Garlic – a bulb not to be sniffed at!

It wasn’t so many years ago that most British people literally turned their noses up at a whiff of garlic. Foreign food and smells…

Now, garlic is used in so many recipes that the younger generation find it hard to understand that attitude. It is not hard to grow – it just needs plenty of sunshine, and not too much rain.

If that seems to make growing garlic a lottery in our climate and with a succession of rainy summers, well, be an optimist and grow it. Just don’t think you can divide up the cloves of the supermarket garlic bulb you’ve bought. It doesn’t work like that.

You must buy garlic bulbs from a reputable supplier. Otherwise, shop bought garlic may carry in diseases to your vegetable plot, as these bulbs will have been grown under field conditions.

Now is a good time to plant and over-winter garlic, giving it a good start next spring to grow for a longer season and produce larger cloves. Choose a warm, dry spell as soon as possible after buying it.

Plant at a depth of 5cm (2 in) with the tip of each clove just above soil level, about 30 cm (12 in) apart, and in rows also about 30 cm (12 in) apart. Hoe regularly between the plants, and don’t water except in drought conditions as dryness makes for a better crop.

With a bit of luck with the weather, you will be harvesting your garlic next June and July. They will be ready when about half of the leaves of each plant look a bit shrivelled. After gently lifting, let the bulbs dry in the air for a few days (or the greenhouse if it is wet), before storing in a clean, dry place.  

And remember, garlic has a reputation for possessing magical properties. A whiff of garlic is supposed to see off a bloodthirsty vampire. But then, too much of its aroma and a room might be cleared – in Britain at least.

Garlic prawns

This one of Nigel Slater’s rather messy but sociable dishes, just requiring large fresh unpeeled prawns, garlic cloves, some olive oil, butter and salt. Toss several prawns (about eight for each person) in the olive oil and crushed garlic, allowing one or two large cloves per person. Put the prawns on a grill pan, place under a hot grill and cook them until they are orange-pink. Meanwhile melt some butter in a pan. Serve the prawns and let everyone peel their prawns, dipping into the warm butter and a dish of salt.

Types of garlic

There are two types: the softneck and the hardneck types. The second one is thought to have the truer garlic flavour, but the softneck has a longer storage life.

The hardneck produces a hard floral spike, which should be removed to make a larger bulb. The softneck has a softer stem more like paper, does not always produce a flowering stalk and grows more cloves but they are smaller.