Garlic

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Kitchen gardening

Garlic

Autumn is the ideal time to plant nature’s most potent medicine. The humble garlic bulb has a host of immune-boosting properties, including lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and reduced blood clotting. Garlic also helps to treat colds and flu, athlete’s foot, acne, earache and even tonsillitis! Eat garlic regularly this winter and you may not need to go anywhere near your medicine cabinet.

Planting Tips :

  • For best results, grow garlic in a sunny spot with well-draining soil.
  • Plant garlic cloves individually, facing upright about 3cm below the surface of the soil.
  • Cloves should be spaced about 10cm apart in rows 45cm apart.
  • Garlic is a very good companion plant and grows well with roses, cucumbers, peas, lettuce and celery.
  • Garlic is ready for harvesting when the leaves turn brown and start to die off. Once you have harvested your garlic bulbs, make sure you dry them properly (hang them upside down in a dry place) to prevent them from rotting.

Uses :

  • Garlic is an essential element of cuisine around the globe, including Mediterranean, Thai, French, Indian and North African cooking.
  • Combine garlic with eggs and olive oil to make aioli (a garlicky mayonnaise). Or mix garlic, natural yoghurt and cucumber to make tzatsiki, a traditional Greek dip.
  • Garlic has potent heart-protecting properties. It has been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and it is a rich source of vitamin B6.

Did you know? Garlic bulbs left in the ground will re-sprout leaves that can be used as chives.