Grow your own garlic, bay leaves and rosemary!!

So many things we can grow and enjoy. Edible plants look beautiful and taste glorious.

We love to grow our own garlic. Once you have used it right out of the garden you'll realize what you have been missing  We love to use immature plants that have not developed a bulb yet. They look like scallions but are a little tougher and have a mildly garlickly flavor. They are great pureed into a black bean dip or soup.

Just break the cloves apart

 If you harvest them after they have developed a bulb but are not quite mature they will have a water chestnut type of texture and a mild garlic flavor. They will not have the dry papery cover they develop later.

It's easy to grow.  You can use store bought garlic to get started as long as it hasn't been irradiated or totally dried out.


Just take the cloves, paper and all and plant 1/4" deep. Just push them in the ground. Push the flat end into the soil and leave the pointy end up, just below the surface.

We use old plastic containers.

You just fill the container with fairly rich soil and plunk the cloves in there. The green tops are tougher than scallions but they have a nice light garlicky flavor.

Mediterranean bay leaves have a wonderful fragrance

We like real Mediterranean bay leaves which are not the same as the bay laurel we get from California.

The California laurel has a eucalyptus aroma but the Mediterranean ones are mild and flowery.

Rosemary is really pretty when the little blue flowers show up!