How to Grow Garlic in your Organic Garden – Step by Step. Part 2

What an amazing plant! Garlic (Allium sativum) has been around for more than 3,000 years. It’s not that surprising really when you look at the culinary and medicinal purposes it boasts. Garlic is not only a staple in the kitchen, but its health benefits are outstanding as it is a natural antibiotic and has antiseptic properties. In the organic garden it is often used as the base for various insect deterrents and it also has anti-fungal properties. Garlic is also a very useful companion plant. This is a follow-on from my Part 1 article.

6. Maintenance. Garlic needs very little attention. Through winter you will need to water only if conditions are extremely dry. Pull any weeds as they come through.
As the weather gets warmer through spring and summer, water accordingly. If weeds
are becoming a problem or your layer of mulch has started to break down, add a
further layer of mulch (leave a few inches from the foliage free of mulch to prevent
rotting the stems).

7. Harvesting your Garlic. Your garlic bulbs should be ready to harvest when the foliage starts turning brown at the tips. Don’t leave them in the ground til the foliage has completely withered and died back or the bulbs may become over-mature, start splitting or even burst apart.
Wait for a hot, dry day to harvest. Use a hand fork or digger to loosen the soil, then carefully pry them from the ground. Pulling from the stems can cause damage. Shake any loose soil from the bulbs and leave them to ‘cure’ for a few weeks. Hang them by their stems in bunches in a dry, well ventilated area. Your garden shed is ideal.
They can also be dried on racks. Either way, you want to prevent mould or mildew from forming. You must never wash your bulbs. If they don’t dry out properly they may rot. Cut off any mouldy stems immediately as it can spread very quickly to your precious bulbs.
After several weeks you can cut off the stems and store the bulbs in a string or hessian bag, using as you need them. Or you can plait the stems together as has been done traditionally for many centuries and add some cottage charm to you kitchen. You just cut off each bulb as you need it.

Preserving your excess. There are many ways to preserve any excess garlic you have grown. Do some research before choosing a method as the beneficial properties of garlic change with various preservation methods. You can pickle garlic in vinegar, freeze it, dry it. There is a risk of botulism if you preserve garlic in oil – even refrigerated – for more than three weeks.

Health benefits. Garlic has been used medicinally throughout history. Many scientific studies have been completed that show beyond reasonable doubt that eating garlic improves your overall health. More specifically garlic:

* Can lower blood pressure
* Lowers or helps regulate blood sugar
* Helps remove heavy metals from the body
* Is a potent, natural anti-biotic
* Has anti-fungal and anti-viral properties
* Dramatically reduces yeast infections
* Can help prevent blood clots from forming

There are probably many more health benefits to regularly including garlic in your diet. It has also been shown that garlic tablets are less effective than ingesting live garlic. I just love it and use it as a base – along with onions – in almost all my savoury cooking. And just for the record, I hardly ever get sick.