Fresh healthy produce is continuing to get more expensive. I have noticed how much Garlic has risen recently and it is not that difficult to grow. Have a go at planting out Garlic this season, you still have time. We plant out our Garlic between late March right through to May. You can plant later but those months are the ideal. Try to source locally from one of Garden Centres or Nurseries if possible but if not look online. We grow Purple Garlic and some Giant Russian where we are in Kerry and they do extra well in our climate.
If you start with a full Garlic bunch, just break them up into cloves leaving the skin on but removing any of the dead flaky peel. We plant ours about 15cms apart, as you can see in the photo. These were planted Mid-March. You plant the fatter end to the bottom (make a bit of a hole) and the skinny end to the top. You plant 3 to 5cms below the surface. Garlic doesn’t need as much water as other vegetables but we water quite well until established and reduce the watering as they mature.
They will be ready to harvest after 4 or 5 months but you can and will get some variance. The best guide to knowing when ready to harvest is the size and the green stalks/leaves will start to discolour and die back. You can harvest one plant at a time and you will quickly get the feel for when they are ready.
In earlier years we dried our Garlic and then stored them in our Cellar. In recent years, after some research, we now break into the individual cloves, leaving the peel on. We just store in a suitable container in our freezer and grab a clove or two when needed. A clove defrosts quickly and the skin comes off very easily. The cloves keep a very long time in the freezer.
