What is the best way to grow garlic?
You can grow garlic from supermarket bulbs – but, as you have found, this can be a hit-and-miss affair. It is better to buy from seed or bulb companies, which take great care to provide “clean” bulbs, free of pests or viruses. Garlic requires an open, sunny site and good drainage, but is otherwise remarkably easy to grow. Most varieties are best planted in autumn for a crop the following summer. Separate the bulbs into individual cloves, planting only the biggest and best. As a rule, the larger the cloves are, the further apart they should be planted – about 6in or 7in apart is fine. The planting holes should be 3in deep, leaving about 2in of soil on top. Garlic should be harvested when the leaves turn yellow: if the bulbs are left in the soil longer, they start to re-sprout and are less likely to store well. Once lifted, the garlic should be dried (my bulbs are currently sitting in my soil riddle in an open garage) and then kept very dry. You can mess around trying to plait the leaves
