I once had a pretty disastrous affair with an Italian. It ended, predictably, in tears, lots of them. But I did learn a thing or two, like what good garlic should taste like. My ex made the most exquisite pasta tomatoes, just skinned and puréed, with mashed black olives and so much finely chopped garlic you wouldn't think it was possible to go near it.
Garlic (Allium sativum) is broken down into two groups: soft-neck (subsp. sativum) and hard-neck (subsp. ophioscordum), often affectionately known as Ophios. Soft-neck garlic is the sort you can plait, and is the most common commercial kind, as it stores the longest. It is distinguished by its bendy neck and numerous cloves, often with small ones in the middle. Hard-neck garlic has a hard stalk in the middle (this is the flower spike). It tends to have fewer cloves and be colourful. Some hard-neck varieties store very poorly, such as Rocambole types. Porcelain types are some of the longest storing.
Last year I bought everything I could find to do a very biased (and rather unscientific) trial. I planted garlic in batches from mid-October to mid-November. Garlic needs roughly two months under 10C for bulb initiation to take place. The early November plantings gave the best yields.
I grow my garlic on slight ridges to help with drainage (garlic doesn't like sitting in the wet). I plant each bulb 50mm deep, 10cm apart, 30cm between rows or 18cm apart in each direction in blocks. I've had some success with just dotting garlic through the garden. I used hard-neck varieties because I wanted to enjoy the architectural element of their flowers (which you can eat; you pick them just as flower stalks begin to curl – see my film on guardian.co.uk). The yields were surprisingly good.
Garlic likes fairly rich soil – if it's thin you get small bulbs, so dig in homemade compost, but not fresh manure. Adding potash (perhaps from the bonfire) is worthwhile before planting. If any look a little sad in spring, give them a liquid feed, but garlic mostly looks after itself.
Garlic's strength in a dish depends a lot on how you cut it. Crush or finely chop and it tastes strongest; thick slices give a milder flavour. Cook a whole clove and the taste is sweet and nutty. I'm still eating my way through the trial, but early favourites are soft-neck Arno and Christo for good yields and lovely white bulbs. Both have a strong flavour, ideal for slicing or cooking whole. But at the moment, the one I'm taking to my desert island is Music – a porcelain hard-neck with a hot flavour that melts into something sweet. Perfect for that pasta dish.
Alys on... Lifting dahlias and cannas
After several years of feeling smug (or perhaps that should read snug) about warm winters, last year's reminded us that lifting tender plants matters. The likes of dahlias (pictured) or cannas need to spend the winter somewhere dry and warm.
Once the first frost has blackened the foliage, cut down the stem to about 15cm above the ground. Carefully dig up the plant, making sure not to damage the fleshy roots and tubers.
Remove as much soil as possible, then place the roots or tubers in a shallow box or seed tray. Cover with slightly damp compost or sand, making sure not to smother the crown of the plant. This is the point where the tubers join the stem. Here is where the new growth appears next year and it's vital that it doesn't rot. Place the plants in a frost-free place: a garage, shed or greenhouse. What matters most is that the plants remain dry: it's wet followed by cold conditions that kills.
However, it is worth examining the plants every once in a while. If the roots or tubers are shrivelling, moisten the compost; if they are truly dry, plunge them in tepid water overnight to rehydrate.