Hardneck garlic, planted in the cold
The garlic I pushed into cold soil back in autumn is up and standing in neat green rows — the first proper sign that the growing year has turned.
Why plant in the cold
Garlic is one of the few things that actively wants a spell of cold. That chill is what tells each clove to split into a full bulb rather than staying a single round. So it goes in before the frosts, sits out the winter, and is already weeks ahead by the time spring arrives.
I grow hardneck varieties for the flavour and for the bonus crop in early summer: the scapes — those curling flower stems you snap off to send the plant’s energy back down into the bulb.
Note to self for autumn
Plant the fattest cloves from the best bulbs, pointy end up, a hand-span apart. Skip the supermarket stuff — it’s often treated and not suited to the climate. Saved or seed garlic only.
Planning around the plate
The garlic bed is the first square on this year’s plan, which I draw backwards from how we eat: alliums that store, potatoes for the dark months, and beans climbing up every spare bit of vertical space.