7 Reasons You Should Grow Your Own Garlic This Year

Growing garlic may look boring if you’re outside looking in. You don’t interact with it much through the growing season, and it’s not exciting on the surface. But once you dive deep into the nuances of various flavors, aromas, and oils, you’ll see that each variety has unique qualities and is best for different dishes to enjoy in multiple ways.

This culinary favorite is one of the oldest crops cultivated, dating back over 5,000 years. Research shows that it’s antimicrobial and antifungal, has antioxidant properties, and is believed to boost immunity. It contains manganese, calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B1. Plus, it’s delicious! 

If you’re still deciding whether to order seed garlic, join me as I share seven reasons you should grow this crop this year. Order it in late summer so it will arrive in time for fall planting!

Versatility  

There are two main types of this iconic crop: hardneck and softneck. While softnecks are often sold in grocery stores for their stellar storability, hardnecks offer flavor complexities and spiciness that a home grower may want to explore.

• Zones 0 through 8: Many hardneck varieties perform well in colder regions and require a long vernalization period.
• Zones 8 through 12: In contrast, softneck varieties do well in the southern areas.

Pro tip: If you’re a southern grower but want to give hardneck varieties a shot, store it for four to eight weeks below 40°F (4°C) before sowing to mimic a natural vernalization period. 

Softneck bulbs contain smaller cloves in large quantities, 10 to 40 per bulb, whereas hardneck bulbs may be the size of your palm and contain just four or five cloves. While you can braid both types for drying and decorations, it’s easiest to braid softneck varieties, as their stalks are more pliable, as the name suggests. 

‘Music’ is well-known and loved for its flavor versatility, cold hardiness, and beautiful white color. Microplane it raw into salad dressings and vinaigrettes, or chop it up and add it to cooked meals. It’s robust but not overly spicy. If you want something a bit sweeter, perfect for roasting, go with ‘Chesnok Red.’ They perform well across zones and will store well into the spring. 

Storability 

Most varieties can last up to six months when grown, cured, and stored correctly. I don’t know about you, but this ingredient is the base of most home-cooked meals, so having it on hand all winter is lovely. Our goal each year is to store enough to make it until spring alliums are ready to harvest. After that comes scapes, fresh cloves, and then voila, we’re back to curing and storing! 

If you fail to pick scapes on time, the plant’s energy remains in the above-ground seedhead, which leads to improper formation of the bulb underground. However, leave a few stray scapes on the plant to help you determine the best time to harvest. It’s time to pick when they transition from goose-neck-shaped to pointing straight to the sky, and the leaves are dying back. 

Most hardneck varieties will keep for three to six months, whereas softneck types like ‘Inchelium Red’ may last up to a year under ideal conditions. Store cured bulbs in a dark space with a relative humidity of 45 to 50% between 40 and 55°F (4 and 13°C). 

Pro tip: Only purchase seed garlic from reputable sources. Ask if they treat their seed cloves with sprout inhibitors. Garlic purchased from the grocery store may have been previously treated, so using it in the garden can be dicey. Using treated cloves may affect the production and overall success. Our sister company Botanical Interests offers untreated, organic seed garlic!

You Don’t Need A Lot of Space

Garlic doesn’t ask much of us; you can plant a lot in a small space. But it must have enough organic matter and nutrients. Since this crop is in the ground for a long time and matures for many months, it requires lots of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and compost. 

Experiment with various spacing, hilling methods, and mulching, and keep notes on the results. We planted cloves four across with 8-inch spacing for many years and yielded large bulbs. We have since experimented with closer spacing, adding more compost and heavy mulch to keep the weeds down, and have similar outcomes. The final bulbs are just as substantial when planted five across as when we plant them at four. 

I mentioned that this crop grows best in well-draining, loamy soil, but you can grow garlic successfully in raised beds if you don’t have great-quality soil or only a small garden space to work with. Watching the green tops pop up in the spring, often the season’s first crop, is a joy!

Easy and Low-Maintenance 

When summer crops have completed their life cycle or cover crops have been terminated, prepare beds or a plot specifically for this crop. Spread amendments and a hefty amount of compost, and have straw bales ready for mulching. Then, using a tape measure, garden gridder, or a rake with plastic tines, create a grid so you know to plant each clove. Alternatively, make a small trench with the handle of a wooden-handled tool about an inch deep and two inches wide. 

When to Plant

Keep your eye on the forecasted weather, and plan to sow cloves (“seed garlic”) at least two weeks before the first frost. If you plant too early, leaves will begin to sprout above the ground, leaving your plants vulnerable to the frost. The goal is to transplant them with enough time for a healthy root system to establish before going dormant for the winter months. Avoid planting once the ground has frozen. 

How to Plant

Place one clove root-side down every four to six inches or so. The direction you place the clove is crucial to its success, so be sure you get this step right. Leave the outer skin on to protect it once in the soil. Naked cloves are more prone to rotting in the ground. Discard any that are dried or have dark discolorations.

Fill in the trench, tamp down the soil, label your rows with varieties, irrigate, and then mulch. Mulch should be heavier in colder growing zones to protect the new roots and suppress weeds.

Now, just sit back and enjoy your winter! The moisture from winter rain or snow should be plenty. If you experience a brief warm-up in the spring, use this opportunity to remove the mulch, fertilize, and gently run a hoe through the bed to kill annual spring weeds that may have emerged. If more cold weather is in the forecast, add the mulch back on until summer temperatures arrive. 

Enjoy a Bonus Crop

If you join the millions of gardeners and farmers who grow hardneck varieties, you’ll also enjoy the summer seasonal treat of garlic scapes! This crop has two potential ways of producing seeds. One is the bulb, and the other is a scape. 

The center of the plants produces a long, slender protrusion around June called a scape, and if left alone, will send out true seeds. We snap these so the plant sends energy back into the bulb, but many growers aren’t aware of scapes’ culinary excellence! 

Scapes are a sweeter, less harsh version of its bulbing brother. Use them raw in salad dressings, throw them whole on the grill, or add them to your pesto for a lighter version of late-season pesto. 

Keep Soil Covered

Growers should try to avoid bare soil at all costs. Wind, rain, snowmelt, and general traction cause erosion, compaction, and loss of topsoil and expensive nutrients. 

Growing garlic is a wise way to keep your gardens covered in the “off-season.” Keep all ground covered, rotating between garlic and cover crops to keep your soil in tip-top health. Garlic is a heavy feeder, so replenish the nutrients taken once harvested. Feeding the soil will feed your crops, reducing the external inputs required for healthy soil. 

Repurpose the mulching material used to cover their garlic in the winter to keep weeds down in the paths throughout the year. Add it to a compost pile or leave it to break down and add fertility to the soil. 

Growing Garlic is Fun! 

One of the best reasons why you should grow garlic is because it’s simply rewarding! I’m always amazed at how well it performs with simple nutrients, ample rainfall, and heavy winter straw mulch. It’s one of my favorite things to care for in the spring after the snow melts, and I look forward to the seasonal delight, scapes, and, of course, harvest day. 

There’s something about walking around the barn, dodging rungs of drying garlic. I think about how many hundreds of years this crop has cured this way, and I feel connected to growers of the past. 

Also, what’s amazing about growing garlic once you get the hang of it is that you can save enough garlic seed to replant the following year, eliminating your reliance on garlic seed companies! Remember to save the largest, healthiest, and most well-cured cloves as planting stock.

Save more than you think you’ll need; if you have leftovers, add them to a pile to use in the winter or gift them to friends. If you end up with more than enough, blend some into a powder and give it as a unique Christmas or housewarming gift, or pickle some for charcuterie boards.