Garlic is easy to grow - with a little care.   It will grow in any reasonable soil.   It is the one plant ALL my children want grow on their own plots - on condition that I pickle their harvest; they eat pickled garlic like they were sweets!

• Choosing garlic.   You can buy 25p heads of garlic in the local supermarket and plant those, but I do recommend buying garlic from a seed catalogue.   Your crop will be larger, more reliable, and virus free; you will also be planting garlic selected to do well in our climate!
• Best planted in October/November - prepare a bed by forking in some compost from the heap.   Remember they will enjoy a sunny spot next year.   They can be sown in spring, but some may not split into separate cloves unless they've had a a real cold spell, and your crop will be smaller.
• Divide the bulb into their separate cloves, and plant them into holes 2 inches deep - make the holes with a dibber, so you don't damage the sensitive basal plate from which the roots will grow.   The holes should be about 6 inches apart, in rows 12 inches apart.
• Keep them weed free, and by the time the leaves start to turn yellow, you could have a superb harvest of fresh garlic.   Avoid watering them in summer - this can cause the bulb to rot in the ground.
• Dry the bulbs for a few days, and bring in to store.

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Storing and Uses

I just weave the bulbs together on a string and hang up in a cool, well-lit place.   They'll keep for a couple of years, if you forget them!

Not that I'm likely to do that - we love the stuff.   First favourite gem - roasting whole bulbs in a dish of roast potatoes (just take a clove and squeeze over the main dish - sweet and delicious).   Second - Garlic Pickles; eat them like sweeties!

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