Lisa Steele is a chicken keeper, aspiring herbalist and author of the popular books ‘Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens…Naturally‘, ‘Duck Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Ducks…Naturally’and Gardening with Chickens due out in December. Her writing can also been found on her blog ‘Fresh Eggs Daily’, which was named one of the Top Ten Best Gardening Blogs by Better Homes & Gardens magazine. She regularly contributes to Chickens, Backyard Poultry and Hobby Farm magazines as well as HGTVGardens.com. She has appeared on P. Allen Smith’s radio show and PBS television show and the new reality show Coop Dreams. In her spare time she enjoys cooking with delicious eggs fresh from her coop and vegetables fresh from her garden. You can find her blog at www.fresheggsdaily.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/
Garlic is a wonderful crop for the novice gardener to start with because it’s very easy to grow. Wild animals such as rabbits or moles aren’t likely to disturb it – and the nice part is that it grows over the winter in your garden plot that would otherwise likely be sitting vacant.
To plant a garlic crop, you’ll need some nice large garlic cloves. Although you can try planting those you find in the grocery store, they might have been treated with pesticides or other chemicals, so purchasing organic bulbs from a farmers market or finding an online source is best.
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Planting Garlic

Mulching Garlic

Spring Garlic

Braided Garlic

Bucket of Garlic
Enjoy your homegrown garlic all through the late summer, fall and winter, but be sure to save the largest cloves to replant each fall. Fresh garlic is more juicy and flavorful than what you buy at the grocery store, so once you start growing your own you’ll always want a ready supply to cook with.
In addition to being extremely nutritious and a natural immune system booster, garlic is a natural fungicide and pest-repellent, so planting it around the perimeter of your garden will help reduce the number of insects and disease on those crops. Garlic can help keep aphids off your roses and is also a good companion plant for strawberries, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.