What do you think?
Rate this book
Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers
The first garlic book written specifically for organic gardeners and small-scale farmers
Growing Great Garlic is the definitive grower's guide written by a small scale farmer who makes his living growing over 200 strains of garlic. Commercial growers will want to consult this book regularly.
The author tells us:
which strains to plant when to fertilize when to plant when to prune flower stalks how to plant when to harvest
Plus, how to store, market, and process the crop Growing Great Garlic makes a genuine contribution in the field of garlic classification that will help the public recognize several distinct varietal types of garlic.
Growing Great Garlic is the definitive grower's guide written by a small scale farmer who makes his living growing over 200 strains of garlic. Commercial growers will want to consult this book regularly.
The author tells us:
which strains to plant when to fertilize when to plant when to prune flower stalks how to plant when to harvest
Plus, how to store, market, and process the crop Growing Great Garlic makes a genuine contribution in the field of garlic classification that will help the public recognize several distinct varietal types of garlic.
213 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
12 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 12, 2018
I absolutely love garlic. Garlic ranks about 4th in food seasoning in my cooking. Salt, pepper and onion are the top 3. I just love the aroma and complexity garlic gives to food. I know there are those who might not agree with me. Garlic is not called "the stinking rose" for nothing.
A few years ago, my son gave me garlic from his garden. It was then I discovered I'd been missing out. Home grown "hardneck" garlic is really, really good! I kept a few bulbs for planting the next fall. The stars must have been aligned, I had great results! I grew my first small crop of hardneck garlic. I wish I would have taken notes. I haven't had the same success since. I live in a hot region of the desert southwest of the U.S. Garlic is challenging (at least for me) because garlic does best with a good cold period during the late fall to early spring. Here, the period between 90 degrees(F) days in the fall to spring is perhaps 90-100 days. The last few years haven't got all that cold in between. Most garlics need 7-8 months at least to mature a sizable bulb.
After poor success in growing garlic, I decided read a couple of books: Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers and The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide For Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks. I also decided to take a different approach to reading these books. I read the part of the book relative to where I was in the growing process. You may ask how did this work out for me? In a nutshell, it didn't. This year's effort has been a dismal failure. I can't place blame on the book though.
Growing Great Garlic is a very readable book. Published in 1991 Ron Engeland was practicing organic farming principles long before "organic" was in the lexicon of everyday thinking like it is now. Even though the book is slightly dated, the basic ideas are still very relevant. I'd call the author a "garlic guru." Anyway, the author goes into the history of garlic. It grew wild in Europe and Asia. It has been cultivated as a food and herbal remedy that dates back to the dawn of civilization. There are two basic types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Softneck garlic is what is mostly sold in grocery stores. Hardneck garlic is distinguishable by a hard stem that goes to the base of the bulb. The cloves are situated around the stem.
The author goes into quite a bit of detail on the cultivation of garlic from planting to harvest to storage. The author is a small farmer growing garlic to sell. The scope of the book is somewhat outside of an urban home gardener with limited space so some topics really don't apply. Topics such as how much fertilizer per acre, grading garlic to sell, packaging and so forth. Also, the author's farm is located in Eastern Washington state. So most of the discussion is more relevant to similar climate zones which the author is the most knowledgeable. The author does discuss other types of climate and the garlics that originate around the world.
I was interested in garlic and this book is a treasure. It is an authoritative guide to growing garlic. Even though the specifics about my climate zone are barely addressed, this a good book to have if you want to grow your own garlic.
A few years ago, my son gave me garlic from his garden. It was then I discovered I'd been missing out. Home grown "hardneck" garlic is really, really good! I kept a few bulbs for planting the next fall. The stars must have been aligned, I had great results! I grew my first small crop of hardneck garlic. I wish I would have taken notes. I haven't had the same success since. I live in a hot region of the desert southwest of the U.S. Garlic is challenging (at least for me) because garlic does best with a good cold period during the late fall to early spring. Here, the period between 90 degrees(F) days in the fall to spring is perhaps 90-100 days. The last few years haven't got all that cold in between. Most garlics need 7-8 months at least to mature a sizable bulb.
After poor success in growing garlic, I decided read a couple of books: Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers and The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide For Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks. I also decided to take a different approach to reading these books. I read the part of the book relative to where I was in the growing process. You may ask how did this work out for me? In a nutshell, it didn't. This year's effort has been a dismal failure. I can't place blame on the book though.
Growing Great Garlic is a very readable book. Published in 1991 Ron Engeland was practicing organic farming principles long before "organic" was in the lexicon of everyday thinking like it is now. Even though the book is slightly dated, the basic ideas are still very relevant. I'd call the author a "garlic guru." Anyway, the author goes into the history of garlic. It grew wild in Europe and Asia. It has been cultivated as a food and herbal remedy that dates back to the dawn of civilization. There are two basic types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Softneck garlic is what is mostly sold in grocery stores. Hardneck garlic is distinguishable by a hard stem that goes to the base of the bulb. The cloves are situated around the stem.
