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Wild About Garlic
The trick is
in the timing for planting garlic, and that time is
now explains Fiona Lawrenson, who shares her thoughts
on cooking and harvesting this delicious little bulb
Garlic
is said to work wonders for your love life, keep those
bloodthirsty vampires at bay and give you bad breath.
Not bad for a little bulb
from France!
Well, how do the
French grow such large ones! What is their secret? The
trick is in the timing of the planting. The garlic needs
to go through a cold spell if the head is to develop
well, so what better way to guarantee that than planting
in November.
They Need
Choose a site that is open and sunny with a fertile,
well-drained, light soil - garlic hates wet, heavy clay
as it can cause the bulb to rot or under-develop. If
the soil is heavy, either add sand so as to aid drainage
or plant in raised
beds. They don’t require a soil high in nutrients,
so are ideal to follow a summer crop that has just finished
and been lifted.
To Plant
When choosing garlic to plant, look for bulbs that are
healthy and firm. Split the bulb and plant the individual
cloves; these should be nice and plump and about 1½
cm (½ in) in diameter. Space the cloves 15–18
cm (6–7 inches) apart, in rows spaced 30 cm (12
inches) apart as a guide. The closer the planting, the
smaller the mature bulbs tend to be.
Plant the cloves
straight with the flat base down into the soil to a
depth of twice the length of the clove, plus 2½ cm (1
inch) of soil above the clove. This will give the garlic
plenty of soil to grow in, since they tend to push upwards,
and it should also help increase your yield. Keep the
patch weed
free, otherwise there’s very little to do!
To Harvest
Lift the garlic when the leaves have started to turn
yellow in the summer. Dry the bulbs and leaves thoroughly,
leave on the top of the soil, if very dry, or in a greenhouse
or kitchen windowsill. Do keep the leaves, since it’s
these you use when platting strings of garlic in true
authentic style.
In the East, garlic’s
fresh green leaves are used to flavour foods as the
taste is so much more subtle than the cloves; they are
especially good in salads.
Garlic and Rosemary
Roast Potatoes
You will need:
6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
750g (1½ lbs) of potatoes peeled and chopped
600ml (1 pint) of chicken stock – warmed
3 fresh sprigs of rosemary
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Take the peeled and
chopped pots and arrange in a roasting tray. Pour over
the mixture of chicken stock, olive oil, salt pepper
and chopped garlic and fresh rosemary. This liquid will
be absorbed by the potatoes when cooking. Cook on the
top shelf of your preheated oven at 200C (400F, gas
mark 6) for 45/50 mins or until all the liquid has been
absorbed and the pots are a lovely golden brown.
Articles
reprinted with premission from Greenfingers.com
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