trust me on this. If you have a plot available for occupation from late fall until early summer, get going with this and thank me later.
3. It’s interesting. Everybody grows (or tries to grow) tomatoes. Yes, there are myriad varieties and some have tremendous flavor profiles. But tomatoes are boring. Peppers are somewhat boring, too, but I grow several plants a year and have even started overwintering them indoors under bright light, because in their native lands of Central and South America. So I grow these samples of the garden, too. But garlic has been pest and problem free for me. I can’t say the same about tomatoes and peppers. And I grow organically, so rotation is extra important when it comes to steering clear of disease and other problems.
So that’s the why. I would feel neglectful if I didn’t offer the how, though, so here’s how I do it:
1. Choose your biggest and best-looking cloves and prepare a raised bed for planting. Each clove should be planted three to four inches deep (but even deeper is fine is you’re worried about the cold). Space the cloves six to eight inches apart and cover with a few inches of good mulch (I use pine straw).
2. At the time of planting, mix in a quality organic fertilizer. I’m not a 10-10-10 guy. I’ve used Dr. Earth with success. I also make sure to incorporate plenty of compost into the planting site. I fertilize only one more time early in the growing season. I use Miracle-Gro Performance Organics (because it’s widely available) in liquid form and it’s worked fine. Keep the bed free of weeds and watch out for any diseases or pests — but again, I’ve had no problems with these things in the past.
3. Sit back and wait. Make sure to clip the scapes and USE THEM (!) before they flower. Garlic is ready to be harvested when the lower leaves have turned brown. For me, that’s typically late June or early July. (I’m in USDA Zone 5).
That’s it. Both the why and the how. So get growing. I hope you come to appreciate garlic’s goodness as much as I do — and feel free to share your own experiences/tips/comments here, as well.
Happy Gardening,
Rob G.
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