Allium sativum

Garlic

Garlic is one of the world’s most common culinary herbs. It’s an essential part of cuisine throughout Asia, the Middle East, northern Africa, Europe, and parts of South and Central America. China produces more than 13.5 million tons of garlic a year—that’s enough to fill 5,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools! Garlic is a species from the genus Allium, which also includes onions, shallots, leeks, and chives. The bulb—made up of multiple cloves—is the most prized feature, but other parts of the garlic plant are also edible.

Health Benefits

Everyone should eat a fresh clove of garlic every day. That way we’d all be used to the smell and we’d all be healthier! Garlic may reduce the risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol, as well as diseases with an underlying inflammation (that’s most diseases).

What makes garlic so special is a sulphur compound called alliin, which interacts with an enzyme called allinase to produce another compound called allicin. If that’s too many a’s, l’s, and i’s to even think about, not to worry! The important thing is that when the garlic bulb is crushed or ground, it releases a high concentration of the stuff that can keep your ticker healthy. Allicin also has antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Garlic is loaded with compounds that can boost the immune system, plus a host of antioxidants. It’s definitely worth enduring a bit of bad breath to put all that in your body!

DIFFICULTY

Easy

HARDINESS

Varies; check the label

TIME TO PLANT

Late summer to early fall

TIME TO HARVEST

Late summer to early fall the following year

LOCATION

Full sun

SOIL TYPE

Well-drained loam—clay or sandy soil won’t work at all

Garlic is helpful to other plants in the garden: The same compounds that make your breath stink also repel aphids if you plant it close to your beautiful roses.

Growing

Garlic is a must-grow plant and has been for millennia. There are two main types: hardneck and softneck. Hardneck varieties are hardier, so they’re the best choice for colder climates, which means most locations in Canada and the northern United States. Softneck garlic is best grown in warmer climates and is the choice of commercial producers in California—that’s what you’ll see most often in grocery stores.

Hardneck garlic varieties produce 4 to 12 cloves in the traditional shape, while softneck varieties produce 10 to 40 cloves layered on top of each other like the petals of an artichoke. If you’ve already got garlic planted, how do you tell the difference? Simple: Hardneck garlic produces a flower stock, while softneck doesn’t. As a bonus, softneck garlic is easier to braid.

Common Varieties: Hardneck varieties include ‘Asiatic’, ‘Creole’, ‘Porcelain’, ‘Purple Stripe’, ‘Glazed Purple Stripe’, ‘Marbled Purple Stripe’, ‘Rocambole’, and ‘Turban’. Popular softneck varieties include ‘Artichoke’ and ‘Silver Skin’.

PLANT

Garlic is easy to plant, but it takes a little planning. For optimum results plant it in the fall so it has time to set roots before freeze-up. After the first frost, separate the cloves from the bulb and plant them pointy side up. (The most common garlic goof is planting the entire bulb instead of individual cloves!) The cloves will rest during the winter, grow again through spring and summer, and be ready to harvest in late summer as mature bulbs.

Garlic can be planted on its own in rows or in your garden between flowering plants. If you’re planting in rows, space cloves 15 cm (6 inches) apart and leave 20 cm (8 inches) between rows. It’s important to loosen the soil where you’ll be planting, so dig down about 20 cm (8 inches) and then level the soil out again. Use your fingers to push each clove down to a depth of 5 cm (2 inches), making sure the pointy side faces up (basal side down).

When you separate the individual cloves before planting, keep the protective papery husk around them. Each clove will yield a whole bulb of garlic. The larger the clove, the larger the eventual bud will be.

Make sure to plant individual cloves pointy side up.

GROW

Just after the first hard frost, mulch your garlic with 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) of clean straw to insulate against the winter frost–thaw cycle. Then put your feet up for the winter while your garlic rests!

In early spring, your garlic will start to grow immediately: Watch for the green spikes. When all risk of killing frost has passed, carefully remove the straw mulch.

Garlic doesn’t normally need fertilizer, but if your soil lacks nutrients, early spring is the time to apply it. Garlic enjoys nitrogen-rich soils, so an organic manure tea or granular fertilizer with a high first number would be ideal. Blood-meal (12-0-0) is one of my favourites. During the growing season, water deeply and infrequently.

Always remove any yellowing or sickly-looking garlic. Garlic is disease- and insect-resistant for the most part and will not require the use of insecticides or fungicides.

