Garlic Breath

This week I harvested the first of our garlic plants. The variety I pulled was the California Early garlic. It is supposed to be a smaller bulb but these were pretty large. I love the purple markings on them too!

If you haven't grown garlic then please put it on your to do list for this coming Fall. It is a simple, low maintenance crop that will give you a year of garlic breath in return. Simply break up the bulbs into single cloves and plant them about 6-8" apart. We ordered some bulbs but we were also given bulbs from a local farmer. Mulch them and forget about them till early summer.

Cut off the scapes when they come up to encourage the bulbs to grow. It forces the growth energy to the bulb instead of the flower. The scapes bloom into beautiful flowers which I use in my flower arrangements. You can also cook with the scapes.

We have another variety, Elephant Garlic, that I will harvest sometime next week. I have seen a preview of these monster bulbs and they are going to be stupid big. I will post some pics when I unearth them.

The Early Calis are in the basement curing. I will divide them up and share them with the other families here on the farm. The bulbs will be ready for the kitchen pantry in two weeks. Garlic has a huge laundry list of health benefits and it's totally worth the stink.