Garlic is used in a lot of recipes, and since there have been quite a few Italian style recipes on this site, it is time to teach you how to grow your own garlic.

Garlic grows well in any sunny place and all you need other than soil is a bit of general-purpose fertiliser.

Sowing

Don’t plant garlic cloves bought from a shop. In the words of your mother “You don’t know where it’s been”. Buy your bulbs on-line or from a store like you would any other plant. Split the bulbs into invidivual cloves and place the cloves just below the surface of the soil. Place each clove 15cm (6in) apart. Birds have a habit of pulling up the cloves, so either buy a shotgun, or cover the cloves up with a bit of netting. Surprisingly, garlic is best planted in early winter, ready for the next year.

Growing

You may have to remove weeds frequently from garlic as it is only small and can’t defend itself well. Other than that, garlic doesn’t need watering and you may need to snip off any flowers that form. How easy is that?

Harvesting

The garlic bulbs are harvested as soon as the leaves turn yellow. Lift them out of the ground with a fork and let them dry in a well aired spot. When they are dry they can be stored in ventilated containers until you’re ready to use them.

Now you can grow your own garlic to use in many many dishes! And all it took was planting a bulb!