5 Step Guide To Growing Gorgeous Garlic

Do you know where your garlic comes from? One of the most important reasons to grow your own is to avoid toxic chemicals and irradiation (that inhibit sprouting and extend shelf life).*

A few years back I didn’t even think about the garlic I ate … but then I became interested in the story behind the food I was eating.  

The majority of the world’s garlic is grown in China and is sprayed with chemicals and bleached white with chlorine during importation quarantine processes, not to mention the thousands of food miles clocked up. 

But if you really want to gag on your garlic, according to the CEO of the Australian Garlic Industry Association, “some garlic growers over there (China) use raw human sewage to fertilise their crops, and I don’t believe the Australian quarantine regulations are strict enough in terms of bacteria testing on imported produce” … so you might want to think again before you reach for that perfect white bulb in your supermarket! [Learn more & download an 'Irradiation-free Food Guide' at the end of this post]

In Australia, 90% of the garlic we eat is imported yet we have around 15 different garlic varieties available to grow that don’t need to be bio-fumigated with chemicals like methyl bromide that have been banned here for domestic use.

4 Reasons to Grow Garlic:

1. For health, amazing flavour + pest management in your garden.
2. Safe food = avoid imported garlic – it’s cheap for a reason.
3. Save money – organic garlic costs around A$45/kg.
4. It’s SO easy to grow so there’s no excuse!

“Where you find garlic, you find good health.” – Old Spanish proverb

Garlic is a bulbous perennial herb but grown as an annual. OK – it IS slow growing (avg 6-8 months), but it’s NOT a bed hog like pumpkins and doesn’t take up much ‘personal space’, so I’m happy to dedicate about 1m2 to growing gorgeous garlic to feed my family for an entire year.

TheMicroGardener
The greatness of garlic