Ever thought of growing your own gorgeous garlic? It sounds like quite an exotic thing – all that Mediterranean flavour and eastern promise – but some of the best in the world is grown in the Isle of Wight.
I don’t have a vegetable plot in my small garden but I do miss growing food. There is something so miraculous about the process; from planting to harvesting to eating. I make up for it by growing my favourite herbs and mixing the odd tomato plant in with the flowers. But this year I am trying out garlic!
Garlic is a member of the allium family (as you will see from the flower above).It is an ancient bulbous vegetable, easy to grow and requires very little space in the garden. It grows from individual cloves broken off from a whole bulb. Each clove will multiply in the ground, forming a new bulb that consists of 5-10 cloves.
Garlic is best planted in late autumn or early winter; the general rule of thumb is to plant cloves before Christmas – so about now is perfect. Don’t just plant what’s in your fridge! It is important for success to get garlic that has been prepared for growing from a specialist – there is a choice at Sunshine Garden Centre at the moment – and all other good gardens centres of course, plus mail order firms.
These are the varieties which are recommended by the RHS as being best suited to our climate:
‘Solent White’ AGM:Very attractive bulbs that are well adapted to the British climate. The bulbs store well into the following spring.
‘Purple Wight’:An early garlic with purple-streaked bulbs. It is best used fresh as it doesn’t store well.
‘Arno’ AGM:An attractive garlic with ivory-white skin covering pink cloves. Stores well.
‘Spanish Roja’:An old cultivar with a strong flavour. The cloves are easy to peel and store well.
Garlic grows well in any sunny, fertile site. For every square metre/yard add 50g (2oz) of general-purpose fertiliser before planting. Break up the bulbs and plant individual cloves just below the soil surface 15cm (6in) apart and in rows 30cm (12in) apart. Do not plant in a space which has been used for onions before and prevent birds from pulling up the cloves by covering the rows with horticultural fleece (a thick mulch will also do the job).
And that’s it – unless, of course, you want to go big – really big. I am tempted to try some of these – Elephant Garlic! It is not a true garlic at all but a kind of large leek, Allium ampeloprasum . It has huge cloves which I am told have a mild creamy garlicky taste and are spectacular roasted.
Yup – that’s the one for me. I would love to hear from you if you have any tips to pass on. Good luck to any newbies, we can compare notes next year.
