How to Grow and Harvest Garlic

Large garlic cloves product large bulbs in only months.

There are two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Softneck garlic tends to keep longer than the hardneck varieties. The names came about from how the cloves grow. Hardneck garlic has cloves growing around a hard flower stem. Softneck garlic has more cloves with bigger ones around the outside of the head of garlic and smaller ones in the center. Varieties in grocery stores tend to be softneck but both types are easy to grow in the home garden and useful in the kitchen.

Instructions

1. Plan to plant garlic in the fall in the cool parts of the country. Time the planting for three weeks before the first average frost date for your area. The garlic overwinters and produces a healthy crop the following summer. In warm climates, spring planting is possible, however hardneck varieties should be chilled for about three weeks in a cool, dry place at a temperature of 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit before planting.

2. Prepare a garden bed in an area with good drainage. Garlic grows best in fertile garden soil. Place a generous amount of compost over the area prepared for planting and mix it in with the soil.

3. Separate the garlic cloves gently just before planting. Choose the large cloves for planting. Each one will produce a good-sized bulb. Don't plant the smallest cloves; set them aside for eating. They won't produce large bulbs.

4. Place the cloves four inches apart. Hold each clove pointed end up and push it into the soil about two inches deep. Rake the soil to fill in the holes where you pushed down the cloves in the ground. Smooth the soil surface. After a month or so, apply mulch to the planted area.

5. Weed the garlic bed regularly. Garlic does not like competition.

6. When the garlic starts to grow, fertilize the bed. Fertilize again in another month or two. Do not over water garlic plants. When the soil in your garden feels dry at least an inch below the surface, it's time to water. Stop watering when the garlic plants form heads.

7. When the plants have five or six green leaves, with a few beginning to turn brown, it is time to harvest. Drive a garden fork beneath each plant, being careful not to damage the bulb. Gently pry loose and pull out the bulb. Shake off any excess soil.

8. Move harvested plants to an airy location that is protected from the sun and rain. To remove soil clinging to the bulbs of garlic, use a new nailbrush or new toothbrush.

References

• Garlic Central: Growing Garlic in the Home Garden

Resources

• The Garlic Store: Certified Organic Garlic Seed