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Planting Garlic in New England
by Jean English
Garlic planting season is coming! Mid- to late-October is the time to plant
individual cloves of garlic in the ground in northern New England so
September is the time to make sure you have cloves to plant. After they're
planted, the cloves send out roots before the ground freezes, then, in spring,
send up green shoots and produce multiple cloves within a bulb below
ground.
If you've never planted garlic before, the Maine Organic Farmers and
Gardeners Association (MOFGA) urges you to try some this year. You can buy
bulbs from Maine's seed companies, such as Fedco and Johnny's, either
through their catalogs or at their booths at MOFGA's Common Ground
Country Fair, or you can buy bulbs from several vendors at the Fair's Farmers'
Market or Agricultural Booths.
How to Plant Garlic
Take the bulbs home, separate them into individual cloves, and plant the
cloves about 5 inches deep and 4 inches apart in a fertile soil. Around
Thanksgiving, put about 4 inches of mulch (straw, leaves or other organic
material) on the planting.
In the spring, remove the mulch. As the garlic grows, keep the soil moist and
fertile (by applying an inch or so of compost to the ground, for instance).
If you've planted a stiff-neck garlic, such as the Rocambole type, each plant
will send up a flower stalk that curls around and produces small garlic bulbils
at the end. The common advice is to remove these stalks (also known as
"scapes") once they begin to curl around, in order to direct the energy of the
plant toward growing larger bulbs, rather than toward producing bulbils at the
top of the plant.
You might want to keep scapes on a few plants, however. The bulbils can be
harvested from these and sown in pots in late fall to produce on your
windowsill what MOFGA-certified organic grower Tom Roberts calls "garlic
grass" during the winter -- greens that you can clip, like chives, a couple of
times and use to season soups and other dishes. Bulbils can also be planted,
like garlic cloves, in the soil outdoors in October. By early the next year, they'll
have produced what Roberts calls "garlic scallions." In two years, they'll
produce garlic bulbs. (Individual cloves, on the other hand, take only one year
to produce large bulbs.)
Any scapes that you do cut can be chopped and used in stir-fries or to make
garlic flavored vinegar. For the latter, just soak the scapes in white vinegar for
a month or two, then remove the scapes and enjoy the vinegar on salads.
(Click here for a delicious recipe using garlic scapes and pea tendrils).
When the bottom two or three leaves of garlic plants lose their green color (in
late July or early August, usually), it's time to harvest the bulbs. Pull or dig the
bulbs carefully and dry them for about a week in a shaded place. Then cut
back the tops, rub off any soil clinging to the bulbs, and store the bulbs until
you're ready to eat them.
Some garlic comes with a history. The Phillips variety, for example, is a
Rocambole type that Molly Thorkildsen and Will Bonsall of the Scatterseed
Project in Industry, Maine, acquired from Raymond Rowe of Phillips, Maine,
who acquired it from a man living in Rome, N.Y., whose ancestors brought it
from Italy in the early 1820s, when they came to work on the Erie Canal.
Thanks to the efforts of the Maine Seed Saving Exchange, the Scatterseed
Project, and Maine's garlic growers and seed companies, the variety is
increasing in popularity. It's known for its large heads of six to eight cloves
that are easy to peel and store longer than most other
varieties -- sometimes for a year or more.
This article is provided by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
(MOFGA), PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988; 207-568-4142; mofga@mofga.org;
www.mofga.org. Joining MOFGA helps support and promote organic farming and
gardening in Maine and helps Maine consumers enjoy more healthful, Maine-grown
food.
by Jean English
Garlic planting season is coming! Mid- to late-October is the time to plant
individual cloves of garlic in the ground in northern New England so
September is the time to make sure you have cloves to plant. After they're
planted, the cloves send out roots before the ground freezes, then, in spring,
send up green shoots and produce multiple cloves within a bulb below
ground.
If you've never planted garlic before, the Maine Organic Farmers and
Gardeners Association (MOFGA) urges you to try some this year. You can buy
bulbs from Maine's seed companies, such as Fedco and Johnny's, either
through their catalogs or at their booths at MOFGA's Common Ground
Country Fair, or you can buy bulbs from several vendors at the Fair's Farmers'
Market or Agricultural Booths.
How to Plant Garlic
Take the bulbs home, separate them into individual cloves, and plant the
cloves about 5 inches deep and 4 inches apart in a fertile soil. Around
Thanksgiving, put about 4 inches of mulch (straw, leaves or other organic
material) on the planting.
In the spring, remove the mulch. As the garlic grows, keep the soil moist and
fertile (by applying an inch or so of compost to the ground, for instance).
If you've planted a stiff-neck garlic, such as the Rocambole type, each plant
will send up a flower stalk that curls around and produces small garlic bulbils
at the end. The common advice is to remove these stalks (also known as
"scapes") once they begin to curl around, in order to direct the energy of the
plant toward growing larger bulbs, rather than toward producing bulbils at the
top of the plant.
You might want to keep scapes on a few plants, however. The bulbils can be
harvested from these and sown in pots in late fall to produce on your
windowsill what MOFGA-certified organic grower Tom Roberts calls "garlic
grass" during the winter -- greens that you can clip, like chives, a couple of
times and use to season soups and other dishes. Bulbils can also be planted,
like garlic cloves, in the soil outdoors in October. By early the next year, they'll
have produced what Roberts calls "garlic scallions." In two years, they'll
produce garlic bulbs. (Individual cloves, on the other hand, take only one year
to produce large bulbs.)
Any scapes that you do cut can be chopped and used in stir-fries or to make
garlic flavored vinegar. For the latter, just soak the scapes in white vinegar for
a month or two, then remove the scapes and enjoy the vinegar on salads.
(Click here for a delicious recipe using garlic scapes and pea tendrils).
When the bottom two or three leaves of garlic plants lose their green color (in
late July or early August, usually), it's time to harvest the bulbs. Pull or dig the
bulbs carefully and dry them for about a week in a shaded place. Then cut
back the tops, rub off any soil clinging to the bulbs, and store the bulbs until
you're ready to eat them.
Some garlic comes with a history. The Phillips variety, for example, is a
Rocambole type that Molly Thorkildsen and Will Bonsall of the Scatterseed
Project in Industry, Maine, acquired from Raymond Rowe of Phillips, Maine,
who acquired it from a man living in Rome, N.Y., whose ancestors brought it
from Italy in the early 1820s, when they came to work on the Erie Canal.
Thanks to the efforts of the Maine Seed Saving Exchange, the Scatterseed
Project, and Maine's garlic growers and seed companies, the variety is
increasing in popularity. It's known for its large heads of six to eight cloves
that are easy to peel and store longer than most other
varieties -- sometimes for a year or more.
This article is provided by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
(MOFGA), PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988; 207-568-4142; mofga@mofga.org;
www.mofga.org. Joining MOFGA helps support and promote organic farming and
gardening in Maine and helps Maine consumers enjoy more healthful, Maine-grown
food.
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