Gaga About Garlic

Albigensian garlic. Via Marshall's Seeds.

Even though I spent the better part of yesterday picking up, de-husking, washing and drying hickory nuts, I haven't stopped thinking about garlic.

Ever since I read about garlic's immune-system-boosting properties (especially with regards to the flu,) I've been daydreaming of garlic... ways to add it to my daily diet and, most importantly, since I'm going to be consuming so much of it, how to add mass quantities of garlic to my wee container garden.

My container garden this morning. A far cry from my last garden update photo.

Besides my growing need (pun intended) for more containers, I first needed to determine which variety of garlic to plant. Who knew there were so many?

Dilemma solved when I came across this garlic note from the Gardener's World Blog (h/t: Gardeninggenius) about a recent trip to their local farmer's market:

I found a few more varieties of garlic, including three extremely plump bulbs of my current favorite, ‘Albigensian’. I’d recommend this variety to anyone – the cloves are really large, sweet and succulent. Combine autumn-planted garlic like this with some spring planting varieties and you’ll join me in garlic heaven!

Garlic heaven! - Just what I was looking for. For more info on Albigensian garlic, I turned next to Tucker's Seeds [PDF].

Albigensian, as its name implies, is the garlic of the 13th century Cathars from Languedoc. With touches of purple skin, it was thought to bring sedition and heresy into the planter’s garden and their life. Beware!

Ah, sedition and heresy, my old friends. Sounds like Albigensian garlic and I will be the perfect match.

Albigensian garlic cloves. Via Thompson and Morgan.

Tucker's Seeds continues with everything I need to know to grow garlic:

Soil Type: Garlic will grow on the most fertile soils. It will not grow well on acid soils so if you know your ground is acid; ensure your soil is limed. Soil pH should be above 6.7. Light soils will usually produce brighter, white bulbs. Heavier soils grow good garlic but there may be some staining of the outer skins, which should not affect the keeping quality. Some of the finest French garlic is grown on heavy but free draining chalky clay soil in the south west of France.

Growing Garlic in pots: Garlic can be grown successfully in pots. Use a fresh standard growing medium. Typically plant 4 cloves to a 6” pot; 6 to an 8” or 8 to a 10”. Keep well watered. Stand outside on a patio or window ledge. There is no advantage in bringing your garlic indoors or in a glasshouse. Garlic needs a period of cold to vernalize the clove and triggers the chemical mechanism that induces it to split the cloves and bulb up. Feed February to April with a standard plant food.

Our organic garlic mini-trial between Albigensian Wight (DT Brown seed catalogue) & Spanish Morado (sold in Lidl!) varieties. The Wight plants are the three rows closest to the camera & have out-performed the Morado bulbs in size & strength so far. The Morado plants were quicker to sprout but many sets have split into two or three plants. The taste test awaits us! - Lucinda77

Planting Outdoors: October-March, in a well-drained situation. Autumn is the ideal time to plant all our garlic types; however early spring planting can produce good garlic. Solent Wight (another garlic variety) responds particularly well to spring planting up to mid march. Break the bulb gently into the their constituent cloves. Take care not to damage them. A small wound or bruise will rapidly become infected in the soil and the clove is likely to rot from a soil-borne infection. Early Wight will have 5-8 cloves per bulb, Mediterranean types 8-10, Solent Wight 12-15. Plant immediately after breaking, and put into well-cultivated fertile ground. To optimize on garden space, plant the small cloves from the center of the bulb 4” apart. The large outer cloves should be at least 18” apart. Place each clove, root end downward, in a small hole with 1” loose soil to cover.

So, there you have it. Sufficiently prepared with all I need to know about growing my own garlic, I'm off for more containers and potting soil. Finding Albigensian garlic in my tiny rural town, however, will be problematic. Guess I'll be trying my luck at the farmer's market in the big city.

Now, if I could just find someone else to shell all of these hickory nuts! ;)

Happy gardening! - c