Garlic for the Garden

The 2015 garden season has not even started yet and here we are looking toward what we are going to plant this fall.  Why?  Because yesterday we received the Filaree Garlic Farm catalog.

You see, the best time to plant garlic in Oklahoma is in the fall.  We usually plant it in October.  That gives it enough time to take root before winter sets in.  One would think that we could wait until the end of summer to order it.  However, many of the varieties in this catalog sell out early.  So, if we want to get the best selection, we have to order now.

I've written several blog entries about garlic.  Here's one from June last year when I dug the garlic we had planted the previous fall.

Garlic Harvest

Most of us are familiar with the rather mild tasting soft-necked garlic that we buy at the supermarket.  But, did you know there are many different varieties of garlic?  Some of them are fiery hot, as well, with names like Georgia Fire!  Here is a sampling from the Filaree catalog.

Most of these are "hard-necked" garlic which have a stiff stem around which the cloves grow. Here's a closer look at a couple of those.

We'll be digging our garlic in June.  We planted and mulched it last October.  Here's what it looks like now.

Not much to see, huh?  But, believe me by June it will be a foot tall and have heads as big as a racquetball.  

Another fringe benefit that garlic gives us are its "scapes".  Take a look at the drawing on the front of the Filaree catalog above.   Notice the goat's horns.  Those are garlic flower stalks, commonly called scapes.  We cut these off and sell them at the market.  They can be grilled, stir-fried, added to soups, made into pesto, added to hummus .... all kinds of uses for them.

So, visit your local farmers' market this spring.  You should find scapes in May, followed by a wide variety of garlic in June.