HOW ABOUT HER 



A 



'There's no such thing as a little garlic." 



— Arthur Baer, \i 



Most of us think of garlic as 

 coming from California or 

 other warm places, but New York 

 State has an abundance of suc- 

 cessful garlic growers. In Septem- 

 ber, we visited the Hudson Valley 

 Garlic Festival in Saugerties, New 

 York. You never saw (or smelled) 

 so much garlic in your life! 



New York is best known for the 

 "hardneck" varieties, such as Ital- 

 ian red, Spanish Roja, and Rocam- 

 bole, although some farmers grow 

 "softneck" types as well. 



Grace Reynolds of Hillside Or- 

 ganic Farms in Troy, New York, de- 

 scribes "softneck" as the kind 

 available in grocery stores: the 

 bulb has larger cloves around the 

 outside and smaller ones inside. 



"Hardneck" cloves are larger 

 and form a single circle around the 

 neck. The flavor, although it varies 

 from variety to variety, is generally 

 more pungent. Hardneck types are 

 also more reliable as a crop in 

 colder areas such as New York and 

 New Hampshire. 



Sowing takes place during the 

 first two weeks of October. At first, 

 New York growers planted as late 

 as possible in the fall, so that the 

 cloves would not "lose their 

 strength." They've since learned 

 that cloves planted earlier do well 

 and that most grow even bigger 

 with the head start. 



Tom Maiello of Saugerties grows 

 his for home use. Separate the 

 cloves from the bulb, Tom says, 

 and choose the plump outer ones 

 for planting. The smaller, skinny 

 ones — toss those into soup. Plant 

 the cloves — pointed end up — four 

 inches apart in three-to-four-inch- 

 deep trenches in well-cultivated. 



well-drained soil. He incorporates 

 his own compost and insists that 

 "organic" is absolutely essential. 

 Tom puts leaves over the rows for 

 extra protection and burlap over 

 the leaves as well. 



The coverings are removed in 

 early spring. By mid-lune, the gar- 

 lic will begin to send out a flower 

 stalk (or "scape.") As it grows, it 

 will start to "pigtail." Once it has 

 curled over and made a complete 

 circle, cut it or the bulb's energy 

 will go into creating an unneces- 

 sary flower. 



Up until now, the focus of the 

 growth has been in the plant. But 

 from now until harvest, it is the 

 bulb that will do most of the grow- 

 ing. If the weather is dry, water, 

 but garlic does not really like 

 much moisture. 



Actually, near harvest, close-to- 

 drought conditions are best. The 

 leaves will start to dry from the 

 bottom up and when 60% are 

 brown, the time is right. 



Dig around each plant, being 

 careful not to damage the bulb; 

 you may have to dig under the 

 bulb with your hand. A good yield 

 is six-to-eight times the cloves 

 sown: in other words, 75 pounds 

 planted should yield 500 pounds 

 of crop. 



Be warned that a damaged bulb 

 may not keep and that bulbs put 

 in the direct sun to dry will cook. 

 Place them on screens in a cool 

 airy place and let them cure for at 

 least three weeks. Once cured, 

 they can be bound or braided to- 

 gether. Well-cured garlic stored in 

 a dry airy 55-70F place will last 

 easily into the next spring. 



Several people I spoke to at 



the festival felt that New Hamp- 

 shire is similar in growing zone 

 and weather and that, with the 

 right choice of soil (avoid clay), 

 garlic could be grown successfully. 

 The few growers already estab- 

 lished in New Hampshire are do- 

 ing just that, i recently read that 

 Wake Robin Farm in Stratham 

 grows spring garlic exclusively for 

 lim Stott and lonathan King, own- 

 ers of Stonewall Kitchen. This is a 

 very creative pair and their busi- 

 ness of herbal vinegars, jams, jel- 

 lies, and conserves continues to 

 grow. They use these spring 

 garlics — immature, soft, sweet 

 cloves — for their vinegars, which 

 they sell in distinctive imported 

 bottles. 



At 190 South Road in Salisbury, 

 New Hampshire, Claudio Serra is 

 growing three-and-one-half acres of 

 garlic, which he sells at his farm 

 stand. He also supplies local res- 

 taurants. His hardneck garlic seed 

 comes from Italy and his softneck 

 from Spain. This garlic, he says, is 

 very different from that found in 

 our grocery stores. This is REAL 

 garlic, stronger in flavor, as pre- 

 ferred in Europe. He grows it 

 pretty much as described above, 

 never planting later than early Oc- 

 tober. He saves his best-formed 

 bulbs for seed and gathers the 

 rest into net bags for sale as culi- 

 nary garlic. In spring he sells as- 

 paragus, then concentrates on gar- 

 lic. He'd also sell you some seed 

 if you want to try growing this 

 healthy and, yes, trendy, crop 

 yourself. 



Tanya Jackson, a well-known local 

 herbalist, can be reached at 

 603-431-6774. 



THE PLANTSMAN 



