Among many potential health applications of garlic, the best-documented use is prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders. It appears to work by preventing blood coagulation.

With the useful part hidden underground, garlic is unexciting in direct proportion to its value when harvested. The gray-green, bladelike leaves are solid and grow 1 to 2 feet (30 to 61 cm) tall; the tiny white or pinkish flowers, which pop out of a pointed, papery pouch in rounded clusters, are ho-hum even by allium standards. Many garlics developed for eating don’t bloom at all.

Provide full sun in a deeply worked bed of fluffy, generously amended, slightly acid soil that both retains moisture and drains well. Separating grass blades from garlic blades is tough, so get rid of the weeds before you plant bulbs.

Buy cloves intended for planting from a garden center or mail-order supplier — don’t plant supermarket garlic — and plant them, unpeeled, pointed end up, 2 inches (5 cm) deep and 5 inches (13 cm) apart. Side-dress the rows with compost and mulch to keep weeds at bay; mulch again after the ground is frozen.

When growth begins in spring, pull the mulch back. Clip off any flower stalks that appear so that the plant’s energy goes to the bulb. Dig garlic when the plants' leaves begin to turn brown; save the biggest, outer cloves for replanting.