I am thrilled to say that my new book has been released and is in bookshops and can be purchased online from my website shop . If you would like your copy signed to a specific person, then send me an email through the contact page. I’ll be talking about garlic and the book on radio over the coming weeks and there will be reviews in newspapers and magazines, so keep an eye out for them.

The book has taken me three years to write, but has been much longer in it’s gestation. It covers everything from more than 50 different cultivars of garlic, to 
guidelines for growing organic garlic around the country as well as interviews with
 twelve Australian garlic growers telling you how and where they grow their garlic.
 There are also recipes for cooking, preserving and smoking garlic and even making your own black garlic as well as medicinal uses and an extensive list of growers and suppliers.

This book starts to make sense of the confusion surrounding garlic and explains that garlic is not just garlic, it is Creole, Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Turban, Silverskin and more.

These are a couple of short extracts from the book, starting with Garlic ThoughtsPushing my fingers into the soil I pull back the dirt and feel the surface of the hidden bulb. The cloves are well-formed, so I know it is ready to harvest. I slide the fork underneath and unearth this compact, beautiful parcel of close-fitting packages of sweet, nutty, biting perfection. I know that in a few weeks, like unwrapping a birthday present, I will split open the papery white skins to reveal the glossy red cloves inside. And when these skins are removed they’ll release the creamy white flesh of odiferous wonder. A chemical miracle, thousands of years old. It has such an impact on all our culinary adventures and increasing importance in maintaining good health. Is it any wonder that garlic is my favourite edible plant?

And this is from the chapter on Growing Garlic

Purple artichoke, 'Violetta'

Artichokes (Cynara scolymus) are striking plants that are both beautiful and useful. The arching soft grey green leaves and huge vibrant purple thistle flowers make a dramatic statement and add structure and contrast foliage. But they do take up a lot of space so make sure you’ve got plenty of room before planting. These short lived perennials are native to the Mediterranean region and take about 6 months from planting until they produce flower buds. The most readily available cultivars are Green globe, Violetta and Imperial Star.
Artichokes can be grown from seed but seed germination is often patchy and the quality varies enormously, so it is better to grow new plants by purchasing one or detaching and replanting a rooted offset. To remove offsets push a spade down carefully between the main stem and the offset so that you remove the small plant with leaves and roots. Trim off any outer leaves and woody roots and replant. Artichokes are best planted in mid to late winter in frost-free areas, or spring where there are frosts.

Planting and Growing
Artichokes do best in temperate regions with warm summers and mild winters. They will grow in the sub-tropics but may need to be put into raised beds so they don’t get too wet. They won’t grow in the tropics.
Artichokes stay in the same position for several years so soil preparation is important. They do best in sunny position in good sandy soil, enriched with compost and well-rotted manure. The soil needs to be slightly alkaline so add some dolomite before planting and some potash to ensure prolific flowering. Make sure they have plenty of space, as they reach a height of 1.2-2m and can be 1.5m across. Protect young plants from frost during winter by loosely covering with straw or bracken, pull this away once the weather warms up.
Water well when young and mulch with straw or hay. Mulch again in autumn and, once the leaves start to yellow, cut back the whole plant to just above the ground. The following spring several new plants will grow around the base of the old stem. These can be left to grow, or one or more detached and replanted. If a couple are detached each year you will always have new artichokes to replace any that die. The more care each plant gets the better the yields will be but I find artichokes to be tough, easy to grow plants that once established don’t need much attention

Flower buds of Violetta just after harvest.

Green Globe artichoke flower buds

Harvesting
The peak harvest time is spring, but harvesting will continue sporadically through summer and then there may be another flush of flowers in autumn. Always pick flower buds before they begin to open, with a few centimeters of stem attached. I love the very young tender buds so I begin harvesting quite early. These buds are more tender and don’t need to have the ‘choke’ removed.
Pests and diseases
Artichokes are pretty much pest and disease free, except for crown rot if they are grown in regions with high humidity. The only way to combat this is to grow them in raised, very well-drained beds, and only water at ground level.

The striking flower attracts beneficial insects into the garden.

Using
Artichokes make great windbreaks in bigger gardens and when in flower they are very attractive to beneficial insects, especially ladybirds, but their main attraction is the delicious edible nutty-flavoured flower head.
Many people grow artichokes but are then not sure when to harvest and how to eat them. They are often put off by the idea of the hairy ‘choke’ made up of immature florets and so named because if you eat it, it can cause you to choke. The edible parts are the lower portions of the leaves (technically involucral bracts) and the base or ‘heart’ of the flower.
Medicinally, eating artichokes aids digestion, strengthens the liver and gall bladder and reduces the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol.
Preparing and eating
There are many ways to prepare and eat artichokes, but the following is the simplest. Pick the flower buds and leave them whole with the stem attached. Place them in a saucepan half filled with water. Add salt to the water and leave the lid off. Boil until a sharp knife pushed into the centre enters easily (about 20 minutes). If you are preparing artichokes before you want to cook them then leave them soaking in water to which some lemon juice or vinegar has been added. This will stop them going brown.

Once cooked, to eat them, remove the outside ‘leaves’ one at a time and dip the base into butter, salad dressing, lemon or aioili. Using your teeth, scrape the flesh from the base of the leaf and discard the rest. When you get to the ‘heart’ remove the cap at the centre. The ‘choke’ is just below. If the ‘choke’ is very fibrous  (in older/larger flower buds) then remove this and discard, then eat the rest of the heart and stem. If it is a young flower head the choke will not have developed so the whole of the heart is eaten.

Cooking artichokes. A cooked flower bud (right); a flower bud with the ‘leaves’ removed and the leaf bases eaten showing the cap over the ‘choke’ (middle); the cap removed to expose the ‘choke’ in the centre (left)

The choke, left, and the edible heart of the artichoke, right.

Rising costs have combined with anxiety about food security to create a critical moment for people considering growing their own food. Right on cue is “Vegies A-Z”. It’s the third OG special (after Getting Started, $10.00, and Fruit, $10.00). Vegies A-Z combines new material with recent OG articles from reliable writers. My quibble with this third volume is that there is not more on soil preparation, which is crucial. Perhaps that’s in Getting Started? Perhaps the three volumes need to be read seriatum, and would make a great gift, possibly to yourself. PW is a major contributor. — AMS.
Note: There is more on soil preparation in Getting Started which is unfortunately currently out of print. A reprint is planned for later this year
Borrow a copy from your library, buy one from your local newsagent or go to the store on this website and buy a copy online