🌱Doc's Pantry Garden Almanac

The Garden Almanac

Plant in fall, harvest in summer — food and medicine both

🧺 Doc's Pantry·℞ Apothecary· 🌱 Garden·🎨 Artisan Hub
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Garlic (Allium sativum)

Plant in fall, harvest in summer — food and medicine both

🔍 How to identify it

Flat or grooved strap leaves rising from a papery-wrapped bulb of cloves; hardneck types send up a curling flower 'scape' with a bulbil head. Unmistakable smell when cut.

👀 Look-alikes

Cultivated only; but see wild allium relatives — anything smelling of onion/garlic in the allium family is safe, anything that doesn't (e.g. death camas) is NOT.

🤝 Companion planting

Plant near:
tomatoroseCarrotfruit-tree
Keep apart:
beanpea
FamilyAmaryllidaceae (onion family)
Hardiness zone3-9 (hardneck for prairie)
SunFull sun
WaterSteady spring moisture; dry before harvest
SoilRich, well-drained, high organic matter
Spacing15 cm apart, rows 30 cm
Sowing / startingPlant cloves in FALL 4-6 wk before ground freezes; mulch heavily. Overwinters, grows in spring.
HarvestMid-summer when lower leaves brown; cut scapes earlier (edible). Cure 2-3 wk, then braid/store.
Common pestsFew — garlic repels many pests, which is why it companions so widely. White rot in wet soil.

🧺 What it's good for

Culinary staple; traditional antimicrobial. Scapes are a spring delicacy. Stores months cool & dry.
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Plant identification here is educational — never eat, forage, or medicate with a wild plant on the basis of a website alone. Many edible plants have toxic look-alikes. When in doubt, grow from known seed, or confirm with an expert before you harvest.