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Growing garlic idea

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Garlic is known for having a very strong smell - luckily it's used a lot in cooking as it also tastes really yummy

Season

Garlic can be sown in autumn or spring

Name

Allium sativum. ( Allium is Latin for garlic, sativum is Latin for cultivated or farmed).

Common Name

Garlic

Description

Garlic is a member of the 'onion family' (known as alliums), which include onions, leeks, chives, spring onions and shallots. Garlic is a bulb that is made up of a number of segments called cloves.

History

The origin of garlic is unknown, but it has been used as a plant for medicine and as food for more than 4,000 years. In the Middle Ages it was thought that garlic helped to prevent the plague. The English word garlic originates from the Middle Ages, gar (spear), leac (pot herb).

Interesting Facts

During World War II, garlic was used as an antiseptic to disinfect open wounds and prevent gangrene.

Growing Conditions

Garlic needs to be grown in an open, sunny site with fertile, well-dug soil, so that the bulbs get the warmth they need to ripen. The soil should be light and free draining.

Make sure you do not plant the garlic in soil that has been recently manured as it may cause the bulbs to rot.

Buy your garlic bulbs for planting from seed supplier's catalogues or garden centres.

When to grow

Garlic can be planted between October and December, so November is a good time to get planting

Try varieties such as 'Early Wight', 'Purple Wight', 'Solent Wight', 'Arno', 'Germidour', and 'Cristo'

The garlic will be ready to harvest between June and August

Garlic can also be planted in the spring

You will need

How to grow

1. Make sure the ground is free of weeds by weeding with a hand trowel and has been raked to a level surface.

2. Gently break the bulb of garlic open and detach the cloves off the bulbs, you don't need to peel the paper skins off the cloves.

3. The garlic cloves can be planted in rows that are 30cm apart. In each row plant the cloves about 10cm apart.

4. Each clove should be gently pushed into the soil to a depth of about 3cm, with the flat basal plate (the bit at the bottom of the garlic, from which it will grow) facing downwards, and the pointed end facing the sky, so that it's just buried below the soil surface.

Maintenance

As the garlic begins to grow, continue to weed carefully around the plants

Check your crop after planting for any uprooted bulbs caused by animals and birds, and push them back into the soil

Harvesting

The garlic is ready to harvest when the leaves begin to turn yellow and die, usually from June and July onwards

Lift the garlic carefully using a fork to gently loosen the soil around the bulbs

Spread the bulbs on netting, wire mesh, sacking or trays to dry out properly

After they're dry they can be plaited using the dried leaves, hung in bunches or stored in net bags

Pest and disease problems

Garlic is largely pest and disease free, but sometimes 'rust', a fungal disease of the foliage, can be damaging. If this happens, then grow garlic in a different part of the garden in future years and destroy all of the infected leaves.

White rot disease is present in some soils and attacks the roots, If this happens grow garlic in soil-based tubs.

More advice on garlic

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Grow garlic with children / RHS Gardening

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Garlic is known for having a very strong smell - luckily it's used a lot in cooking as it also tastes really yummy Season Garlic can be sown in autumn or spring Name Allium sativum. ( Allium is Latin for garlic, sativum is Latin for cultivated or farmed).

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Tulip idea

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Here is a fun gardening project to do with your child, planting tulips in November and December ready for early spring blooming:
Sign up for our free newsletter, find us on facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
You might think your gardening season is over, but if you want to have lots of colourful blooms next Spring, I'm happy to say, it's not too late yet! December and January are great months for planning ahead and tidying up for next year's growing season.

Unlike other spring bulbs, such as daffodils and crocuses, which should be planted in September and October, tulips can be planted in November and early December. In fact, late planting prevents a disease called .

You can get a wonderful selection of tulips with fantastic colours. Why not let the kids pick their favourite colours?

You can plant tulips in the ground or in containers. Unlike daffodils, tulips generally only last one season, unless, they are planted in a very hot dry position.

Our Planting Tulips Project

We planted up small 15cm pots, just enough room for 2 or 3 bulbs. We planted a small tulip called 'Red Riding Hood', which will grow to a height or 30cm.

If you are doing containers at home, you might like to try something a bit bigger. For example, blue glazed containers look great with white or red tulips.

You could also use three matching pots in different sizes, choose your flower colours so that they won't clash.

If you want to remove your tulips before the leaves have turned yellow, place them on a tray with the soil around them and leave them until the have gone yellow before drying the bulbs off. That will free up your pots for summer bedding.

You will need:

How to do it:

Fill pot 1/3 with compost (or more depending on size of pot and bulb).

Tulips should be planted 3 times their depth and twice their width apart.

Add compost on top.

Plant bulbs with pointed end up, roots down.

Then plant your winter bedding; we used winter pansies.

Label your pot.

Water and leave outside.

You will have lovely tulips for April or May.

Tulips could also be added to winter containers. Shrubs such as ivy, euonymous, and skimmia give lovely winter colour. Grass such as carex is evergreen and looks great through the winter. Other winter bedding includes violas, primulas and cyclamen.

If you want your bulbs to bloom again the following year, you have to lift them once the leaves have turned yellow and dry out the bulbs, store them and replant again in November. For more detailed instructions, have a look at the RHS advice page on tulips.

Article written by Ailish from Sowandgrow.ie.

Have you tried planting tulips for early spring? Tell us how you got on in the comments below.

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Planting Tulips With The Kids For Early Spring

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Here is a fun gardening project to do with your child, planting tulips in November and December ready for early spring blooming: Sign up for our free newsletter, find us on facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest You might think your gardening season is over, but if you want to have lots of colourful blooms next Spring, I'm happy to say, it's not too late yet!

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Spinach idea

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Growing beetroot

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Beetroot seeds can be planted from March to July. Beetroots are root vegetables so their seeds need to be planted in a large, deep container to give their roots enough room to grow. Grow them outside in a cool place that isn't too sunny - they will take about 12 weeks.

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My great idea

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Keep the herb garden inside during the winter, making sure it has plenty of light. Remember to water your herbs regularly.

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Lets write about growing tomatoes

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Cherry tomatoes are sweet and tasty in salads, as a snack or in your lunch box.

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Lets do this

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It will take about 12 weeks to grow a strawberry plant. The best time to start is during spring or summer because strawberries need to grow in sun. They also need to be sheltered from wind and rain.

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My idea

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It will take about 8 weeks for a sunflower plant to grow and flower from a seed. Why don't you make a chart and measure how much it grows each week?

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I pick tomatoes as well

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What you need

several sheets of newspaper

plastic cup

shallow box or tray

seed-raising mix

tomato seeds

Activity

Lay a sheet of newspaper (half a broadsheet) flat in front of you then fold in half and half again. You should have a strip approximately 40cm by 15cm.

Place the cup on its side against one of the short ends of the newspaper strip and roll it up to create a cylinder. Shuffle the cup up a bit inside and then push the newspaper firmly against the bottom of the cup to form the base of your pot. Remove the cup.

Make several newspaper 'pots' and nestle them together in a shallow box or tray. Fill each about two-thirds full with seed-raising mix.

Plant 1-2 seeds in each and cover lightly with the mix. Water well.

Leave in a sunny position and wait for your seeds to sprout.

Once the second set of leaves has developed, your tomatoes are ready to be transplanted into larger pots or straight into a garden bed. You can plant them pot and all - the newspaper will break down in the soil allowing the roots to push through.

Notes

If you find your pots refuse to keep their shape, use a piece of sticky tape or a paper clip to hold them closed. Be sure to remove this before transplanting your seedlings into the garden.

If you are using more than one variety of tomato, make simple labels by writing the names onto paddle pop sticks and inserting them next to the seeds.

If you live in a very cold area, bring your tomatoes inside at night-time until they are well-established.

This activity was created by Greer Worsley. Greer blogs at Typically Red.

Find more ideas for toddlers

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Tomatoes are easy to grow - all they need is sunshine, water and a bit of TLC. Encourage the kids to nurture their plants, watering them often and being vigilant against creepy-crawlies and weeds, so that when the first ripe red tomatoes are ready to pick, you'll all be able to enjoy the harvest.

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We should write about this

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What you need

several sheets of newspaper

plastic cup

shallow box or tray

seed-raising mix

tomato seeds

Activity

Lay a sheet of newspaper (half a broadsheet) flat in front of you then fold in half and half again. You should have a strip approximately 40cm by 15cm.

Place the cup on its side against one of the short ends of the newspaper strip and roll it up to create a cylinder. Shuffle the cup up a bit inside and then push the newspaper firmly against the bottom of the cup to form the base of your pot. Remove the cup.

Make several newspaper 'pots' and nestle them together in a shallow box or tray. Fill each about two-thirds full with seed-raising mix.

Plant 1-2 seeds in each and cover lightly with the mix. Water well.

Leave in a sunny position and wait for your seeds to sprout.

Once the second set of leaves has developed, your tomatoes are ready to be transplanted into larger pots or straight into a garden bed. You can plant them pot and all - the newspaper will break down in the soil allowing the roots to push through.

Notes

If you find your pots refuse to keep their shape, use a piece of sticky tape or a paper clip to hold them closed. Be sure to remove this before transplanting your seedlings into the garden.

If you are using more than one variety of tomato, make simple labels by writing the names onto paddle pop sticks and inserting them next to the seeds.

If you live in a very cold area, bring your tomatoes inside at night-time until they are well-established.

This activity was created by Greer Worsley. Greer blogs at Typically Red.

Find more ideas for toddlers

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Tomatoes are easy to grow - all they need is sunshine, water and a bit of TLC. Encourage the kids to nurture their plants, watering them often and being vigilant against creepy-crawlies and weeds, so that when the first ripe red tomatoes are ready to pick, you'll all be able to enjoy the harvest.

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Sweet potato idea

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What you need

Activity

Pierce the middle of a sweet potato with four toothpicks distributed evenly all around.

Figure out which is the blunt end and which is the pointy end of the sweet potato.

Sit the sweet potato, pointy end down, into a glass of water, with the toothpicks holding half of it out of the water.

Over time, the sweet potato will start to sprout and grow roots.

Gently twist the sprouts off and place the base of those in another glass of water.

These sprouts will also grow roots.

Plant these seedlings into a pot with potting mix and water regularly.

You will soon have established sweet potato plants that you can transfer into the garden.
Notes:
This will take a while to complete. Be patient and watch the magic happen.

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Kids get excited about eating what they grow. Watch the magic in their eyes when they see a sweet potato sprout. And once it's ready, they can dig it out of the garden and eat the fruits - or rather, vegetables - of their labours!