Garlic
If you haven’t already done so way back in May there’s still enough time to get some garlic sown. You can plant garlic cloves anytime but it just depends on your zone whether they will grow that year or the next. Some people have said that you can grow your garlic cloves in a polytunnel or greenhouse in any season as long as the temperature and lighting are right.
When it comes to planting your garlic
The day you intend to plant, not before, break your bulbs into cloves, then mark out rows at least 11 inches apart with cloves 3 to 5 inches apart in the rows, according to size. The larger the clove, the more space it needs. Plant the cloves root end down pushed into the soil, pointed end up, with up to 1 inch of soil covering it.
I have used cloves from garlic I have purchased and garlic my neighbor's have given me from their crop harvested over the years; they’re always a hard neck variety which means I’ll get a flower stalk in the spring (or ‘scrape’) which tastes great in a salad ( that's a bonus)!
I plant them about 6 inches apart with about 10 inches between the rows and about an inch below the surface of the soil. Choose a sunny site with good drainage and keep it weed-free. Once planted I cover the bed with some netting to deter the birds from tugging on the newly emerging shoots (do they think it’s a bed of worms)?
Once planted, your garlic cloves will concentrate on pushing roots deep into the soil so don't despair if growing points do not appear until a few months later just keep them weeded and from July onwards keep them well-watered. In July and August, after hoeing around the garlic to remove weeds and aerate the soil, incorporate the rest of your fertilizer.
I rotate my crops on a four-year plan with the aim of preventing any build-up of disease.
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