Grow Your Own Garlic

This cool, autumn air spurs us on to begin to put the garden to bed. As we cut back, clean up, and harvest one more time, we can also be planting. Now is the best time to plant garlic. 

Why plant in the fall? The advantages to planting in the fall are huge - as in huge bulbs next August when they are harvested. The extra time they spend in the ground now allows roots to develop longer producing larger cloves for next year. Garlic also needs 30-60 days of cool weather for the single clove to form into a bulb with many cloves. Planting in the fall guarantees the cloves plenty of time to multiply.  

Try one of these varieties hard neck varieties:
Spanish Roja is famous for it's flavor. This purple streaked variety produces 7-13 easy to peel cloves. It's one of the best for our climate. 

Early Italian Purple is a purple striped large bulb with many cloves. It does well in cold winters and hot summers. 

Italian Late is a silver skin variety. The cloves are plump and round with extra tight skin that makes it good for storage. It matures later than other varieties. 

German Red garlic is a large bulb with 8-12 cloves that are easy to peel. It has a strong, hot spicy flavor.