Planting & Growing Garlic Part One

The best time to plant garlic in the mid-west is in the fall. Garlic is a very easy plant to grow and it is nice having your own supply, especially if you like to cook.

A little about garlic first: Garlic’s botanical name is Allium sativum. Garlic is in the Liliaceae Family. Onions, Leek, and Shallot are all in the same family.

The first year you will have to buy your garlic cloves to plant, but once you harvest your first crop you will be able to plant garlic the following year from your own yield. There three main types of garlic, Stiff-neck, Soft-neck, and Elephant. Stiff-neck has fewer cloves but is generally larger and easier to peel. Soft-neck has many smaller cloves but is harder to peel. Elephant is the mildest of the garlic and is used a lot for stews; garlic mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. The smaller you cut up garlic the stronger the flavor. This is true for your Stiff and Hard – necked varieties.

Plant your garlic in the fall before the first hard freeze in a location that receives full sun. Garlic is a bulb similar to tulips and needs time to grow in the warm weeks before frost to germinate and get their roots started. It is okay if they sprout up before frost. Be sure to water them in well in the fall. The soil should be well drained and have plenty of organic matter (Compost). You should plant Stiff-neck or Soft-neck cloves about 2 inches deep and 4-6 inches apart. Elephant should be 3-4 inches deep and 6-8 inches apart. Use only the biggest cloves for planting; they produce bigger bulbs for harvest. Do not break the gloves off of the bulb until you are ready to plant. Before the ground freezes, mulch the garlic in. Shredded leaves work great to protect the garlic cloves during the winter months. The mulch helps keep an even temperature; it also helps with retaining moisture and controlling weeds! It acts like a warm blank for the garlic during our cold Iowa winters.

There is nothing more to do till spring so we will pick up with the rest of growing garlic in the spring.