Tag Archives: garlic

Growing Garlic Begins in the Fall

Always good for tasty bite of pizza, now you can learn how to grow garlic at the Garlic Sale & Fundraiser by Rocky Mountain Flatbread.

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
5:00 pm onwards

Garlic planting season has arrived and Sharon Hanna, Urban Gardener, will be selling organic garlic from Rivendale Farm on Salt Spring Island at Rocky Mountain Flatbread in Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC.

Sharon will be selling Persian Star, Evans and Music Garlic and will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about growing big beautiful garlic.

Rocky Mountain Flatbread will also be donating 10% of all restaurant sales to their Education Society which works hands-on in local schools teaching kids how grow their own food, create their own nutritious snacks &
meals, and how to create their own eco business! They work with over 500 Vancouver students a year.

Delicious, Healthy Eating All Summer Long

Not all of my gardening this year has been riddled with blunders and mystery. In fact, I’m rather proud of how much food I’ve cultivated in the garden as a novice gardener.

Below is some of the bountiful harvest I have been enjoying all summer, often in a quick and healthy stirfry.*

Yellow bush beans, green pole beans and snow peas

Tomatoes, green and yellow wax beans and broccoli

Carrots, rhubarb, mint and parsley

A tiny fraction of the beet greens I've harvested this year

Three of my largest heads of garlic, approx. 3" diameter

Carrots still in the ground, yet to be savoured

A full head of broccoli is a beautiful sight to behold

The rhubarb patch after the first harvest -- can you see a difference?!

*Note: All it takes to make a delicious stirfry is a little (or more) organic butter or cold pressed olive oil (both are optimal sources of the good fat you need in your diet), a bit of this and that — whatever you have on hand from the garden. Add a dash of salt and a squeeze of citrus and you have a quick, healthy dinner.

Verdict in two words: Yum. Yum.

Garlic-Pepper Bug Spray

When I chat with other gardeners we invariably get to the subject of bugs. When I mention that I spray for aphids and other pests using a garlic spray, they always want to know the recipe.

It’s late in the season to be worrying much about bugs, but I’ve heard several people say things like “aphids got my beans” or “I had a real problem with whiteflies this year” so it’s worth taking note for any winter gardening you may do, as well as prepping for next year — after all, isn’t the whole purpose of autumn to plan for next year’s gardening?

Below is the recipe I got from a gardener I know. Search “garlic pepper spray” online for other variations.

  • 2 hot peppers
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 whole garlic bulb
  • 1 gallon of water

Pulverize peppers, onion and garlic bulb in a blender with a little water. Cover mash with a gallon of water, let stand 24 hours and then strain. Spray directly on plants. Effective against aphids, cabbage maggot, carrot rust fly, leafhoppers, mites, thrips and whitefly.

Related posts:

Slug Patrol 2010
Garlic Rust Fungus

Garlic Harvest 2010

Check out the fab garlic I harvest from my garden! I’m not sure why it’s such a novelty, but growing my own garlic feels like a really big deal.

Maybe it’s because you have to plant it almost a full year ahead and it sits in the ground over winter.

Maybe it’s because I had so much garlic rust fungus that getting a crop was in question.

Maybe it’s because we never grew garlic growing up on the Prairies, so it’s the novelty of it.

Whatever the reason, here is the fruit of my labour! I’m very excited.

Of the 9 bulbs that sprouted, 3 are 3″ in diameter with big, plump cloves. I’m saving those, I’ll eat the smaller ones first.

One clove was too small and dried out to use, 3 were average size, and the rest were a bit smaller than average.

The size of the stalks had my fellow gardeners wondering if I’d planted elephant garlic, which I hadn’t. I seeded from large, organic cloves I bought at the local Kitsilano Farmers Market. I don’t know what variety it is, but many of the clove skins have a purple striped colouring to them.

I’m using the garlic in the many stir fries I create using an every changing blend of kale, beet greens, Swiss chard, green beans, yellow beans and snow peas. I LOVE eating meals that are completely from my garden, it feels so rewarding and I know I’m eating very healthfully.

Now THAT is local and delicious!