Rideout: Vampires aren’t a real thing, but here’s what you need to know about garlic – The Gleaner

Andy Rideout| Special to The Gleaner

Halloween is just around the corner, so if you are concerned about half-human creatures, zombies, and vampires than you should definitely have some garlic nearby.

You could buy it at the local grocery but I would venture to guess that growing your own will provide even better protection.

Garlic is one of those plants that has worked its way into so many different cuisines around the world. Sometimes it takes center seasoning stage in Italian dishes, and sometimes it acts as backup to other seasonings. Its versatility makes it a staple in many different dishes.

Grocery store garlic is available in many forms; whole cloves, chopped in water or oil, or ground and dried in the spice aisle. Mostly, however, grocery store garlic varieties are grown for their storage and shipping qualities. So, if you have only tried grocery store garlic, than I encourage you to venture out and try other varieties that are grown for flavor.

Theres a whole world of garlic out there with a wide range of varied and complex flavors. If you want to try them, youll either have to find a local farmer growing garlic or grow it yourself. Lucky for you, garlic is one of the easiest things to grow.

Garlic is a bulb so you can always remember that fall is the best time to plant garlic along with your tulips and other flowering bulbs or, you can do as I do and connect the timing with vampires. Either way, your garlic needs planted now.

While many people are accustomed to the single variety available in grocery stores, there are several different types of garlic that all have different flavor characteristics. These types can be classed in two categories; hardneck garlic has a hardened central stem when it dries, and softneck garlics remain soft and pliable. Softneck varieties are the ones that lend themselves to being braided into those hanging garlic braids. Softneck varieties are also longer-storing than hardneck varieties.

Hardneck varieties include: Purple Stripe whose bulbs are known for fantastic roasting flavor. Porcelain is a popular gourmet variety with more of a robust and spicy flavor. Asiatic garlic will not store for long periods but mature earlier in the season.

Softnect varieties include: Artichoke, the grocery store variety and Silverskin which is typically the latest in the season to mature….good things come to those who wait?? Silverskin also has the longest storing potential.

It can be tough to find garlic in local garden centers to plant. Those that do carry garlic, often carry it at the wrong time of year for planting when it is shipped in on the spring garden displays. If you dont have friends to share their garlic with you, or a local farmer to buy some from, you are going to have to go the mail order (or online order) route.

Once you have your garlic bulbs, split them up into cloves, being sure that you have a piece of the basal plate (the part that holds them all together) on the clove. This one clove will turn into a whole clove over the growing season.

Plant the cloves tip up about 4 to 6 inches apart and about 2 inches deep in loose, organic soil. Mulch after planting with about one inch of straw or shredded newspaper.

Garlic likes good fertility so plan to apply a balanced fertilizer at planting. After that, just be patient. Garlic requires little maintenance, and only requires water if the weather turns very dry. Harvest it once the leaves start to die in mid-summer (around July, unless it is an early-maturing variety).

Be sure to save some to plant next year to keep the vampires away.

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Rideout: Vampires aren't a real thing, but here's what you need to know about garlic - The Gleaner