FoodGeneralPlants

Time to Plant the Garlic

Autumn Equinox has come and gone in the southern hemisphere and this is the signal to plant the garlic. We had harvested and stored our garlic from last season so it was time to sort through it all and start planting it out. We like to grow Russian garlic as it is great to use because of its size and it seems to grow well enough in our climate and soil conditions. We started a few years ago with a few bulbs that we divided out and planted. This can take a bit to build up a stock as the Russian garlic only has about five cloves per bulb. However when it grows there are small balls that form near the base of the bulb and if you store these and plant them the next season they will form into a single clove bulb. This you need to store and plant out the following season. This will then grow into the five clove bulb. A bit of a process for sure however I have about 180 small balls to plant this year so we are on way to an abundance of garlic if all goes well.

The three stages of the Russian garlic. The small balls, the single clove bulb and then the divided bulbs.
The three stages of the Russian garlic. The small balls, the single clove bulb and then the divided bulbs.

I needed to prepare a bed to get started so Zaia transplanted some selfsown lettuces out of several beds that were a bit sparse and looked just right for some of the garlic.

Starting to prepare the beds for the garlic.
Starting to prepare the beds for the garlic.

I did the usual of loosening up the heavy soil somewhat then dug in two wheelbarrows of compost. Then I formed up three double reach beds and applied another three full wheelbarrows of compost and topped this off with three barrows of mulch. I’m really pushing the soil building process at the moment as the focus is now on getting production up.

Adding the last of the five wheelbarrows of compost.
Adding the last of the five wheelbarrows of compost.
The mulched beds with sawdust on the paths.
The mulched beds with sawdust on the paths.

So I managed to get to planting out the small balls but only got about 100 planted into this set of beds so I will need to prepare some more as soon as I get the chance.

For a wealth of great material, please head over to Toms website https://diyfoodandhealth.com

Reproduced with permission and with sincere thanks to https://diyfoodandhealth.com

Tom Kendall

Tom Kendall is a permaculture farmer with a lifelong broad acre agricultural background. He is co-founder of the PRI Sunshine Coast Inc and PRI Luganville, Vanuatu and runs PDC and Practical Life Skills training courses on his Permaculture Demonstration Site “Maungaraeeda”. He is part of the Permaculture Sustainable Consulting team and does regular personal consultations. He has extensive experience in tropical, sub tropical and dry land climates and has the ability to read large scale as well as smaller scale landscapes. With his farming background, Tom is a very hands on and practical man and is solution focused. He has extensive travel experience, integrates easily with local cultures and people and enjoys studying landscapes, buildings and the effects of climate on structures, flora and fauna.

2 Comments

  1. did you plant the bulbs directly in after laying the mulch? Do you put in to soil and leave hole in mulch so sun can see/get in?

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