Growing garlic
Garlic is one of the easier crops to grow. To get the best chance of getting a good crop it needs to be planted in autumn, October or November, so that it gets a period of coldness. It can be planted until February but a good crop is less likely. Site and soil: well worked and fertile soil, sunny open position How to plant: break the bulb into separate cloves and plant them 'as deep as you like and as early as you like' as I was advised many years ago when I first grew garlic. Some people plant it with the top near the soil surface, as you do for onion sets, but I always planted mine deeper 2 -5 cm below the surface. Cultivation: weed when necessary. Garlic is prone to rust (a fungal infection of the leaves) but ignore it as it does not harm the bulbs. If a flower starts to develop, pinch it out. Harvest: when the tops dry and shrivel in summer, lift the garlic and let it dry in the sun before storing it in a dry place. These photos show elephant garlic, which looks