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For the love of garlic



Between July and August I have one of the happiest moments of all in my gardening life: harvesting garlic. The beautiful plants are now less vigorous and clearly signalling hidden gems await buried under the soil.

Hands down, garlic is my single most beloved crop. I love to cook with it, I love its shape, the colours, the smell, the taste. I love planting it, I love seeing it poke through the soil as one of the earliest signs of life in spring. It is a beautiful once it is stored somewhere, be it braided, in baskets, wherever. I mean, just google it and see for yourself!

Be used to just have some of your garlic lying around and ready to cook!

My first garlic attempt was on fall 2017 and I had built a brand new raised bed, 2 feet in height, and garlic was the plant to open the season on that bed, being planted in late October. I planted a shy amount or Wrenglers Russian and Inchellium Red, from Boundary Garlic Farm. They are extremely specialized offering a great variety, and their product is of a fantastic quality! I buy with them ever since. Another place I like to order from is from the Greater Montreal Area, Ferme Tournesol. Not only because it is another organic farm, but it is another Canadian organic farm. It is a Zone 5 farm. It is a Quebec Zone 5 farm! Very similar growing habits for the plants and seeds. This is especially important when we want to grow garlic that is as sizable as the ones we planted.


For the most part, I recommend planting garlic for any beginner gardener. It is an almost "plant-and-forget". It stays in the soil doing its "thing". You do not have to water it too much, as it stays in the deeper parts of the soil, where moisture penetrates and stays put. It is almost pest free. The sulphuric content makes other critters shy away, at least for the most part. Once it comes out, the only thing it wants is sun. And to be very honest, if it lies on a part-sun spot it will not complain, it will just developer slower or put out smaller bulbs. If size is not your worry, garlic can be put in any little corner of your garden, including those perennial beds, where it will help repel a lot of insect and even bunnies and hares. Also, having a long season that will end for the most part in August reveals a great gardening gift when planted in dedicated beds: the beds will now be totally free for any fall crop that can grow in about 2 months and with the added garlic juices  on the soil, the next planting will grow undisturbed by flea beetles, earwigs or slugs. And there are many such crops that can take over now!

But I digress. For now, August, just start browsing seed catalogs or go to your favourite fresh market or garlic festival to start ordering your next batch of this amazing culinary plant. If you are around the city of Montreal, you should definitely make your way to the Saint Anne de Bellevue Garlic fest! That is what I will be doing!


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