The US imports eighty percent of domestically consumed garlic, giving us reason to pause and find the motivation to grow this 'plant and wait' culinary delight and powerful medicine at home.

    Garlic is an attractive and versatile treasure planted in the yard or garden. Hard necks, the variety for scapes, are fast producers of fewer but larger cloves; soft necks, the variety for braiding, prefer longer seasons, producing bunches of abundant smaller cloves. 

    With the warmer temperatures of spring, garlic comes to life after months of dormancy, in the ground or our cellars, using last seasons clove to nourish root growth and begin growing a plant.  

As the days warm, a new bulb plumps and divides, developing this seasons cluster of cloves. The now established roots and green tops begin nourishing and reserving the bulb for the following season. 

    In the North, early spring is a great time to divide garlic bulbs and set to soil in rows. As soon as the ground thaws, separate and plant those eager to grow stored bulbs or growing bunches left in place and overwintered, both providing an early fall harvest to stock for winter stores.