Recreation

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20 Adorable DIY Draft Snakes Fight Chills

Jan 28, 2012 05:14 am

Make one of these colorful door draft stoppers to reduce your heating bills.

Target Recalls LED Flashlights

Jan 7, 2012 04:38 am

These energy-efficient flashlights could cause burns or catch fire.

Tankless Water Heaters Recalled

Jan 2, 2012 03:24 am

Navien is recalling thousands of tankless water heaters that pose a carbon monoxide poisoning risk to homeowners.

Think Twice Before Composting Lint

Oct 20, 2011 08:28 am

New study shows running synthetic fabrics through the laundry may create pollution.

Survey: Most Unaware of Energy Efficiency Rebates

Oct 17, 2011 08:01 am

Many energy efficiency home improvements pay for themselves, but tax incentives expire soon.

Wooden Musical Playsets Recalled

Oct 6, 2011 10:03 am

Not all wooden toys are safer for your children.

Estimating Geothermal Cost and Payback

Sep 26, 2011 08:02 am

Especially if you're building a new home or replacing an old heating and cooling system, geothermal may be worth the investment.

Getting a New Roof? Go Solar, Too, and Pay Nothing Extra

Sep 23, 2011 01:32 am

By leasing solar panels that are integrated into a new roof, homeowners have a new cheap option.

Bed Bugs: Sometimes the Cure Is Worse than the Problem

Sep 23, 2011 09:27 am

Dozens of people, and likely many more, have poisoned themselves by misusing pesticides in efforts to kill bed bugs.

Sexy Green Lingerie

Sep 16, 2011 03:22 am

Soft, silky and gorgeous, the newest intimate green fashions are made from organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, recycled fibers and other sustainable touches.

LG Refrigerator Earns Good Housekeeping Seal

Sep 16, 2011 03:05 am

The Energy Star refrigerator is 20% more spacious, but uses 20% less energy than other models.

Growing Your Own Garlic Is Easy!

Sep 14, 2011 12:25 am

As far as I'm concerned, garlic gets the blue ribbon for growing your own. It's absurdly easy to plant and care for; it tastes great; it looks beautiful and it takes up so little ground that even those with very small gardens can raise enough to be self-sufficient in garlic for a good part of the year.

All you have to do is choose the right varieties; plant at the right time, in the right soil; then harvest when just right and store correctly.

1. Choosing Types of Garlic

If you look in a specialist catalog like the one at Gourmet Garlic Gardens, you'll find dozens of varieties of garlic listed. The folks at Filaree Farm, who offer a hundred, divide them into seven groups: Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Porcelain, Artichoke, Silverskin, Asiatic Turban and Creole. Gourmet GG says it's 10 groups because they divide Asiatic from Turban and add Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe to the list.

You see where this is going – and you can see a lot more types of garlic on either of those websites, but for general purposes the most important difference is the one between softneck and hardneck.

Softnecks are so called because the whole green plant dies down to pliancy, leaving nothing but the bulb and flexible stems that are easy to braid.
Hardnecks have a stiff stem in the center that terminates in a beautiful flower – or cluster of little bulbs – then dries to a rigid stick that makes braiding impossible.

Softnecks, the standard garlics of commerce, are the easiest to grow in regions where the weather is mild. They keep longer than hardnecks, but they are less hardy and more prone to make small, very strong-flavored cloves. Hardnecks do best where there is a real winter and are more vulnerable to splitting – or simply refusing to produce – when grown in warm climates.

Gardeners in most of the U.S. can try some of both. Southerners should probably stick to softnecks and northerners to the hard ones, but microclimates matter. Specialty sellers will suggest best bets based on your climate and tastes, and of course it's wise to get some seed stock from your local farmers' market: whatever it is, it's growing where you are.

Photo: Homegrown garlic, fresh out of the ground. Click the image for recipes that use garlic.