Garlic

I love garlic. I love putting cooked or raw garlic on homemade wheat toast.

Hard-neck garlic (the base near the ground is hard versus soft) is what you need to grow in Utah and other areas that freeze. I grew soft-neck garlic like elephant garlic when I lived in California. When I learned I needed to grow hard-neck garlic, I bought four different cultivars, planted them all, and then decided which one I liked best. I settled on Music garlic. I have grown for 13 years now. I save the biggest cloves and plant those in September or early October.

The garlic is ready in June or so when the tops start to curl. Cut the curling tip off to get a bigger bulb. You can make a pesto out of the curling tip lead as well. You harvest when around 50 percent of the blade-like leaves, if you will, are yellow.

If you look carefully, they are curling on top where the seed head will emerge if not harvested.

Hard-neck garlic will not last the winter so you need to preserve them. I will dehydrate the smallest cloves left. I set the temperature to 125 degrees and will let run for a few days and will keep checking to see when dry.

I hope you choose to grow hard-neck garlic in cold country and enjoy fresh home-grown garlic.