Garlic, an antibiotic that's easy to grow in your backyard!
Allium sativum
An antibiotic that’s easy to grow in your backyard!
Native to the Iranian and Afghan steppes, garlic— Allium sativum —is perfectly adapted to the northern climate, including that of Quebec. To overwinter, the lily plant forms a bulb in July, which then goes dormant and is stored for 6 to 9 months, depending on the cultivar and storage conditions. By developing its bulb, the plant concentrates its vital force there so that it can come back to life once winter is over. Thus, the bulb contains a multitude of nutrients and active ingredients, including antiviral and antibiotic properties that make it very effective in preventing colds and flu.
It is important to remember that before the advent of pharmaceutical antibiotics, garlic was used to treat many infectious diseases, including dysentery, typhoid, cholera, and the plague. In Russia, it is used so extensively as an antiseptic that it has been nicknamed the Russian antibiotic.
Garlic is known for improving immune function. It prevents arteriosclerosis and clot formation by thinning the blood. It lowers blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It has deworming, fungicidal, expectorant, febrifuge, depurative, digestive, carminative, and aperitif properties, to name a few. Finally, it contains germanium, which promotes the circulation of oxygen in the blood, which helps fight certain cancers, rheumatism, asthma, as well as various liver, pancreas, and kidney conditions.
To promote the synthesis of allicin, its main active ingredient, garlic should be crushed and left exposed to air for a few minutes before eating. You can then use it in a vinaigrette or cover it with a little oil, add a pinch of salt and a little chili powder—optional, but beneficial—then dip your bread in it. This is primarily how I use it.
When it comes to quality garlic, nothing beats local, organic garlic. You can grow it yourself or buy it from a local producer.
A question of genetics and management
To successfully grow garlic, you must plant hard-stemmed garlic, as only this type is resistant to mosaic virus, a viral disease that causes premature yellowing and drying of the plants. Most soft-stemmed cultivars, those that braid, are susceptible to this infection.
Once you have found the garlic seed, you will need to break the bulbs into cloves and plant them in the ground. I have been working with the Musi c cultivar for over thirty years. I always choose the most beautiful bulbs from my harvest for replanting, favoring the largest ones and those with at least 5 cloves per bulb.
How and when to sow garlic?
Three weeks before the final frost of the ground, the pods are pushed into the ground in rows 25 cm apart, 20 cm apart in the row; the tip of the pod should be covered with 3 cm of soil. The soil should be well amended with mature compost and arranged in beds 15 to 20 cm high to promote drainage. Beds 75 cm wide allow for 3 rows.
In Quebec, garlic is sown between October 20 and November 10, depending on the region. Earlier in the north, later in the south. One month after sowing, it is suggested to cover the soil with a 20 to 30 cm thick layer of plant mulch. Dead leaves covered with straw or hay are ideal.
Garlic Care in Spring
As soon as the spring thaws, around April 20th at my place in Saint-Didace in zone 4b, the mulch is removed with a fork to free the yellow, pointed, and stubby stems emerging from the ground, taking care not to break them. This procedure helps warm the soil and accelerates plant growth. The mulch can be piled up in the paths between the beds and replaced between the garlic plants once the heat arrives, at the end of May.
Garlic growth, like onion growth, is closely linked to the photoperiod. From April to the solstice, as the photoperiod increases, the plants store their energy in the foliage. From the solstice onward, the energy moves down to the base of the stem and is used to form the bulb. The size of the bulb will therefore be proportional to the growth of the foliage.
The leek moth
In June, watch out for the leek moth, Acrolepiopsis assectella , a small 16-18 mm butterfly with brown wings speckled with white. The female lays her eggs on the upper leaves. Once hatched, the larvae feed on the leaves, leaving whitish marks. This is the time to neutralize them. If you are growing up to 100 plants, you can crush them by hand. For larger numbers, treat with BTK, a biological bacterial insecticide that is very effective at neutralizing this pest. Some people use insect netting with success. This is when you should cut the garlic flower stems, which you can use to make a delicious pesto.
This summer, I paired my garlic flower stalks with sun-dried tomatoes soaked for four days in olive oil. A divine preparation to spread on bread or use as a pizza sauce. Garlic flower stalks will keep for several weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They can be used pan-fried for various fricassees.
Harvesting and storing garlic
Toward the end of July, as the stems begin to yellow, I harvest the whole plants and hang them in my barn, sheltered from the elements, in bunches of fifteen. I leave them like this to complete their ripening, which takes 3 to 4 weeks. At the end of August, I prune the stems and roots and store them in my barn in well-ventilated boxes. Never use plastic bags. The garlic is dormant, but very much alive. It needs to breathe. I use square plastic milk cartons. The garlic can stay like this until mid-October, when I transfer it to woven nylon bags that I store in my pantry, in a cool, dry place.
The bulbs normally keep until the end of March, which gives me a wealth of a natural antibiotic for which no resistance has been observed.
Of course, garlic has many medicinal properties, but we must not forget that it is mainly used as a condiment, divinely enhancing the dishes to which it is added.
To find out more.
The ecological cultivation of vegetable plants . Yves Gagnon. Colloidales. 2012.
The Daily Feast . Yves Gagnon. Colloidales. 2016.
www.altheaprovence.com/blog/ail-allium-sativum/
Yves Gagnon, seed producer, author and owner of the Jardins du Grand-Portage
