Gilroy Garlic

When out of town visitors see may garden for the first time, one question they almost always ask is, "Where's the garlic?" That's because I live in Gilroy, California -- known as the garlic capital of the world. Located just 20 south of San Jose between the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas, Gilroy has become famous for its Garlic Festival. (This year's version runs July 23-25).

Garlic can be grown practically anytime in much of California. You can plant them from now through December, although late fall is the secret to growing large garlic bulbs. The most important requirements are a long growing season and plenty of sun, which, luckily, Gilroy happens to have plenty of. Garlic planted in late fall won't be ready to harvest until the following summer.

The best thing about growing garlic is that it's easy. In my experience, the biggest problem is poor winter drainage. For that reason, always amend your soil well before planting. Better yet, grow it in raised beds of organic soil.

Garlic bulbs are easily propagated. Simply divide the bulk into cloves and plant. Each of the cloves will grow into a full bulb. When you consider that an average garlic bulb consists of six cloves, you know why garlic can be harder to get rid of then zucchini once it gets going. You can buy your garlic bulbs from the local grocery store or experiment with different varieties available from mailorder sources.

Garlic cloves should be planted about three to four inches deep and six inches apart. Place the pointed side up. The larger, outer cloves produce the best bulbs, so plant those and save the smaller cloves for use in cooking. No fertilizer should be added at this time. Water well after planting, but, after that, Mother Nature usually will keep things moist enough. If it's another drought year, water once a week through winter, just enough to keep the stems from withering and flopping over.

In late winter or early spring, you should see leaves poking up from the ground. This is a good time to band a high nitrogen fertilizer, such as blood meal, alongside the rows -- a good handful per every five feet of row. In April, you should fertilize again with a complete organic fertilizer, again using about a half-cup per five feet, shallowly worked into the soil along the row. As with all alliums, the idea is to get the biggest plant possible before the tops begin to dry down. As the sumemr soltice approahces, garlic plants stop producing new leaves and begin to form bulbs. At this point, cut back on the water to prevent bulbs from rotting.

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