Garlic

Members of the Tweed and Area Horticultural Society were avid listeners as Paul Pospisil of Maberly spoke about garlic growing. It was apparent by the number of members and guests in the audience as well as the questions asked that garlic growing is a topic that interests many.

 Paul, editor of Garlic News shared a wealth of information with his audience through his personal experiences growing garlic and his “garlic props”.

Paul’s focus is to raise the bar on the quality of garlic that is being grown….and growing garlic does indeed present many challenges

The garlic clove is planted in mid-October. In April as the days get warmer, the plant starts to grow. May and June is a rapid growing time for garlic and it is usually harvested in July. It requires good soil, irrigation, sun and no weeds growing along side it…really not very different from other vegetables we grow in our gardens.

 Disease, leek moth, bulb and stem nematodes and simple greed and ignorance are the main factors that Paul feels contributes to the poor quality of garlic grown. Presently Canada does not have a standard for garlic seed that other fruits and vegetables have.

According to Paul, growers can’t get rid of the leek moth but they can manage it through identification, early detection, prevention and good growing practices.

On the other hand, bulb and stem nematodes can totally DESTROY a crop of garlic. The nematodes are living organisms in the soil and very difficult to destroy. One of the best practices is growing mustard in the field where the nematodes are living to get rid of them.

Suggestions Paul gave to the audience…plant a variety of garlic to obtain a range of flavors and buy organic as there is less chance of having a damaged and diseased clove.

Members were invited to purchase Paul’s garlic seed which he said was as clean and disease free as humanly possible!

COMING UP….

September 9…Fall clean-up of Tweed flower beds. Meet at Moira Garden @5:30 pm.

October 7…Food!....Three ladies who teach cooking night classes at Centre Hastings Secondary School will make three dishes that are meat and dairy free. Cookbooks will be available for sale.

October 11…Carving demonstration with Adam Haley @ 10:30 am for children and adults at Tweed library. Bring in a carved pumpkin to be judged by Adam. First prize winner takes home Adam’s carved creation of the day!!

GENERAL INTEREST EVENTS…

October 9...Land O’Lakes Meeting….Carolyn Klickerman from Ottawa will discuss “square foot” gardening which is the art of growing lots of plants in 12 inch by 12 inch beds. Meeting starts at 6 p.m.