This year, I pre-soaked my garlic and shallots in a solution of baking soda (to kill any unwanted fungi) and liquid kelp (for nutritional goodness). Some people use cider vinegar or vodka, but I don’t like the sound of that. You can soak for 2 hours or overnight.
There are two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Softneck is the kind you find in grocery stores b/c it keeps longer. I prefer hardneck because it grows scapes that are amazing in a stirfry. Btw, elephant garlic is not garlic. It’s a leek bulb! And it has NO FLAVOR.
Softneck garlic:
- matures faster
- longer shelf life
- produces more bulbs but they are smaller than hardneck
- the stalks can be braided together for pretty gift presentation
- thicker outer paper wrapping
- fewer but bigger bulbs than softneck
- produces tasty scapes on top of the stalk
- Most garlic in grocery stores is treated or bred so it does not reproduce. (Thanks Monsanto)
- Organic garlic cloves (from your local farmers’ market) should grow into nice big bulbs for you
- But ordering bulbs from a local grower that are specifically for sowing will give you the best result
My hero, Mike McGrath, recommends NOT to peel! Because you might poke the clove. Seems logical.
I had divided the pile between big, medium and dinky-sized cloves. I used up all the big ones and just threw some medium ones in a spot that I think might be trampled by construction. I might regret that.
Lesson learned: Don’t plant things you don’t really care about! It’s just more work for later.
I did this on a busy Sunday and had to get them in the ground before the sun went down. I manically tossed up the dirt in as many places as possible that I knew would not be disturbed by construction and jammed them in there 6″ deep(ish) and about 4-6″ apart (ish).
Here’s what they look like a day before Christmas (about 2.5 months later.) It’s about 55 degrees outside today. It’s lovely, but there’s something really fishy about it. And it’s not the liquid kelp smell!
Manic Synopsis:
When:
- October
Directions:
- Separate cloves from hoof. Do not remove skin.
- Use only the big, undamaged cloves.
Soak for 2 hours or overnight in:
- 1 Tbl baking soda
- 1 Tbl liquid kelp
- 1 Qt water
Plant:
- 4-6″ apart and 6″ deep in loose soil and maybe throw in some compost or worm castings if you have it.
Harvest:
- In June-ish, cut off the scapes for stir frying.
- Don’t let them bloom! Cut off the flower heads as soon as they form.
- Gently dig up the garlic when the greens turn brown in early-ish July.
Heart of the Garden 
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