I count myself as an expert on this as since growing garlic, we have NEVER had a vampire on our property. Before that, we never had one either, but that is quite irrelevant.
Garlic is my favourite crop because it multiplies massively. Plant 50, end up with 50 bulbs to split into cloves that you can plant 150 the following year, and so on, until you end up like me and be wondering what to do with 1000 bulbs, which is completely superfluous to our needs. I absolutely love giving excess produce away - I figure it helps people out and keeps the money out of the big chain supermarkets and delivery trucks off the roads. I suppose I'd have to grow a helluva lot more to realise that dream, but hey, we have to start somewhere!!
Another reason to grow your own is that often, supermarkets stock Chinese garlic, which you really dont want to eat. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, but if the web says it....
Chinese agricultural practice still uses chemicals that have been banned here in Australia to grow garlic. The imported product is just that, so has been picked for quite a while before it gets here, has probably been in cold storage for some time and therefore treated with some sort of growth retardant to stop it from sprouting, has been sprayed with methyl bromide ( a highly toxic substance that is also proven to be 45 times more effective at destroying the ozone layer than chlorine) by AQIS and is that lovely, clean, white colour because it has been bleached with chlorine!
Here is Jamie excitedly arranging our first years harvest on a drying rack (we are a bit lazy about plaiting it, and now just use twine to bundle into groups of ten to hang in the shed). You can also see a heap of it hanging under our gazebo, which kinda makes it look like a Balinese hut.
The best tips I can give you are as follows. This haa come from years of experimentting as I am not great at following instructions. I only really understand things by figuring it out for myself.
1. Plant the BIGGEST cloves.
They will give you the biggests bulbs..Don't bother with the wee ones - save those for eating. And don't forget to plant them with the pointy end up.
2. Fertilise
I prepare the garlic bed about 3 months before hand by digging in some chicken and alpaca manure and covering it with straw. That way, by Easter (when we plant here in Australia) the soil is already ready to welcome the garlic. Through the growing season I fertilise it twice by covering with a layer of alpaca or sheep poo.
3. Keep your crop weed free
This is a must as garlic HATES competition with weeds. I wait until the shoots come through and then cover with straw.
4. DON'T delay harvest
You will know when the garlic is ready as the stalks will turn yellow and wilt. Its a good idea to harvest then as if it rains, they can get mouldy in the ground.
5. Scapes are the tastiest crop ever.
If you don't know what they are, I will be posting about them in my next post when I also share this scape and kale pesto recipe, which is to die for.
I really hope that you are inspired to plant some garlic, and if you have any tips for growing it, I'd love to hear them!