How to Plant Seed Garlic
Each clove in the garlic bulbs you see at the supermarket is capable of sprouting into a full-grown garlic plant; that is, it would if it hadn't been treated to sprout. Because of these treatments, planting supermarket garlic will get you unpredictable results at best. You'd do much better to purchase seed garlic, bulbs specifically cultivated to grow more garlic plants, from a farmer's market or a professional grower. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Plan to plant your garlic in mid- to late-September, or one to two weeks after the first hard frost in your climate zone.
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Break each bulb apart into its component cloves starting from the top (the pointed, papery end). Save the largest unblemished cloves for planting; use the smaller ones for food. Do this just before planting for the best results.
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Plant your garlic in well-drained, nutrient-rich soil that receives full sun. Dig a small hole about 2 inches deep with your fingers. Insert a single clove into it, pointy end up. Then fill the displaced soil back into the hole.
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Repeat every 6 to 8 inches down the row. You can also mix garlic in with other foliage or vegetables; its slender leaves grow vertically, don't take much space and look nice when paired with other plants.
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Add 2 to 4 inches of mulch (chopped up dead leaves and alfalfa hay are good mulching materials) over the planted garlic to help protect it from extreme temperature changes throughout the winter.
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Ignore the planted garlic throughout the winter.
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Start watering it moderately once the shoots grow above ground. Plan to cut the scapes--the looping portions of the plant's central stalk--from the garlic plants near the end of May, or when they've grown into one or two loops; this helps produce larger bulbs, and you can steam the scapes and serve them as a vegetable with dinner.
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Expect to harvest your garlic in July or August, depending on the climate.
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