There’s something special about garlic that makes it more than just a vegetable. It’s more like a cultural building block. Used liberally in just about every homemade remedy that rids the common cold, its antibacterial and antiviral qualities are well documented and equally well celebrated. While a mouth full of garlic serves us well to deter the advances of an over-enthusiastic, unwanted love interest, garlic grown throughout the garden is equally effective as a natural fungicide and aphid deterrent.
In the kitchen, garlic shouldn’t only be thought of in terms of heads and cloves. The foliage of the plant offers a subtle garlic chive–like flavour and can be harvested continuously while waiting for bulbs to mature. Sauté them in a stir-fry or add to your morning eggs for a real treat.
Plant a single clove in well-composted soil and watch a whole bulb grow over the next 9 months. As it is a growing adventure that transpires over many months, you will have plenty of time to sit by the fire with a glass of pinot – and the anticipation at harvest time builds to one of the ultimate lotteries. Shoots will start to brown off when bulbs are ready to be harvested. However, double-check bulb size by digging down or even exhuming one or two plants. Homegrown garlic rarely reaches the colossal sizes of its supermarket cousins, but there is no match for the satisfaction and potency of fresh garlic.
PLANTING
Prepare the soil with compost and blood and bone, then plant cloves into the patch, ensuring the thinner tip (from which it sprouts) is pointing skywards. Firm down the soil.
WATERING
In ground: Water daily for the first 4 weeks and 3-4 times a week in the absence of rainfall thereafter.
In Pots: Water daily, in the absence of rainfall, for the entirety of the warm season, and then cut back to watering every second day during the cooler times of the year.
MAINTENANCE
After 4 weeks cloves will have sprouted. Mulch to a depth of 3–5cm with pea straw, lucerne hay or sugar cane. Garlic will also benefit from a monthly application of liquid seaweed solution.
After 18 weeks apply compost around the base of the garlic and reapply mulch. If the plants are too close together, thin them out and use as scapes.
After 6 months foliage often begins to die back. Lessen the amount of water on the patch to allow bulbs to mature and harden.
HARVESTING
Time until first harvest: About 28 weeks
How to harvest: Pull the foliage while losing the soil with a hand fork to extract the garlic bulb. You can eat right away or gently brush the soil away and hang by the foliage to dry. Be sure to set aside a few bulbs as seed for next season.
TIP
At about the 6-month mark, tie the foliage up in knots. This is thought to divert growth from the foliage to the bulbs. Even if it doesn’t, it looks totally legit.
