Garlic is surely among the easiest and most gratifying
vegetables to grow. Garlic takes up minimal space, grows over
the winter when there's less competition for garden space, and
is extremely easy to grow if its basic requirements are met.
From the cook's perspective, it's a most useful and versatile
vegetable, with many different cultivars offering a diversity of
flavors, sizes and storage qualities. Fresh garlic "seed"
(bulbs) are now available at local nurseries and it's time to
pick out your favorite varieties and prepare the ground for
planting. The best time to plant garlic is from late October
through late November. Here's what you can do now to get
started: - Buy your garlic. The selection of varieties is at its
peak right now, and you can pick out heads of garlic with the
fattest, plumpest cloves. Large cloves make the largest heads of
garlic next year (set aside small cloves to eat fresh, dry,
pickle or plant tightly together for greens in the springtime).
Make sure the heads of garlic feel heavy,