There isn't a whole lot to be done in a garden in November but the one thing you can do is plant the garlic you should have planted a couple of weeks ago.
Traditionally the middle of October is the time to plant this cooking favourite but I'm not sure if I've ever actually accomplished that. I plant it when I have time which tends to be the end of October or the beginning of November.
Earlier this week I planted my garlic. 120 cloves in the ground, ready to sprout the second it gets a chance.
The garlic went in next to a block of strawberrys. I planted with fresh garlic stock this year because my garlic got mosaic virus which infected my own stock. It's fine to eat, it's just smaller than normal with fewer cloves on each head.
The How & When of Planting Garlic
I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail about planting garlic (even though it's ridiculously easy) because I wrote an entire post on it here. I just wanted to remind you that if you haven't planted it and you always vow to grow your own then, GET OUT THERE AND PLANT GARLIC.
It's the weekend. Now's your chance to prove that you've got it together. That you're a go-getter! You take action and get things done. For instance. You're also planting tulip bulbs in pots this weekend.
I will give you a few tips before you run out and start planting willy nilly.
- Buying "official" garlic for planting from a nursery or seed store isn't the only way to go but it's the best way to go. It will be certified disease free and guaranteed to grow well in your climate. I grow a variety of types but my two favourites are Music and Russian Red. , Russian Red is hands down the best "keeper" I've ever grown.
- You can also just go and buy garlic from a grocery store and plant it. The Internet is always warning us that planting vegetables this way is risky because they may have been treated with a sprout inhibitor that stops them from growing, but bulbs from the grocery store have always sprouted and grown just fine for me. It's a great route to take if you can't find certified garlic, plus it's also less expensive.
- You can plant many bulbs in a small space so even if you don't have a dedicated vegetable garden you can still stick garlic in your regular flower beds. They grow tall and straight and can make an ornamental grass type of border.
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Why Should You Grow Your Own Garlic?
I have no idea why you should grow it. Maybe you're worried about pesticides or you just think it would be fun. For me?
I grow my own for those reasons. I really just love growing any food and really really love growing garlic scape pesto.
Honestly. Even if it's only for the garlic scape pesto you can make in June, that's reason enough to grow your own garlic.
Pesto and braiding garlic those are my official reasons for growing 120 cloves of garlic into 120 heads of garlic every year.
There are people who swear that they can tell a difference in the taste of different varieties of garlic but whenever I eat garlic I only taste garlic. However whenever I taste wine all I taste is wine.
Ditto for beer. A beer is a beer.
Potato chips on the other hand, as we all know, are incredibly complex and nuanced. You really do have to spend years training to be able to tell the differences in potato chips from various regions and cooked in different fats. I happen to excel at this aristocratic hobby. Potato chip sommelier is a long honoured career choice among the upper crust.
Have a good weekend! I'll be working on what is turning into the most ridiculous (but also VERY enjoyable) DIY Christmas gift I've ever come up with.
Scotty Crawford
ABOUT PESTO AND PESTS IN YOUR GARDEN:
PESTO: You can make really, really delicious pesto with your blender from just about any green, leafy vegetable you may have handy. Recipes abound all over the net; Kale Pesto, Spinach Pesto, etc. . And you don't have to use those expensive Pig-know-lee-uh nuts, neither. You can make wonderful Pesto with almonds, walnuts, whatever you have on hand. But you can NOT make edible Pesto with Garlic powder. Just don't even ...
GARLIC, scallions, green onions, plain old onions, et al all repel badness critters from vegetable gardens and help to keep them from eating that food you worked so hard to grow, and that's another good reason to plant garlic.
Hettie
I love growing garlic. lt's among my favourite things to grow. It's fun getting it in the ground in the autumn knowing there'll be a whole new crop of deliciousness the following summer. With so little effort! This year, I had some problems with leek moth, but while the caterpillars tunneled into the leaves I didn't find their activity impacted the garlic heads. Maybe they were slightly smaller than usual...I'm not sure if that was the varieties I planted or if the bugs were to blame. In any case, I got loads of garlic, plenty to keep us going until the next crop. Can't wait! :)
Krista
can I plant in pots? several years ago I planted either garlic or onion in half barrels and all I ever got were greens which I finally pulled out this fall, its embarrassing that I can't even tell what I planted from the small bulb that pulled out.
Karen
Hi Krista. Yes, you can plant garlic in pots. Each clove should be 3-4" away from the other one in a pot and for hardneck garlic it needs to go through a long cold period after planting. You may not have known this and planted your garlic in pots in the spring which might account for the lack of bulbs. ~ karen!
krista
Thank you!!! in all honesty I don't remember exactly when I planted, but I've been waiting a few years for something, all I seem to grow are greens. I also have that catholic guilt of killing anything that possibly has some life so I've had a pot of green stems for years. I finally pulled them this fall. I suspect it was maybe onions at one point? or not. I love your content, thank you so much for bringing a bright spot to my mornings when your emails come through
Linda in Illinois
This is the first year growing garlic for me. Can’t wait to see how it turns out this june.
Thanks for all you do for us.
Patty C
Although I do not know Raro who posted above, I too have also been hard at work trying to prevent the asteroid from hitting the planet. Having failed, I am now wondering if sufficient quantities of garlic, known to ward off vampires, will work against other manner of villains.... Worth a shot, no? Alas, I am in NYC and thus without a garden plot. Can in be grown in pots, I wonder?
Beth Kirby
You are very lucky to not have allium leaf miner up north (yet). It has devastated our home allium crops for the past three years here in Virginia. Each year I have a different scheme to outsmart the buggers, but to no avail. This year, I have my raised garlic bed right outside my front door so I can monitor the row cover, making sure there is never a crack for the nasty little flies to enter.
Raro
Thank you. This is exactly what I needed to read this morning because this year I actually bought garlic for planting and not just the grocery store garlic. I have, however, been so busy here in NC trying to stop the asteroid from hitting the earth that I simply could not plant in October. Now that I failed and am simply bracing for impact it is time to plant the garlic. I hope it brings joy.
Julia
I finally planted all of my garlic yesterday. In the past I put it in a couple of places and it always has the tiniest bulbs. And this year I planted it in clumps all around my flower garden. Hopefully I will water it more and it actually grows.
Robin Casselman
Just want to say I love your posts, and your "potato chip sommelier" quip just begs to be applauded! I indulge in potato chips consumption now only when we have company to help me eat these bags up. But now I'm asking myself why? Why deny myself the pleasure? Why not throw a party for the pure pleasure of comparing different chip varieties in all their splendor?! P.S. I was notorious in junior high school 60 years ago winning a potato chip eating contest against three guys, and I weighed about 100 pounds!
Sara Harclerode
Never plant shop bought garlic without sterilising & fertilising it before hand.
I was given garlic whdn j lived in Andalucia, Spain 51 years ago by a man who grew it professionally. He told me that professional garlic growers (and flower bulbs growers)always sterilise and fertilise their stock each time it is planted to stop viruses such as Mosaic which your garlic got. I have just planted my cloves and also given some to my nieso that she can continue to grow it.
Sterilise with a mix of 60% Hydrogen Peroxide & 40% water for 1 day & fertilise with a Seaweed fertiliser & water for 2 days.
Sande
The only garlic available in my local stores is from China. That’s why I grow my own.