Popular in many of our kitchens, nothing beats the taste of fresh garlic. As I mentioned in a previous article, did you know that most of the fresh garlic sold in Ontario comes from China? If you can find locally grown bulbs (I know they can be a little on the pricey side) but this is one plant that is very easy to grow in your garden, even your flower garden. Start by purchasing seed garlic from your local nursery. Approximately $2.99 for 3 bulbs. Seed garlic just means garlic that you intend to plant. Each clove will grow into a head of garlic the following year. Planting the cloves from mid-September to mid-October is the ideal time. Plant with some compost and then top off with a good layer of mulch. 
Make sure your garlic patch receives adequate water throughout the growing season. Easy to do if it is planted among your other plants. By early July each garlic plant will put out a “scape”, a long stem with a corkscrew curl at the top. These should be cut off to encourage more energy be put into the bulb below.
The garlic will tell you when it is ready. The top of the foliage will turn yellow and the bottom leaves die back. The bulbs will be smaller than what you get from the grocery store but I think growing it yourself is worth it!
If you would like to read more detail about growing your own garlic. Or enjoy this video I created demonstrating how to plant garlic. check out this article from Canadian Organic Growers.
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