A TikTok video has shared the best way to grow garlic at home, a move that could majorly help cut the cost of your groceries.
Growing your own kitchen garden is a great way to combat soaring food prices, as well as to increase your food security. TikToker Katie Burdett (@growingwithgertie) regularly shares hacks for growing vegetables from her greenhouse.
@growingwithgertie Garlic planting process at home! #garlic #garden #gardening #gardening101 #gardentips #planting #growyourownfood #gardentiktok #gardentok ♬ original sound - Katie Burdett
The scoop
The first thing Burdett shares is that planting a single garlic clove will result in one homegrown garlic bulb. Begin by splitting the garlic cloves up while keeping as much of the white papery skin on as possible.
You should then fill your plant bed with compost and space out your cloves in the soil, roughly six inches apart and two inches deep, with the pointy end facing upwards.
Burdett recommends planting your garlic cloves about six weeks before the ground freezes over — around early or mid-October — so their roots have time to develop.
Next, lay out some straw on top to insulate the budding garlic bulbs through the winter.
Any store-bought garlic clove is fine to start harvesting with, although Burdett notes that you won't be able to tell which variety you are growing. She recommends getting seeds from local farms instead — you can save seeds from your own harvest next year too.
And if you don't have a plant bed but still want to give growing garlic a try, you can also use a plant pot, so long as it is at least six inches deep.
How it's helping
A combination of inflation and our changing climate is causing food prices to soar across the U.S., with the cost of vegetables up by 80% last December compared with November 2021.
The western states, where much of the U.S.'s food is grown, are experiencing a historic megadrought, which scientists say has caused the driest 22-year period since the year 800.
Over a third of the U.S.'s vegetables are grown in California, which has seen a $3 billion loss to its agricultural industries due to drought.
Garlic is one particularly expensive vegetable. Burdett says that is because garlic takes a full year to grow and needs to be cultivated by hand, which increases its costs.
Learning to grow garlic at home could dramatically reduce your grocery bill while also helping you to become more self-sufficient with your cooking.
What everyone's saying
Many TikTok users are growing their garlic already and got extra advice from Burdett about cultivating their bulbs through the unseasonably warm weather.
"I got mine in just after the first frost and then it got super warm again. It's actually sprouting! I added more hay and I hope it doesn't hurt them," one user comments.
"I'm in zone 6, and planted my garlic… but some of them started to sprout… is that bad??" replies another.
"Keep doing these! I'm taking notes," another adds.
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