Garlic is one of the most used items in most any country’s or region’s cooking. It is widely used in Asian, European, and South American foods. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to find a culture that doesn’t use garlic to flavor its food. Garlic can be spicy, sweet, or pungent depending on its preparation, and it can flavor anything from crusty bread to pasta to stir fry to collard greens. In short, garlic is a must have for any cook and, therefore, a new addition to my garden this year. Well, to be technical, I planted it last year, but I will eat it this year.
Last fall, I ordered two varieties of garlic from Seeds of Change–the softneck variety Mother of Pearl and the hardneck variety Music Pink. If you click the links, you’ll see how pretty the bulbs are, and I must admit that had a little to do with my choices. When tasty plants can be pretty, why would you pick anything else? SOC sent me three bulbs of each variety, and each bulb had somewhere between 7 and 10 cloves, so there’s a lot of garlic growing out there. I’m hoping to get some flower spikes out of the hardnecks, but I’ve read these aren’t guaranteed.
Mostly, I’m loving the garlic right now because it is sticking out its brave neck and not being deterred by all the cold weather we’ve had lately. Shortly after planting, in November, the garlic started to sprout, and it has remained green and healthy looking since. The shoots of the hardnecks are about 4 in. tall and have about 3-4 tops each; the shoots of the softnecks are about 5-6 in. tall and have about the same number of tops. Most were completely covered by the snow Wednesday night, but I was able to capture a few peeking back out when the melting began yesterday.
Don't they just look determined?
Rows of garlic
Look at those little guys go!
I know!