Plant Them Now

I use a lot of garlic in cooking and like to try various types of garlic.  Supermarkets don’t offer any real varieties of garlic and hardly provide any information about the origin of the garlic they sell.  I want to know where the garlic comes from because any roots, bulbs and rhizomes will usually absorb whatever is in the soil and store it, minerals and toxins included.  I used to purchase my garlic from the farmer’s market which guaranteed freshness and origin.  Years ago when my previous neighbor offered me garlic from her garden, I was hooked.  I’ve been growing my own garlic ever since.

There are several varieties of garlic to choose from.  Rocambole is the type I’ve been growing from the beginning.  I’ve also grown Korean, Tibetan and Siberian.  I found that the Rocambole and Siberian varieties produce large heads and grow well in the northeastern U.S. climate.

Autumn is the time to plant garlic, just a few weeks before a hard frost.  I do not use garlic purchased from the supermarket for planting.  The best way is to get them from your local farmer’s market or order from a reputable company.  One of the vendors at our farmer’s market this year posted a sign explaining his garlic was not for planting this year because he had a problem with fungus.  Honesty is always the key to good business.

Once you get your first harvest, use the largest clove for planting.  You’ll have to buy new garlic for planting again if you want to try a new variety.  Put them in now and wait, they will come up next spring when the soil starts to warm up.

Then sit back and wait until next spring.