Garlic

A bulb of garlic, broken into cloves and planted, will probably not develop full-sized bulbs, especially as I'm starting it in the spring, but it should grow into green, fleshy 'wet garlic' that I can slice and use in soups and stir fries

I made a shallow drill, poked some holes in the soil, about three inches apart, then dropped a garlic clove into each one (being careful to get them the right way up).

Then I covered them with a thin layer of soil and pressed it down.

I covered the garlic (and the peas from page 2) over with fleece - to help keep frost and cats off the cultivated soil.

09 April 2010 - thick pale green shoots have emerged from the planted cloves

I'll update this page as and when any progress happens...

08 May 2010 - The plants are now about a foot tall and all looking nice and healthy.

In another month, they should have thickened up a bit - maybe enough to start picking.

By the end of may, the plants are tall and the stems are thicker than a pencil - they can be harvested at this stage.

When pulled up, they look a bit like spring onions, but I'm not sure I'd want to eat one raw.

At the pencil-thick stage, the whole plant - white stem and green shoots - can all be chopped up and used in the kitchen - the only waste is one of the outer leaves, that has started to turn brown.

I photographed this one alongside a clove of garlic the same size as was planted to grow it - you get at least three times as much garlic as you planted if you harvest now.

By mid-July, the plants have developed bulbs about 3cm in diameter - the stems are starting to get tough and fibrous, but the bulbs - which are beginning to divide internally into separate cloves - are very juicy and tender.