Hi this is Yolanda from vanveenbulbs.com, and in this segment we're going to learn about how to grow garlic. Now garlic is a really easy plant to grow, and most people buy the garlic cloves but they don't realize that it's actually easy to grow them as well in the garden. Now garlic has been included in the allium family just as the onion is an allium and also is a lily. So whether it's an allium or a lily, different books put it in different categories, garlic need the same conditions as alliums or lilies to grow really well, so I always say if a lily will grown, then a garlic will grow, and it's very easy, easy to grow. So basically the best time to grow your garlic or put it out in the ground, is in the fall. So I got this clove at the farmers market, and it was freshly dug, and so the grower pretty much told me, the only easy way to grow it is just to cut it down the middle and separate the cloves, so try not to break the cloves apart, or damage the cloves, just break them naturally, so you can leave the skin on or the shell off, it doesn't matter, but you want these total cloves. So you break them into pieces so that you have lots of different cloves. And what I've also just done too is, if you ever have cloves in your refrigerator that starts sprouting because you haven't used them, I'd throw them out in the garden just as they are, and they'll come up and bloom too just like a allium, with a really pretty purple flower. So don't throw those away, if you got a garden area just throw them in the ground, so you can grow them and not even know that you did. So you break it into all these little pieces, and once you broke them into pieces, you'll see that they kind of look like a Hershey's Kiss candy, there's kind of a meeting spot and a top spot, so plant it about 3 inches deep, or not even that deep, maybe even 2 inches deep from the top, and give them a few inches between each one, maybe even 3 to 6 inches. And put them in groups of 5 or 6 or more, or put the whole bed or area together. So plant garlic just like you would plant any other bulb, it's just like a lily bulb. And there's not really an up or down, but where it meets is the down, and the tip part is the up, but even sideways is a good way to plant them, because they'll work their way up, as long as they're good and covered they'll grow really well. So like I said, I'm trying to do them at least 2 to 3 inches deep, and this is a group of 5 as oppose to one by itself, and I'll just cover it up and forget about it. In the fall after they're done blooming and the leaves are just almost turning brown, I'll dig it back up, and I'll have great garlic cloves, and I can either separate them out and plant them again, or I can use them in my kitchen, or I can put them in my refrigerator, I can throw them in my pantry and use them all winter long. So you really don't have to go out and buy different garlic spices, they're easy to grow yourself. A lot of times I'll just dry the garlic and cut it into little pieces and then dry it, and you can package it yourself. It's an easy, easy way to grow an herb that you use all the time, in the garden.
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