Growing Garlic

Start with a bulb of garlic that hasn’t been sprayed to retard sprouting.

Choosing Varieties

The general rule of thumb is hardneck garlic for Northern gardeners and softnecks for Southern. That said, we have friends who break that rule all the time without consequences. We love Kettle River Giant softneck garlic. It’s large, it stores for 9 months and it tolerates our heat and sandy soil.

Commercially available garlic (sold at supermarkets) is usually sprayed with a hormone to retard sprouting, so buy from your farmers market where you can ask the farmer if it’s been sprayed. You can also purchase seed garlic from online catalogs and local nurseries.

Timing

Garlic is best grown in fall and harvested the following late-spring. Here in Los Angeles, we plant in October. In places where the ground freezes, you can still plant in fall, but be sure to plant 6-8 weeks prior to your typical hard frost date.

Garlic can be grown in spring, the result is usually a smaller bulb. You can also harvest it as green garlic if you don’t want to wait for full maturity.

Amend Your Soil

Garlic likes loamy soil (don’t tell our first batch of garlic), so add plenty of compost before planting. Have mulch handy to cover bare soil after planting.

Break the bulb into cloves. Leave the paper sheath on.

Planting

We’ve read differing opinions about how deep to plant garlic, anywhere from 4″ deep to tips sticking out above soil surface. We plant our cloves 2″ deep. Here’s a good way to measure: Hold the tip (pointy end) of the clove between your thumb and forefinger. Push the clove into the soil until the second knuckle of your forefinger is at soil level. That’s it.

Spacing for garlic runs the gambit, too. Some plant 6″ apart, others 4″ apart. It’s really up to you. Most years we plant 4″ apart, but last year we suffered a horrible aphid infestation that took down our entire crop. This year, we’re giving our plants a little more breathing room for good air circulation–6″ apart.

Growing garlic is easy. It takes patience, but it's worth the space in your garden. — Growing garlic is easy. It takes patience, but it’s worth the space in your garden.

Mid-Season

Fertilize your plants with compost, worm castings or organic veggie fertilizer about 2 months after planting, and again in another month. Then visit our other blog posts (see above) to learn how to know when the crop is ready to harvest.

Garlic gets 24-30" tall, so plant it to the north of your shortest crops. — Garlic gets 24-30″ tall, so plant it to the north of your shortest crops.

Growing your own garlic is very satisfying. Dedicate a little space your growing your year’s supply this fall or spring.