Hardneck garlic produces “scapes” midway through the growing season. These are curled flower heads that should be removed early on to encourage bulb growth and help increase bulb size. Simply snap them off—but don’t throw them away. Scapes are a culinary delight! Many feel they provide the same health benefits as the bulbs.

HARVEST

When it comes to harvesting garlic, timing is crucial. In late summer, you’ll notice the green leaves start to turn yellow and brown from the bottom up. When the bottom 3 or 4 leaves have yellowed and the top 5 or 6 leaves are still green, it’s time to harvest.

Gently lift one bulb out to ensure it has swelled to mature size (check the package). If so, lift out the remaining bulbs with a garden fork. Trim the dangling bottom roots to 1 cm (½ inch) and brush off any soil, then braid the leaves in groups of 3 to 6 bulbs and hang them in a shaded location with good air circulation and no danger of frost. The bulbs need to dry for at least 2 weeks before eating or storage.

STORE

Depending on which variety you grow, garlic can be stored for 6 months to a year from the date of harvest. Store it in a cool, dry, dark location with a temperature between 0°C (32°F) and 20°C (68°F). Never store garlic in a refrigerator.

Put It to Work

Heart help? Juice this!

Most people cook with their garlic. But if you want the most powerful effects, you gotta juice it! To make your own heart-healthy, cholesterol-lowering, immune-boosting, blood-pressure-controlling, detoxifying juice, process the following in a vegetable juicer:

4 large carrots

1 small beet

½ Granny Smith apple

2 large kale leaves

1 handful fresh parsley

1 to 2 cloves garlic

1½-inch piece gingerroot

You can adjust the amount of ginger and garlic to taste. It’s best to start with small amounts and then increase them if you can handle it, but use no more than 4 cloves of garlic or it will be far too strong to drink and may cause stomach irritation and nausea.

Got an earache? Oil it!

Few things are more unpleasant than a painful ear infection. There are two main types: otitis externa (in the external ear canal) and otitis media (in the inner ear, beyond the eardrum). Garlic oil is a highly effective remedy for relieving the inflammation, pain, discomfort, and itching associated with both types.

Garlic has proven very useful for swimmer’s ear (external ear), mild otitis media (the antimicrobial oils from the garlic can bypass the tympanic membrane into the inner ear), and non-specific dermatitis of the external ear canal. It is also excellent for removing excess earwax. (Normal amounts of earwax are actually protective, so speak to your doctor before removing it.)

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of boiling water), gently warm 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic over low heat for 1 hour. Strain the oil through cheesecloth and store it in a resealable glass jar (like a Mason jar) in the refrigerator.

Any remedy placed inside the ear should be warmed to a comfortable temperature first, so place the jar in your pocket or against your belly 10 minutes before applying. Then, using a dropper, place 4 drops into the affected ear. Cover your ear with a very warm, wet cloth and lie on your opposite side for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, gently pat your ear dry with a cloth.

Yeast infection? Try this!

Bakers don’t add garlic to bread while the dough is still rising because it would kill the yeast and flatten the bread. This antifungal property can also be used to treat a vaginal yeast infection.

Women who experience frequent yeast infections are familiar with the slight itchiness that comes and goes at the onset. That is when you want to start treatment.

Strip a clove of garlic by peeling off the cover. Cut it lengthwise into 4 pieces. Line up the 4 pieces end-to-end at one of the long edges of a sterile 5 × 10 cm (2 × 4 inch) piece of gauze and roll it up. Sew each end shut and tie a string around one end for easy retrieval.

Place the gauze into the vagina (like a tampon) before bed. Don’t be surprised if you taste garlic in your mouth—that’s quite normal. (Don’t worry, this cannot enter the uterus through the cervix, nor can it get lost, especially if the string remains intact.)

Repeat this for 2 to 3 nights or until itchiness is gone (no more than 5 nights consecutively). If the infection persists or complicates, see your physician or gynecologist for conventional treatment.

Fast Forward

Fast forward to the health food store to purchase CLM’s Allimax capsules or equivalent. Follow the instructions on the label.

Cautions

Because garlic can thin the blood, it might enhance or even contradict the effects of certain prescription medications, including anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs such as warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel, and enoxaparin. Discontinue your daily regimen of garlic at least 1 week prior to having surgery, including dental surgery.