Grow to eat: grow a variety of garlic for maximum flavour

Is garlic a vegetable or herb? The gardening world appears undecided. Either way, I’m really into home-grown plants that naturally pep up the flavour of everything we eat, and garlic is top dog. Compared with supermarkets, gardeners have a wide range of garlic types to choose from, with varying strength and flavour.

Plant garlic anytime now until the end of November, popping individual cloves an inch (2.5cm) below soil level, 6in (15cm) apart. Garlic needs sun and free-draining soil, and benefits from a little extra compost for nutrients (garlic is easily grown in pots or window boxes too). Planting 30-40 cloves is more than enough to cover your needs.

I love ordering collection packs containing a mix of varieties (online from thegarlicfarm.co.uk, organiccatalogue.com or suttons.co.uk).

I am growing softneck garlic ‘Printanor’, ‘Germidour’ and ‘Messidrome’, plus the hardneck ‘Red Duke’. Softneck garlic produces more cloves per bulb, stores for ages and has mild flavour. Hardneck types are so-named because they have a tough flowering stem called a scape that, once spotted, should be removed to divert energy back to the bulbs – the scapes are delicious raw in salads.

Last year, I grew hardnecks ‘Music’ and ‘Rosewood’ for their richer flavour (sent to me by @GwenfarsGarden from Twitter).

Do watch out for birds, they seem to pull cloves out of the ground for no apparent reason, though I’m sure I can hear them laughing in the trees. Prevent this by covering young plants with a cloche.

I simply pop the cloves back, where they continue to grow. The narrow leaves of garlic don’t shade the soil, so weeds muscle in quickly too. Hand weeding is the best option because a hoe can cause accidental damage, revealed by the garlicky whiff.

Find Jack’s blog at jackwallington.com. Follow him on Twitter @jackwallington and Instagram @jackjjw