Garlic is an incredibly versatile plant — perfect for pastas, soups, or even eating in clove form to ward off a cold (or vampires).
And thanks to the help of TikToker Anh Lin (@girlandtheword), you now have an easy way to grow a bounty of them — all within the comfort of your own home and garden.
@girlandtheword If you plant garlic in succession, you'll never have to buy it again! 😊 Go to my Amazon storefront for all of my FAVE gardening supplies! 👍🏼
♬ original sound - Anh Lin (GirlandTheWord) 🏡
The scoop
To start, cut off the tips of some garlic bulbs, which makes them sprout faster. Then, place the garlic on a baking grid situated somewhere sunny.
Then, add enough water to wet the bottoms of the bulbs. Refill weekly as needed.
Soon, the bulbs will sprout and have strong roots. Once that happens, transplant the biggest cloves, and in about nine months, you'll have a massive harvest.
"You'll never have to buy garlic again," Anh says.
How it's helping
Though having and maintaining a garden might seem daunting, this hack just goes to show that it can be a simple and accessible activity.
And it can do wonders for mental and physical health. According to Mayo Clinic, gardening has been shown to lighten one's mood and to lower levels of stress and anxiety. Additionally, adding the routines of gardening to our day — like watering and weeding — can give life a soothing rhythm and ease our stresses. It can also be a great way to save money on produce.
Gardening has positive environmental impacts, too, as growing your own food in any amount reduces demand for mass-produced, store-bought, and globally shipped produce. According to the United Nations, about a third of all human-caused planet-warming gas pollution is connected to food, and the largest chunk of this comes from agriculture and land use.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers took to the comment section of Anh's hack to ask clarifying questions.
"So you eat the smaller cloves and plant the bigger ones?" one user asked.
"Yes absolutely!" Anh replied.
"What month do you plant them?" another inquired. "Warmer or colder weather."
"It depends on what kind of garlic you plant and where you live!" Anh said. "But generally it's planted in the [fall]."
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
