Ah, Garlic planting season once again! When we moved in during Jun-July last year, it was manic as we needed to hastily plant all of our organic garlic cloves in between doing renovations and trying to discover garden beds and planting space under grass and weeds.
With some wonderful help from our family, we rescued derelict garden beds and some designated planting areas and got lots of bulbs safely planted into various parts of the garden. Garlic in the front garden bed amongst the roses, garlic along the side of the house, garlic in other random garden beds between ornamentals, garlic in rows along the fence.
The bulbs were planted carefully and tended, sending green shoots soon after planting and surviving the frosty winter.
Through spring they matured, growing taller and stronger until in summer they began to transfer all their energy to the bulb in the dark depths of the soil. In December we decided them ready to harvest – later than usual but due to the slightly later planting season we wanted to give them enough time to nourish the bulb and produce great garlic!
And voilà, beautiful garlic – fresh from the ground!
After sorting and hanging to dry for a couple of weeks, the stems were removed and the bulbs were transferred to a safe place to further dry and develop (a.k.a the spare room…which still bears the pungent aroma of garlic!). Although I yearned to use lots of it in cooking or share it with friends and family, this was our starter crop for our 2012 planting season, so most of these precious bulbs were kept for planting out.
So this weekend it’s garlic planting time again! The cloves have been separated and are ready to be returned to the earth, where they will produce yet more bulbs and gorgeous, tasty, Australian grown garlic for sale later in the year.
Want some fresh garlic goodness in your pantry? Stay tuned for our Garlic Harvest later in the year and find out how you can get your hands on these gorgeous bulbs!