Garlic is easy to grow, and late September through October is the best time to plant it.  

Choose a sunny part of your garden with good drainage and access to summer watering.

Prepare your garlic bed with lime to adjust the pH, and fertilizer such as kelp meal, bone meal, and/or rock phosphate to promote large bulbs, and some soil amendments such as compost or manure to support overall plant health. We sell a ready-to-go organic Garlic Fertilizer - just ask us.

When planting, separate each clove from the bulb, keeping the skin on. Plant each clove with the pointy tip facing up, 2 inches deep, and about 6 inches apart. We like to cover our garlic patch with the Japanese Maple leaves from our garden, but any disease-free leaves will make a great mulch.

From planting time to harvesting time at the end of July, you can rest, except for keeping your garlic patch clear of weeds.

However, just as your garlic grows again in the spring, a shot of organic fertilizer, like Liquid Fish or Liquid Kelp, can greatly increase the size of your garlic bulbs.

Next summer, watch for the delicious garlic scapes to form. You can remove these, sauté them, and serve them with pasta, or some people simply compost them. These curly tips are the flower stalks, and if not removed, they can reduce the potential size of your growing garlic bulbs.

Harvest time is July to early August. Gauge your harvest time by your garlic tops. Your garlic tops will start changing from green to yellow or brown, and they are ready to harvest when they are 2/3rds brown. Withhold watering for a week or two before you harvest.

To cure, place your harvested garlic, with the tops still on, in trays, ensuring each bulb has space around it and is out of the sun and rain. Your bulbs will cure in about two weeks. If you prefer, you can hang your garlic to cure it, also out of the rain and sun. I like photographing my harvest with the variety tags to easily compare the varieties.

To store your garlic, wipe the dirt from the bulbs with your hands, trim the tops to about 2 inches, and place them in cardboard boxes. Choose a cool, dry, and dark location, similar to where you store your potatoes & onions.

So whether you are a first-time gardener or a seasoned garlic fan, let's prepare for planting.

Shauna Lambeth ©

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