Plenty of wonderful seasonal produce is available at the market to serve as your culinary muse. Turnips and turnip greens, winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and herbs are just part of the selection. Apples, pears, and chestnuts are seasonal treats but won't last long. Banging barbecue, baked goods, canned goods, eggs, and locally roasted coffee are also available.
Garlic grows enthusiastically here, and now is the time to get ready for planting. All garlics are nutrient hogs which means you can't possibly put them in soil that is too rich. We amend our garlic beds with a thick layer of animal manure compost and plant the cloves about 6 inches apart and an inch deep with the growing tip up.
We mulch with several inches of old hay, but you could use straw or shredded leaves instead. Tucked in with mulch for warmth and plenty of compost to fortify them, you'll be cheered to see your bright green garlic shoots peering up through snow and shrugging off frost.
You have three different types to choose from: hard neck, soft neck, and elephant garlic. Hard neck varieties tend to have a more intense and spicy flavor but don't keep as long as soft neck varieties. Soft neck varieties are so called because their stalk is soft, and you can braid the stems together for decorative storage.
Elephant garlic develops enormous cloves that are most excellent for roasting whole. The flavor of elephant garlic is usually more mild than either the hard or soft neck varieties, as it is actually a leek. Elephant garlic develops tiny bulblets attached to the paper-wrapped heads. These bulblets frequently fall off during harvesting, so elephant garlic readily self-sews. Leave the volunteers for two years to harvest cloves, or harvest them as a “green garlic” and enjoy in stir-fry.
Hard neck varieties and elephant garlic send up dramatic, curly stalks in the late spring, a culinary delight called a scape. Cut off the scapes when they begin to curl, which encourages bulb development. Scapes have the delightful crisp texture of a green bean but the pungent flavor of raw garlic. Use them anywhere you want garlic flavor, raw or cooked. My favorite way to enjoy them is in a simple saute with other seasonal veggies. Scapes can be pickled or frozen. Enjoy them many ways, but don't let them go to waste!
If you know someone who grows garlic, offer to help them plant their patch in exchange for some extra cloves to start your own crop. Dozens of varieties are available on-line, but many will cost you a pretty penny. However, since each clove develops into a full head, you can save your own “seed” for the next season and still have plenty of garlic to enjoy throughout the year. You can try planting garlic from the grocery store, but sometimes you'll find it has been treated to prevent sprouting.
With a long history of use for fighting colds, viruses, and even topical maladies, garlic is endlessly useful and delicious. It's well worth the labor and the long wait.
Food For Thought
Garlics are nutrient hogs