Enjoying the garlic harvest

Many small growers grow just a few acres of a very popular vegetable – garlic. They say that, despite the unusual weather of the season, they can't complain about the harvest: winter garlic has not disappointed.

Roma Bagdzevičienė from the village of Naujoji Kirsna is happy with a very good garlic harvest. Garlic growing is not new to her and it is not the first year she has been growing garlic. Her garden produces winter garlic. "Last year's crop was good too," she says.

She explains it simply: „It's a bad year, it's a bad harvest if you don't look after it, and if you do, you'll get it.“ She grows it simply, without inventing anything new, she fertilises it with manure, and she plants it in October: it's important to get it in time for the frost. The changeable weather, although frightening, has not hurt: not only garlic has grown – the onion crop is good too. "You grow it, you look after it, you weed it and it grows," she says, adding that she likes digging in the ground, so it's not difficult or complicated.

It is important to harvest in time, and not to delay, because if the turnips are harvested too late, the outer shells will crack and the slices may fall out. They should then be cleaned nicely and placed in boxes for drying.

„I dry them in the garage“, – tarsteli. And a garlic cassette – is like an edible bouquet: it can be a great gift, as garlic is becoming more and more popular, people use it to defend themselves against viruses, and garlic is also used as a spice in everyday cooking and is always at hand in the kitchen.

Romutė says she gets on well with everyone, so this year there is enough garlic for everyone – she gives a head to friends and acquaintances alike, while others ask for more, maybe to use up or plant themselves. Romutė has no plans to give them up either: she will grow them too. She says that anyone can grow garlic, all you have to do is plant it, plant it, and you will have enough for the whole winter.