Grow Your Own Organic Garlic

We eat fresh organic garlic almost daily and were quite overwhelmed this summer at the price of wholesome organic garlic, locally grown. This really is another of those easy to grow vegetables and well worth the time if you have space in your garden. There is nothing to compare with the fragrance and taste of your own homegrown fresh garlic. In the Pacific Northwest ~ garlic should be planted in October for harvesting the following summer.

Organic Garlic

Garlic is a low maintenance vegetable due to the fact that it is not readily affected by disease or insects and in fact is known to repel insects. In the Fall nurseries sell the bulbs, or sets, for growing but I have purchased organic Russian Black and other organic garlic varieties which have been divided and planted successfully.

Black Russian garlic bulb and cloves — Black Russian organic garlic bulb and cloves

How to plant garlic

Dig over soil – requires well-drained sunny area with good compost
Break the cloves from the bulb
Plant (pointy end up) 2 inches under soil and about 6 inches apart and cover with soil
Label rows with variety and date planted
Mulch lightly for the winter
They should be ready to harvest and dry mid August next year
Harvest when the tops fall over
It is easy to plait garlic for storage after drying the bulbs outside in the sun

So there you have it, besides the financial benefits of growing your own garlic it is far superior to the imported variety. You will be delighted at the freshness of your own organically grown cloves ~ no chemicals or preservatives. Your home-grown garlic is juicy and sweet with a delicate fragrance and taste. Garlic is so easy to grow and maintain and you know where it came from ~ very important. Another excellent and easy vegetable to grow!

Extra Notes

Garlic is not really a herb but a member of the onion family
Known to repel insects from the garden
Beans don't like to be planted close to garlic
Retards the growth of peas when planted nearby
Likes peppers and is generally beneficial in the home garden
Over the years I have used a homemade garlic spray for insect control
Approximately 50 cloves were planted this October, as that is all there is space for in the garden.
It is well-known, from folk-lore to modern science, that garlic is generally good for your health as an antibiotic and specifically aids in reducing high cholesterol levels
Garlic usually stores well over the winter