It’s all in the soil, and the soil is it all.
If you have garlic underway and you think it is looking a little sad, tiered and stressed and not growing strongly, it may well be due to the soil.
Good healthy active soil should have worms and microbes living in it, and when picked up and squeaked in your hands, it should stick together into balls and break apart easily.
If on the other hand the soil is dry, particularly a few inches down, and just sifts through your fingers like sand, then it means that moisture is not being retained and the environment is not conducive to plants or the good small wrigglers, scrapers and crawlers that help bring it all to life.
If this is the case for you, it’s not difficult to address, just top dress by adding organic matter to the soil, so fertiliser, solid or liquid, and compost, building up the soil and helping to feed and activate it. You will not see immediate results, but just add light amounts of the organic matter each month, and over time your soil will be reborn, your plants (it’s not just the garlic that will benefit from this) will be revitalised, and the food on your table will be bigger, tastier and healthier. Delicious!
It's time to grow. Enjoy.
Peter.