The author goes into quite a bit of detail on the cultivation of garlic from planting to harvest to storage. The author is a small farmer growing garlic to sell. The scope of the book is somewhat outside of an urban home gardener with limited space so some topics really don't apply. Topics such as how much fertilizer per acre, grading garlic to sell, packaging and so forth. Also, the author's farm is located in Eastern Washington state. So most of the discussion is more relevant to similar climate zones which the author is the most knowledgeable. The author does discuss other types of climate and the garlics that originate around the world.
I was interested in garlic and this book is a treasure. It is an authoritative guide to growing garlic. Even though the specifics about my climate zone are barely addressed, this a good book to have if you want to grow your own garlic.
May 30, 2023
Very specific and concise information about growing great garlic. This book is geared more towards small farmers than the home grower, as the focus is on growing and selling fresh gourmet garlic, but the information on curing and storing is in there too. Mostly I just wanted to learn the basics of growing garlic and this book makes me feel confident enough to try my first garlic crop this fall.
August 26, 2007
Well, I never actually finished reading this book, but I faced the fact that I was probably never going to finish reading this book, so I decided to take it off my currently reading list. I will probably just give it to Tony...
Anyway, I read enough to know that it is a kick ass book if you are interested in growing garlic, especially if you want to grow enough to sell.
Anyway, I read enough to know that it is a kick ass book if you are interested in growing garlic, especially if you want to grow enough to sell.
February 18, 2021
Great book. I am already experienced w growing good garlic, but I wish I had used this book when I first started farming. It confirmed some things I already knew about growing garlic in the NC mountains and it educated me on how to grow even better garlic going forward. It’s a good thing I own it because it is now covered with highlighter!
April 24, 2019
Excellent book information, with a sense of humor - comprehensive on all levels. I have grown garlic for years - wish I had read this book before I started planting garlic. It is both an art and a science.
Read
July 25, 2021His personal log or his garlic journey!
My husband and I expected more from this book was Ron was the pioneer for garlic growing in the United States.
It was his written journey or his experience, but not much help for learning about growing garlic and the health of garlic.
My husband and I expected more from this book was Ron was the pioneer for garlic growing in the United States.
It was his written journey or his experience, but not much help for learning about growing garlic and the health of garlic.
July 19, 2018
Excellent
October 5, 2011
Fact-filled book on one of my very favourite topics, garlic growing. There's some great tips in here and I wish I'd read his advice about not growing too much garlic as an inexperienced grower about 9 months ago .... We live and learn. I've read a few books about garlic this year and it's amazing how this little bulb can generate such passion. It's wonderful stuff.
The only downside of the book is the need to do a lot of on the go conversion - for the months/seasons (October... that's like April in Australia), the weights (how many pounds in a kilo) and the temperatures (Fahrenheit to Celsius).
The only downside of the book is the need to do a lot of on the go conversion - for the months/seasons (October... that's like April in Australia), the weights (how many pounds in a kilo) and the temperatures (Fahrenheit to Celsius).
June 22, 2015
Great book on growing garlic. I have spent many a night browsing websites on growing garlic and I still felt like I didn't have the "whole picture" I picked up this book and read it cover to cover in a day. I really wish I would have read it earlier. The author presents the information on growing garlic in a very clear and concise way. I highly recommend for beginning garlic growers to read this.
October 16, 2012
If you want to grow garlic, you need this book.
On my blog, I detailed how we used this book to make all the major decisions about planting garlic: http://anniekateshomeschoolreviews.co...
On my blog, I detailed how we used this book to make all the major decisions about planting garlic: http://anniekateshomeschoolreviews.co...
September 12, 2009
I have only read the parts before harvesting, I will have to add more next summer for an accurate review... I am excited to try the new (to me)varities I ordered and will plant!
December 2, 2009
I am liking this a lot. It's already on my 'to buy' list.
I didn't read this cover to cover but it's just right for me.
I didn't read this cover to cover but it's just right for me.
January 12, 2010
Great book for learning about growing garlic plus much more.
October 11, 2010
Note to self - check this out in the summer for harvesting tips
March 30, 2011
I am looking for another book to read book on garlic. The history was interesting but does not look like it would be easy to use as a reference.
January 19, 2014
I love this book and I have learned how to grow excellent garlic in the back yard!
February 11, 2014
you wanna grow garlic? throw out any other garlic book you have and read this cover to cover. repeat.
August 10, 2014
Great format, easy to pick sections of interest. Author shares his experiences. Very detailed. Great book for beginner growers (like me).
September 2, 2016
Applied mainly for those that grow garlic in the northern US.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews