Growing Great Garlic at Home

Once, when I was a kid, I made my mom pass out with my dragon breath.

Okay, she didn’t really pass out, but pretended to faint against the wall. And it wasn’t truly dragon breath - it was garlic breath! Close enough, right? There are some who worry about garlic breath, but truthfully I have loved this flavor since I was a little kid! Now as an adult I can appreciate the possible health benefits, including links with improving cholesterol, blood pressure and fighting cancer-causing cells. Thank goodness it is easy to grow! And once you start growing your own garlic you’ll be able to grow it from your own supply year after year. Let’s talk about some of the tricks to growing this fantastic food. 

Choose your garlic type

When it comes to choosing your garlic the first choice you’ll need to make is choosing between growing hardneck or softneck garlic.

Hardneck garlic is a great crop for northern areas, as it requires a greater cold period. This is also the variety that forms garlic scapes, those green curlies you might have seen growing at the top of garlic. You’ll want to remove these so the entirety of the plant’s energy is directed to bulb formation. But good news! You can cook these scapes - they have a very mild flavor and are wonderful added to dishes you would add garlic to.

Softneck garlic does well in southern states, and although you don’t get tasty scapes from it, it does store longer than hardneck variety, usually keeping for around 6-9 months (vs just 3-6 months for hardneck). You might have also heard of elephant garlic - interestingly enough this is actually in the family of leeks! So we won’t be focusing on this one today.

Start with a high quality - and good-sized - bulb

Once you know which type of garlic you want to grow, you’ll need to purchase from a high quality source. Although it’s possible to grow garlic from the grocery store, these have usually been treated with a product to prevent sprouting, and so they’re less likely to give you successful garlic in your garden. Each clove of a garlic bulb will yield an entirely new bulb. And keep in mind - the larger the clove you plant, the larger will be your garlic bulb at harvest time! As excited as I’m sure you are to get growing just be sure you don’t separate the cloves from the bulb until you’re ready to plant - you don’t want them to dry out if separated too early. Be sure to leave the paper wrappers around the cloves, as this helps to protect them at planting.

Plant garlic in the fall

The first thing to help you be successful in growing garlic in your home garden is to get the timing for planting right. While most people think of growing in their garden during the warm seasons, garlic is actually best started in the fall, about 4 weeks before your first frost. The cool temperatures of fall and winter are a major clue to the plant to start forming bulbs and dividing into separate cloves (known as vernalization). If you miss fall planting time you can try a very early spring planting, although there’s a chance the clove won’t divide and grow any larger. If you do decide to go this route try a soft-neck garlic, as these don’t require as much of a cold period. 

Plant in loose soil, with good mulch

Make sure your chosen growing area has loose soil, giving the clove plenty of room to grow. You’ll also want to make sure the soil is well-draining - if it holds moisture you could risk your cloves rotting. Plant cloves with the pointy end up, about 2 inches deep and 2-4 inches apart, and in rows about 1 foot apart. And although garlic likes a cold spell over winter, you’ll still want to provide a couple inches of mulch; in areas with really cold winters use 4-6” of mulch cover. The mulch will help to protect the bulbs from crazy shifts in winter temperatures, retain moisture, and help to prevent weeds in the spring.

Harvest at the right time

It can be tricky to know when garlic is ready to harvest, because you can’t see that beautiful bulb below the surface! But if you watch the leaves they’ll tell you when it’s ready to harvest. Each leaf above the ground that you see is a layer of the papery wrapping that protects the cloves. Some growers recommend to watch for the ends of the leaves to begin to yellow and turn brown, while others wait until half of the leaves growing have turned brown. I personally aim to harvest when the bottom 2-3 leaves have gone brown and dried up, and the ends of the remaining leaves are beginning to age. Just make sure to harvest before all the leaves have died (and your protective wrapper has gone away!). When you’re getting close to harvest stop watering for about a week prior. When you go to collect your bounty gently shovel or scoop the dirt away from the bulb, being careful not to damage it (I use my gloved hands to move the dirt away from the bulb), and then gently pull the bulb free. Once you’ve harvested just use your hands to gently wipe away the dirt from the bulb, but DON’T use any water to wash them, to keep them from getting any fungus growth.

Cure and then store your garlic

Your garlic is okay to be used fresh as soon as it’s harvested, but if you want to store it longer-term then you’ll want to cure it. To do this lay the bulbs out in a sheltered area, away from rain and out of sun, where they can dry out for 2-3 weeks and cure. After that you can trim the roots, remove the outer dirty wrapper, and then store in a cool, dark, dry spot in your home.

Save some bulbs for next year

And as tempting as it is to eat all that yummy garlic up quickly be sure to save some for planting next season! Remember - planting the largest cloves from the largest bulbs will help you to get an excellent crop in the future. Once you get started you’ll be able to grow your own garlic year after year. 

Will you be growing garlic in your home garden? Let us know in the comments below!