GARDEN CAPSULE
The challenge: The garlic bulbs you harvested from your garden are disappointingly puny.
The solution: For big, fat garlic bulbs, plant cloves in autumn, not spring. Always save the biggest bulbs you grow for planting. To plant, break the bulb apart into individual cloves. Choose a site that offers all-day sunlight and well-drained soil. If your yard has heavy clay soil, you can plant garlic in a raised bed filled with amended soil. Before planting, spread a 1- to 2-inch layer of compost over the area and dig it into the soil. Place cloves pointed-end up, 4 to 6 inches apart. Cover the cloves with 1 to 2 inches of soil. After the soil surface freezes this fall, spread a 1-inch layer of grass clippings, shredded leaves or other organic mulch over the garlic bed for winter protection.
Pluses: For gardeners, a purchase of garlic is likely to be a one-time expense; in ensuing autumns, you can simply plant a little of that year’s harvest for the next year’s crop. Garlic is relatively easy to grow and takes little space.
Minuses: Buying grocery store garlic for planting isn’t a good idea; it’s often treated to inhibit sprouting. Sometimes squirrels find the loose soil in the planting area an enticing place to bury acorns and inadvertently dig up the garlic; lay a scrap of fence fabric over the disturbed soil after planting to deter them. If you delay harvesting after garlic foliage dries in mid to late summer, the bulbs may rot.
Sources: To get started growing garlic, look for hardneck garlic from a farmers market or nursery; this type is more reliably winter-hardy in our region than softneck garlic. Seed Savers Exchange ( seedsavers.org) offers a large selection of heirloom and organic garlic varieties.