It’s easy to try the many different varieties of garlic

In 1817, Frederick Ransom, a Dartmouth College student from South Woodstock, Vt., died of tuberculosis. Since no one understood germs or contagious diseases, the death of one family member usually meant the others would soon follow and the only answer was that the dead person was coming back as a vampire to kill the living. Frederick’s family dug up his body and burned his heart in a blacksmith’s forge. The vampire killing didn’t work and his mother, brother and two sisters died shortly after.

Perhaps they should have used garlic. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a traditional repellent for vampires as well as werewolves and even ghosts.

Grown for more than 7,000 years, this central Asia native is not only healthy, but easy to grow.

Fall is the best time to plant garlic. Wait for the soil temperature to drop to around 60 degrees F.

Just break a garlic bulb apart into individual cloves. Plant the cloves two to three inches deep about 6 inches apart. Be sure that the pointed end faces up.

Choose a well-drained site with soil that is neutral, neither too alkaline nor too acidic, ideally with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. For best results, work in compost or other organic matter. After planting, tamp the soil down firmly and water well to prevent air pockets. A straw mulch is a good idea.

Usually garlic is free from pests or disease, though it may be eaten by gophers.

There are two basic types of garlic, softneck garlic and hardneck garlic. Softneck grows best in warmer climates and is usually the type you find in grocery stores. Softneck garlic stores better than hardneck garlic.

Hardneck garlic, not surprisingly, has a firm, stiff central stalk. Hardneck garlic usually has fewer cloves than softneck types. Within the hardneck class are three distinct varieties: Rocambole, Porcelain, and Purple Stripe.

With over 600 varieties, try some of each for a wide range of tastes from hot and spicy to mild and almost sweet. Seed Savers Exchange has a wide selection of garlic for fall planting (www.seedsavers.org).

Plant it 2 inches deep at about 6 inches apart, cover it with a mulch of leaves, and let it go. It will grow up through the mulch. The mulch keeps the bed weed-free, leaving little for you to do until harvest time, which here in Zone 7 is early June.

Just like with other crops, you will find varieties that mature at different rates, spreading the harvest over several weeks if you planted them all.

In the spring, gently rake the mulch away and let your garlic grow. By midsummer or early fall the plants will reach a few feet tall.

To prevent breaking, dig up the bulbs rather than trying to pull them out of the ground. Harvest when the lower leaves begin to turn brown.

If you dig the bulbs too soon they will of course be smaller and not store as well as fully formed bulbs.

Never wash the garlic bulbs, but simply gently brush off any dirt. Let the bulbs dry or “cure” in a dry, shady area, perhaps in a garage or porch for several weeks. Many gardeners hang the bulbs from rafters or let them cure in hanging mesh bags.

After drying you can cut off the stalks or use them to braid the garlic into ropes. Garlic is one of the easiest crops for seed savers. Just keep your best bulbs to plant each fall.

As for the rest of the family of poor vampire Frederick Ransom? His surviving brother Daniel later wrote, “It has been related to me that there was a tendency in our family to consumption, and that I… would die with it before I was 30.” Luckily he was over 80 years old when he wrote that. Perhaps he was, after all, a garlic eater?