Plant now for Great Garlic

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SOUTHWEST:
GOURMET GARLIC GARDENS 

Bob Anderson began growing garlic in Bangs, Texas, in 1993, after his wife, Merridee McClatchy, bought him a copy of Ron Engeland’s Growing Great Garlic. Since then, he’s found that the best garlics for his area include ‘Burgundy’ and other Creoles; marbled purple stripes such as ‘Metechi’ and ‘Siberian;’ and ‘Red Toch’ artichoke?—?all varieties with good tolerance of Texas’ intense sun.

“The worst problem we can have is an early heat spell,” Anderson says. “Not every garlic reacts the same way to adverse circumstances. In any given year, some will flourish and others won’t do as well. Then, the next year, they will change places.” In years when grasshoppers are especially bad, Anderson has found that covers made from aluminum window screening are the only thing that will slow the ’hoppers down.

To prevent fungal diseases, Anderson always follows garlic with brassicas. From there, he rotates to legumes and then to either nightshades or okra. “Garlic evolved in some pretty sparse turf, but it still needs good soil balance, with good mineral content,” he says. No matter where you live, or what kind of garlic you grow, Anderson says freshly harvested homegrown garlic is crisp, juicy and delicious.?

The Language of Garlic

Garlic includes two subspecies softneck and har-dneck. Many subdi visions and some crossovers exist between these t-wo groups. In the in terest of practical simplicity, we have divided each subspecies into three primary groups.

SOFTNECK TYPES (ALLIUM SATIVUM SATIVUM) 

• Artichokaensd silverskairnes the familiar grocery store garlic. Large bulbs are composed of 12 to 20 cloves, with the largest cloves on the outside of the bulbs. Most don t send up seed scapes, though a few sometimes do. Cured bulbs store up to a year and are great for braiding. Artichokes grow best in mild winter areas.

• Creoleshave fewer, larger cloves, with deep burgundy or silver skins. Their flavor is full-bodied and moderately spic-y. The plants often pro duce weak scapes, and the bulbs store well. Creoles grow best where winters are mild and summers are hot.

• Asiatiacnsd turbanasre considered softnecks, though they often develop a scape typical of hardnecks but weaker in structure. Early maturing with a uniquely sweet and hot flavor, these must be harvested promptly and have a short storage life. adapt to a wide range of climates.

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