This afternoon, I was planting garlic into compostable cups for the Permaculture Festival on September 23rd and 24th in Lambourne End. The garlic seed I was planting were organic garlic from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight that are specially for planting (Gardeners’ World recommends not using supermarket garlic for planting). I put four cloves into each pot. Each clove will grow into a plump, juicy garlic bulb that contains 8-9 cloves each.

As I was planting the garlic, I thought to myself, what a wonderful business model for a young child to learn about the agricultural economy: I am selling each pot for £2.50 which has 4 cloves (probability that at least three will grow), which means that come harvest time, the £2.50 investment will turn into 3 garlic bulbs, each containing an average of 8 cloves. Thus, for an investment of £2.50, you will get 24 cloves which will, when planted, yield 24 garlic bulbs.

The lessons from that growing that £2.50 pot garlic for the budding little gardener is manifold: doing the maths, looking after plants, planning ahead and of course, empowering them to play a real, active role in the economy.

How to Plant Garlic

1. When choosing the garlic to plant, choose firm, tight, heavy, dry bulbs. And remember, do not plant supermarket garlic, as advised by the experts.
2. Separate the bulbs out into cloves. Be careful not to damage the cloves. 
3. You can either sow directly into the soil, or in my case, into compostable cups. When planting into the ground, make sure that they are at least 6 inches apart.
4. If planting in containers (such as compostable cups) fill the container with good quality compost. Press the garlic clove in, skinny side up. Cover with 1 inch of soil.
5. In the UK, the best time to grow garlic is late autumn/ winter.

Lots of sun + good soil + space = good garlic!

Advice from the Garlic Farm: