Plant yours in autumn, and you’ll end up with large, juicy bulbs come the summer
Garlic is an essential kitchen ingredient – and once you discover home-grown varieties, you’ll never want to use shop-bought ones again!
We want to let you into a little secret – planting cloves in autumn gives far bigger bulbs than starting your crop off in spring – so make space on the plot for later in the year! This way, the garlic has an extra five months in the soil, so roots become more extensive, top growth is stronger and, as you’d expect, the bulbs are bigger, too.
Step-by-step
1Pick a softneck or hardneck variety – the first tends to be easier to grow, grows more quickly and stores longer but the second has a better depth of flavour. The bulbs are usually sold according to their suitability for spring or autumn planting.
2You’ll need to gently break the garlic head into individual cloves. Here, it’s most definitely a case of biggest is best – select the largest of them to plant as they’ll grow into the biggest bulbs! Check to ensure they’re firm, undamaged and mould-free; if they are not they’ll rot rather than grow. Plant cloves within 24 hours of splitting.
3Garlic prefers a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Keep it weed-free and water when the soil is dry. Plant with the pointed end upwards, flat end down, spaced 15cm apart and 5cm deep in the space you have allocated in your ground or raised beds.
4Roots will grow fairly quickly, and later green shoots will appear. Any flowers and curly scapes should be removed (and can be eaten when young, as a tasty little extra!) to encourage underground growth. In February, feed with sulphate of potash. Yellowing foliage (around one third to one half of leaves) is a sign that bulbs are ready to harvest. This happens from mid May onwards depending upon the variety, so keep an eye out, and you can be enjoying home-grown garlic in no time at all!
5To harvest garlic, don’t pull them out by the leaves; instead use a hand fork to lift
