Garlic and the Madman

It’s garlic time! There he is, out in the garden with his measuring tape and yellow twine. While other people are in their closets looking for Halloween costumes, the madman is in his garden looking for a spot to plant his potatoes. It has become one of his October rituals.

Potatoes, you say? No one plants potatoes in October in Connecticut. Not even a madman. True, but once he knows where the potatoes go, he will know where he wants to plant his garlic. Although this bulb is a staple in most kitchen gardens today, we never used to grow it. Neither of our mothers ever cooked with garlic, probably because neither did their mothers. So there was no reason to plant it in our garden.

Bug Deterrent

Then, one day I read that garlic planted around roses would deter bugs. At that time, I was growing numerous varieties of old roses – you know, the fragrant ones that only bloom in the spring. So, we decided to experiment with garlic around the roses. But, where to get it?

A patient told the madman to just buy any bulb at the grocery store and separate the cloves. During our weekly shopping trip we looked for it. The madman found some Elephant Garlic which was much bigger that the rest. Remember, bigger is always better to him. We planted it around some of my roses. Who knew that Elephant Garlic isn’t true garlic? It is still an allium, Allium ampelorasum var ampelorasum, but is more closely related to leeks, A. ampelorasum, than garlic, A. sativum.  Another reason for using scientific names when talking about plants. Even today, I still have a patch growing under my Apothecary Rose, Rosa gallica var officinalis. It was planted for bug control, so we never dug it up to use it.

Everyone Loves Garlic

Many years later, we took the Master Gardener course. Seems that most of our classmates knew, grew and loved this bulb. We still didn’t plant it. But, during one clean-up day at the Middlesex Model Garden, master gardener Tom Kalal heard the madman complaining about bites taken out of his potatoes. Tom said he heard that ringing your garden with alliums would deter rodents. He suggested that the madman should plant garlic. So the madman asked “Where do you get it?” The resounding answer was “At the Bethlehem Garlic Festival, of course.” That year, due to a scheduling conflict, we couldn’t go to the Festival, so fellow master gardener Jim Woodworth brought us a sampler tube from the festival. That was the start of our garlic growing in earnest.

As instructed we separated the individual cloves and planted them on the north side of the potato bed. Since then, we have branched out and now use garlic and other members of the allium family to ring several garden beds. We even eat it these days. In fact, the madman has one spot in the garden dedicated to our eating bulbs. It’s a shame that our parents never developed a taste for this allium. The madman’s mother referred to it as a “stinking bulb”. And, my mother just called it smelly and disgusting.

Garlic’s History

It seems that throughout its history, garlic has been prized as a food fit for the gods or hated as a food not even fit for the hogs, and everything in between. Records show that it has been around for at least 7000 years. It was commonly used by ancient old world civilizations. The ancient Indians were the first to domesticate A. sativum and used it for culinary and medicinal purposes. Active trade routes spread the bulb to the Chinese in the east and the Babylonians and Egyptians in the west. Later, the Crusaders carried it to Western Europe.

During this journey, garlic has seen many uses. Indians used it as an aphrodisiac. Egyptians used it to feed and give strength to the builders of the pyramids. In fact, a handful of cloves were found in the tomb of King Tut. Europeans used it to protect themselves from the plague and to ward off vampires. In 1917, Americans used it to protect themselves from the great influenza outbreak. I once used it on a string around my neck as an insect repellant. In truth, it didn’t work.

But, planting the bulbs around our potato bed does seem to work. So, back to the madman and his twine. Thanks to COVID-19, our normal source for garlic, the Bethlehem Garlic Festival didn’t happen this year. Nor did the Stonington Garlic Festival, usually held at Olde Mystic Village in late September.

Getting Worried

The madman was getting worried. As you can imagine, we have lots of garlic, but he likes to have some fresh bulbs for his eating bed. I think it’s because during the planting, harvesting and drying of our garlic, the labels have gotten mixed up and he likes to know what he is planting. Friends of ours suggested a farm in Granby, aptly named The Garlic Farm. We took a trip. The Garlic Farm is a small family-owned CSA/farm stand located in the farming valley of West Granby, Connecticut. Although they grow a variety of pesticide-free vegetables, their claim to fame is the German White garlic. We found lots of it hanging in an old tobacco barn: luckily they had not sold out yet.

Hardneck vs Softneck

German White is a hardneck garlic variety. There are actually two types of garlic, hardneck (A. sativum var. ophioscorodon) and softneck (A. sativum var sativum). Here in Connecticut, the cooler climate is best suited for hardneck varieties although gardeners can grow both.

The neck of the hardneck variety is actually the flowering structure that grows through the center of the bulb. It appears in late spring or early summer. The scape, as it is called, will eventually produce flowers and seeds, but it will also rob the plant of energy. It is cut and used in cooking to provide a mild garlicky flavor. Softneck varieties don’t produce a scape, but will produce more cloves because that’s how they reproduce.

Softneck varieties also tend to store longer than hardneck varieties and take less time to mature. Experienced garlic growers tell us that the hardneck varieties have a better flavor, but we’re rather new at this so we have no comparison.

Starting 2021 Season

This is actually the start of our 2021 gardening season. The madman has already separated the bulbs into individual cloves. Popping the garlic, it’s called, and it’s a highly-valued skill in garlic farms because it’s difficult to do without harming the cloves. Once he has finished with his twine, the madman has to prepare the beds. Remember, we are growing garlic for two purposes – pest control and cooking. I’m not sure which is most important, but each use has to be treated separately.

Cooking Garlic

First the cooking garlic. Our fresh garlic from The Garlic Farm is slated for this area. Garlic grows best with a pH of 7.0. We always recommend a soil test, but we like to do ours in the spring.  This year’s spring results from the UConn Lab showed a pH of 6.8, much the same as always. The madman will work in some fresh compost and hit the area with a little lime a couple of weeks before planting on Halloween. When he’s ready to plant, he’ll bring his separated cloves to the bed. He’ll plant them in rows about 3” deep and 4” apart. Next he’ll place a strip of newspaper 4 sheets thick between the rows. After a good watering, the whole bed then gets covered with a 3-4” layer of mulch. For mulch, he’ll use either ground-up leaves or straw, whichever he has. Thankfully, this year he can skip the labeling because it’s all the same, German White.

Pest-Control Garlic

Planting the pest-control garlic is a little more complicated. The ground-up leaves he used over his potatoes back in May are breaking down nicely so there is no need to add more compost to this area. Instead of adding lime, he will add a pH-lowering supplement. Remember, this garlic is used to keep the rodents from sampling his potatoes so he doesn’t really care about bulb size. The main crop in this area is potatoes, and they need a lower pH, hence the reducer.

By Halloween, the planting line on the north side of the bed will be marked. He will plant the garlic 3” deep and 4” apart. He will cover the row with the leaves that haven’t yet broken down. The south side of the potato bed will be reserved for onions which will be planted next spring. When he plants his potatoes next year, the leaves of the garlic and onions should be tall enough to contain the mulch.

On Halloween, after he’s done planting, he’ll probably be looking for some hot chocolate. But, right now, it’s still warm enough for lemonade and here he comes.