Garlic Seed DoesnÕt Keep Vampires Away - Only Bugs and People

If you’re planting garlic seed to protect you from the things that go bump in the night, you’re seeing too many movies. But what garlic will do is to keep your soil free of garden pests and maybe keep you free of your friends too. Aside from the scare properties of garlic-- its mouthwatering flavor seasons salads, soups and roast meats.

Growing garlic can be from seed—but it’s easier to go to the supermarket. The garlic you grow you can pick up right there. Buy a few garlic bulbs and break into individual cloves. Plant each clove about 3 inches apart by pushing them over their heads into the soil, pointed end up.

Seeding starts as early as weather permits, like onion sets. They like a soil pH of around 6.0 with some of the compost pile added. Give them 2-3 side trimmings a season to stimulate new growth. Keep the soil loose around each garlic plant.

For big garlic bulbs, the plants need to grow mostly in cool weather. That’s why some gardeners plant garlic in late summer or early fall, then mulch the plants over winter. The plants grow best during the cool fall and spring before making their bulbs below.

When the garlic tops keel over and bite the dust, that means the garlic bulbs are ready. They’re perfectly safe there in the dirt to dry in the sun. Or they can be pulled and set in a dark, airy place to cure. Here are the many flavors of garlic:

• Spanish Red- robust flavor, rich red color
• California White- rich, full-bodied garlic flavor
• Elephant- plump, mildest hint of garlic
• Walla Walla Early- slightly spicy, grows best in winter
• Pioneer Softneck- crispest, artichoke-type garlic

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