This post was originally published on September 21, 2010.
There are a number of cool weather crops, like kale or cauliflower, that grow during our normally mild Pacific Northwest winters (more cool season planting ideas), but my heart belongs to garlic. You plant it in early fall (September/October), harvest it in mid-summer (July), and do very little in between. If you are looking to ease into this green thumb stuff, garlic is a great way to do it.
I planted mine this week. If you are interested in growing your own, here are a few simple steps & tips:
:: Buy full heads of garlic. I have heard that you want to buy local garlic so you have a guarantee it grows in your climate. Local farmers markets or produce vendors are your best bet. To be honest, my WinCo garlic grew just as well as my local farmers market garlic, but hey, why risk it? I picked up a couple heads of garlic from New Seasons this year.
:: Pop off the largest individual cloves. Leave them wrapped in their little papery coats. You should have about a 6-10 of the big outer cloves to plant from each full head of garlic. Larger cloves will produce larger heads; use the smaller cloves in the kitchen. I usually plant 3-4 heads of garlic for a few bucks.
:: Plant each garlic clove 6″ apart, covered with approximately 1-2″ of soil. Plant in an area of full sun with well-drained soil. I just loosen up the soil in one end of my raised bed and push the cloves in, papery end up, with my finger. It takes a whopping five minutes to plant a few heads of garlic.
I’ve read that the harder your area freezes, the deeper you want to plant the garlic cloves. If you live in a hard freeze area, you can plant them 3-4″ deep. If you’re planting elephant garlic, those big guys can go down even deeper.
:: Leave them alone. Garlic is a wonderfully low-maintenance crop. (This photo was taken in May, showing 8 months of growth.) The stalks will push through the soil in the next several weeks. Then those little green shoots will go dormant once the cold weather hits. They will stop growing and go into a winter hibernation. Even if the weather gets crazy, they should be just fine.
I live in the Willamette Valley where we generally have pretty mild winters. However, three years ago we had one for the history books. Remember? Arctic Blast ’08? My raised beds were covered in deep snowy blankets. I thought my garlic was toast. However, the snow melted and my resilient little garlic plants were still doing great.
:: Harvest and store the garlic. Around the middle of July, the stalks will be around three feet tall. The tops will start to die back and may go to seed, telling you the plant is done growing and it’s time to pick. Simply pull each head out of the ground. If your soil has become packed down, loosen the soil around the garlic heads first.
It’s like magic; that little clove you started with will now be a full head of garlic. I lay the stalks on my outdoor table and let them dry out a bit for a couple of days. Don’t rinse them with water, as the extra moisture can cause the heads to rot.
Then I cut off the green ends, brush off the dirt and one papery layer, cut off part of the roots, and stick them in a bowl or mesh bag. You could also leave the ends on, gather 3 stalks together and braid them. Hang the braided garlic in a cool, dry place like your basement or garage and cut off the heads as needed.
Are you planning to plant garlic this year? What other cool weather crops do you put in the ground now?
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For everything you ever wanted to know about garlic, check out The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks by Ted Jordan Meredith. I don’t consider myself a serious cook, as I actually own and use a garlic press (Gasp! I know.), but I will be adding this book to my cookbook collection anyway.
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How often do you water your garlic ?
I’ve wanted to grow garlic for a while now but I’ve always read how it can easily overtake a garden so I’ve not planted any. Have you had any trouble with it getting out of control???
Huh. I have no idea how that could happen. Garlic stays super contained; it just grows straight up!
So.. could I do this in a pot in my bay window? and maybe I just try one small one this year and see how it goes?
Perfect timing Emily! I just bought some garlic at the farmers market with the intent to plant it this year and this post was the perfect motivation to actually get it into the ground before I end up eating it all!
you’ve inspired me to try this! Thanks
I love your no nonsense blog. You give great gardening ideas. I grow most everything, and it’s great that you’re starting a new bunch of gardeners.
Hint: To plant garlic in pots, go deeper. The soil in pots will dry out if they’re under cover, leave them out in the rain.
I love your raised beds. I put hoops on mine too and I love it. Thank for the reminder about garlic.
what are the hoops for?
We stretched netting over the hoops to protect our strawberries from birds.
Do you think that would keep cats out, too? I didn’t have a problem 2 summers ago, but discovered neighborhood cats used my box as their own box all winter (and I didn’t plant anything this last summer because of it).
Garlic is pretty much pest proof, slug proof. Mine got some fungal diseases…the dreaded garlic rust. Haven’t tried it in pots but it should work as well as the roots are not very deep. It is an extremely low maintenance crop and very easy to do.
Do you know if it is discouraging to gophers-or at least does it not encourage them to visit? That would be great for me – I am careful not to plant any root crops they like.
Learned the hard way the first year I lived here with beets and carrots.
I got garlic rust 3 years ago so I sat out several seasons. I was able to grow it again this year. One thing I noticed is that my elephant garlic was not affected by the rust, I’m guessing because elephant garlic isn’t real garlic.
I highly recommend the book “Growing Great Garlic.” He has a lot of good tips in the book!
I found that there was a huge difference in the taste of gourmet garlic and store bought garlic. I was at the Hillsboro Farmer’s Market a number of years ago and found a grower selling a unique variety – Bavarian. When I tasted it, I knew I had a winner. It wasn’t too pungent and, in fact, when grilled it became sweet – imagine garlic candy! I cooked it with potatoes, salt, pepper, rosemary and olive oil in a foil package on the grill. It was to die for! Unfortunately, when I got the garlic rust, I lost all of my carry over product. You can get this and dozens and dozens of other varieties from We Grow Garlic in Wisconsin. They are great folks to deal with but sell out very, very quickly (like in early August).
I’m wondering about planting in pots too. Is garlic “slug proof”? I think I will give it a try this weekend 🙂 Sounds easy enough!
Would these work ok in pots? My only little “garden spot” is too rocky for actually growing anything I think.
Argh, brilliant! I’ve been wanting to grow garlic but have been a little lazy about figuring out how. I currently have brussel sprouts and carrots planted and thanks to the rain, have barely had to even think about them. 🙂
ohhh. how do you do brussel sprouts? We eat those like crazy!
I can’t say that I’ve done it well yet, but we planted them from seed about 3 weeks ago and they are growing like crazy. From what I read, the sprouts will grow above ground like mini-cabbages. I’m excited to see how they turn out!
How? Do you just eat them? I’d love to eat more but well.. need ideas on how to cook them!
Awesome tip! Thank you!
I’ve been thinking a lot about garlic the last couple of weeks. I want to plant it so bad, but I’m 8 months pregnant. I’m going to give it a try, 5 minutes on my knees won’t hurt me.
Thanks for this!