Garlic is planted in late fall and harvested in mid summer.
Garlic is insanely easy to grow.
Even in suburban yards that are under siege from deer.
Deer and other pests won’t touch plants in the Allium family – garlic, onions, chives, shallots, scallions. These plants are just too aromatic for them to deal with.
Garlic requires little or no maintenance. Here’s all you need to do. Get a good, healthy head of garlic from your local organic farmer. Gently separate the head into cloves, try not to peel the thin papery husk from the garlic.
This is the time of year to plant garlic, it’s cold here in NY, but the ground has not yet frozen. Plant cloves 4″ apart and 2″ deep in a sunny spot where the soil drains well. I actually plant some of them in amongst the daffodils in the middle of my yard.
In the springtime, the shoots will emerge and grow. In the summer, you’ll want to cut and harvest the garlic scapes, which are buds for the flower. You don’t want your garlic to flower, you just want the plant to focus on building a big bulb instead.
A few weeks later in the summer, the tops will start to yellow. This is when you’ll want to gently remove the plant from the ground. Your single clove of garlic has now multiplied to a head with 4-6 good sized cloves.
Brush off excess soil and let the entire plant cure in a shady dry place for a couple of weeks. Once the bulbs of garlic are dry, you can trim off the stalks or braid them if you have the right variety of garlic (soft neck). Garlic will keep in a cool dry place for months.
Here’s another reason to grow your own garlic. Most supermarket garlic is imported from China. It has been sprayed with chemicals to keep the garlic from sprouting.
Once you get in the habit of growing your own garlic, branch out into the other members of the Allium family. Chives, shallots, scallions are crazy easy plants to grow.
Get your hands dirty and grow some food. It’s good for you and good for the planet too.
Garlic hanging to dry.
