The Great Garlic Transport: The Beginning

The "Stinking Rose" it might possibly be my favorite fresh ingredient to have on hand!

Have you ever grown your own garlic? Just taken an extra clove from your dinner and stuck it in the ground to see what happens?

If you're even slightly inclined to do this, you MUST READ "Garlic Is Life" by Chester Aaron

Life is Garlic by Chester Aaron

Chester is a former teacher and has written several other books before becoming a serious garlic grower at 65. He currently grows over 93 different types of garlic in Northern California. Who knew there were 93 different types of garlic?!?!?!  This book is like sitting down with an old friend with a glass of wine (and probably some wonderful food with lots of garlic) and just talking for hours about gardening, garlic and life!

So I finally took the plunge this fall and planted several cloves of Siberian Purple Striped Garlic I purchased from Filaree Garlic Farms in Washington State (Filaree Garlic Farms) in the large pot outside that holds my rose bush

Siberian Purple Striped Garlic 

** Interesting:  Garlic and Roses are companion plants. Garlic is known to repel aphids and other pests. So plant a few cloves around your favorite rose bushes and you'll get double benefits, healthy roses and delicious home grown garlic! 


Above is what my garlic "crop" looks like. Out of six planted cloves, I have 5 healthy scapes (the green portion of the bulb that grows up out of the soil is called a scape). The sixth one is barely hanging on....

So here comes the challenge a nomadic urban gardener faces... how do you move your crops hundreds of miles in your small "mini" car????

Plan: Dig up around the bulbs, taking a lot of the dirt with it, and placing it in a large zip lock bag, keeping the scapes exposed.... then I will replant immediately!

The Outcome: Stay tuned to find out how the Great Garlic Transport turns out.....