Next
month will be June and the winter solstice – the traditional time to plant
garlic. Garlic loves rich well fed soil so it will reward you if you put in the
effort and get the ground prepared well in advance. As it is a slow growing crop and is going to
be in the ground for a minimum of 6 months, choose a place where it will be out
of the way and can mind it’s own business while all the busyness of spring
takes place.
In the
crop rotation plan it is the first thing that I move forward to the next year.
So I will be coming up to Year 3 myself which means that it is going to be in
Bed 4. Garlic is not a “bed-hog” like pumpkins for example but is in the ground
for a long time (6-8months) so I will plant mine in the bed 4 border bed where
it is out of the way and can happily grow away. I have put put a grain based
green crop in the main bed 4 to break up the soil and improve it in time for
the other root crops to go there later in the season.
So I
have dug a trench about a spade deep and filled the bottom with cow poo. Use
whatever manure you have to hand – this was quite fresh but it should be
ok - by the time the roots get down the
worms and soil organisms will be working their magic on it. It’s still a month
or so before I will plant. I have also
incorporated some blood and bone into the top layer of soil. Add any compost,
animal manure etc that you have to hand and then leave for it to work away
until planting day. As usual –use what you have available. We have 2 lovely
cows who faithfully donate to the cause.
Good wholesome organic cow poo. Hannah on the left and Ruby on the right.
How
much to plant.
My bed
is about 1.5 metres wide and 3 metres long.
That’s quite a good size for a family load of garlic. If you work out how much garlic you use over
the year – it might be one bulb per week.
So I suggest 52 would be a good place to start – that way you will have
plenty. Look on line for a good supply of preferably spray free or organic
local seed. Trademe have some good
listings.
Planting Time.
You
can plant any time from now (late autumn).
The general rule is plant twice the depth of the bulb and about 10 cms
apart. So lets say 5 cms deep. Press down firmly as you back fill with soil and
then water in well with liquid seaweed if you have it. Then wait until the shoots are around 15 cm
tall before you start a fortnightly liquid fertilizer regime. You can plant
your own saved seed but whatever you use you get the best results from using
the biggest and fattest ones.
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