Onions, Leeks and Garlics

Perhaps one of the easiest plants to grow in the garden is onions. Onions do best when planted in sets rather than seeds, and thrive in a soil with a pH of about 6.5-7.0. Many varieties of onions exist, but you are most likely to encounter only three: Yellow onions, white onions and red onions. Of these, the yellow onion does the best. Others do not grow as well or to the size of the whites or reds. I usually start planting by preparing my planting bed. Around April (in Zone 6), I till the soil in my garden in the desired location. I will usually add a few shovels of dried or composted manureand turn it again. I will repeat this until the soil looks as if it has darkened by one shade from the rest of the soil around it. I then take newspapers and lay them out in the planting area, I lay them out flat, about 8 sheets thick. I do not use the glossy due to the ink content of the paper. I will then cover the newspaper partially in a layer of wood chips or hardwood mulch. This layer is to hold the paper down so it does not blow away while I am working with it. I then take my garden hose, and saturate the paper rather well, being sure not to soak the soil underneath. This is done by lightly watering the paper several times inside of a couple of hours, rather than all at once. I then take a sharpened stick and poke holes in the newspaper. My rows are about 3 feet wide. and I poke 4 holes side by side, about 10'' apart. The wet paper tears easily. You want to be sure to give the onions growing space. The more space you give, the larger your onions will grow. I go for medium onions, so this spacing is fine. I then take the onion sets and put them into the holes. there is no need to bother filling in the holes, just place the sets into the holes tail up until all of your holes are full. I then cover the entire bed in a nice thick layer of wood chips or mulch, about 2-3'' deep. I then water the entire bed. That is it. Rarely is any more maintenance required. I rarely even water them. At the end of your growing season just till the entire bed under after harvest. By the next year all of the mulch and paper will have broken down, and added nutrients to the soil. Planting this way, one may be able to get several plantings and harvesting in one season. Leeks are planted much the same way as onions, accept you want to harvest them before the green falls over.
Garlic is another story. Garlic should be seeded in the fall as early as possible. It starts to grow as soon as it is planted, but goes dormant during the winter months. This growing time is important to give the plant a good head start for spring. I grow elephant garlic, which is actually in the leek family but grows exactly the same as all other types of garlic. Like onions, you harvest garlic when the green dies, for elephant garlic, this is in mid-July. You will want to dig the heads up rather than pull them because they grip into the earth very well, and tend to grow deep. Simply save some of the cloves from one summers harvest and replant them. I usually harvest garlic every two years, to give the garlic more than enough time to grow and develop flavor. Garlic likes compost in the soil to loosen and add nutrients. If your soil is too hard your garlic bulbs will not develop. Likewise if your soil is too soft, the will not take root well. This is because the tops of garlic plants are very large and heavy.
Garlic and Onions are best served by composting rather than adding fertilizers and products like Miracle Grow later. This is because chemicals can easily be stored in the skins of the plant, which will not only damage the plant, but could damage you as well. Simply add some compost to the soil and till it in well before planting. That is all that is necessary.
I love fresh garlic and onions from the garden. Given how easy they are to grow, these plants are highly recommended for beginning gardeners.