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Any clove of garlic will sprout (even if you bought it at the supermarket) and the rewards of growing your own are many. You can harvest garlic scapes along with bulbs to flavor a variety of culinary dishes.
A member of the onion family, garlic is an essential cooking ingredient that is remarkably easy to grow in the garden. Even a clove from a store-bought bulb of garlic will sprout.
Like its other onion cousins–chives, leeks, and shallots—this edible plant has a long and venerable history as a cook’s favorite ingredient, starring for centuries in cuisines worldwide. Remarkably, Allium sativum is also easy to grow: “I have planted everything from Brooklyn bodega garlic, to organic farmers’ market bulbs, to heirloom cultivars purchased online from a good grower,” writes our contributor Marie Viljoen in Gardening 101: Garlic.
Plant garlic cloves in the ground (in autumn) or in pots with well-draining soil. Fertilize it and give it full sun. “If the season is mild, garlic may send leaves up before winter ends. Don’t panic, they are cold hardy,” writes Marie.