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GARLIC
|
| Botanical Name |
Allium sativum |
| Origin |
Garlic is native to central Asia, but its use
spread across the world more than 5000 years ago, before recorded history.
It was worshipped by the Egyptians and fed to workers
building the Great Pyramid at Giza, about 2600 BC. Greek
athletes ate it to build their strength. Garlic came to the Western Hemisphere
with some of the first European explorers, and its use spread rapidly. In
the United States it was first cultivated in New
Orleans by French settlers. Missionaries brought it to California, where
it is grown today. |
| Growth Habits |
Each plant produces a single bulb
made up of 8 to 12 claw-shaped sections called cloves, which are wrapped
together by a paper-like covering. Garlic plants have long, flat, slender
leaves that grow 1 to 2 feet tall; during early summer they send up slender
flower stalks topped by small clusters of tiny white flowers. Sometimes
tiny, but edible, aboveground bulbs
appear among the flowers. |
| Season |
Early spring |
| Location |
Full sun and a light, sandy soil of pH
5.5 to 8.0 with manure and compost |
| Spacing |
Plant individual garlic cloves 1 inch deep and
6 inches apart. |
| Tips |
When the plants reach 6 inches, apply 5-10-5
fertilizer at the rate of 3 ounces to 10 feet of row and scratch it
into the soil. |
| Harvest |
Harvest garlic by digging up the plants when the
leaves die down in the early fall. To speed ripening, bend the tops of the
plants over to the ground late in summer. After the plants are harvested,
the leaves can be braided so that the bulbs can be hung together. |
Pizza
Plants