Garlic Planting / Growing Info
NOTE: There are many ways to grow vegetables and by no means will our system work in every garden. There is so much to know about soil health and the ecosystem that you steward in your own unique back yard garden. That is what makes growing food, and specifically garlic, such a rewarding adventure. This is how we grow our garlic on our farm and have found it to yield constant results year after year. We hope you experiment and become knowledgeable in soil microbiology, garlic varieties, and share with us your successes and also any failures. Let's all continue to learn together. Happy garlic growing!
GROWING INFO:
- Row Spacing: 1 foot
- In-Row Space: 6 inches
- Depth: 2 inches
- (For us) Anytime in October before the ground freezes solid.
The largest bulbs usually have the largest cloves, and those large cloves will produce the largest bulbs again the following year. We make sure to set aside our largest bulbs each season before we sell, eat, etc any of them. We estimate how many we want to plant, then divide by 5 for hardneck and 8 for softneck varieties to see how many actual bulbs to set aside for our following years seed stock. Once we’re ready to plant, we break apart all of the bulbs that we set aside for seed and then again, sort for the largest cloves. The smaller cloves that don’t get planted are perfect for dehydrating and turning into garlic powder for the winter, or pickling, etc.
In SE Idaho where our farm is located, zone 4b, we plant in (give or take) mid October before the ground complete freezes and also after most of our outdoor crops have finished. The snow usually sticks and stays around the 10th of November so its about 1 month before that. Our gardens are done in a no-till method, so once they are established we don’t till them. We just clip the old plants out at ground level, add a 1-2’’ layer of compost, rake smooth, and then re-plant with the next crop. The compost is used to feed the soil life and add organic matter to the soil surface. Once we have a clean surface of fresh compost we string our rows (3 rows on a 3’ bed is what we’ve found to work best in our context), run a tape measure down the row, then use a dibber (which is just a 1.5’’ down with a point and handle) to make the holes. Once the garlic is planted, we then mulch over it with an organic hay. The hay will help retain moisture through the fall, continue to feed the spoil life, and insulate the newly planted garlic against temperature swings until the ground is completely covered by snow.
In the spring, the garlic beds are the first to spout nearly as soon as our snow melts. Once the garlic is about 6-8’’ tall, we add another layer of compost on top of the hay mulch layer. This additional compost will give the garlic and soil life lots of nutrients to thrive all season long. It also suppresses most of the weed seed that may be in the hay, and additionally locks in the hay layer as a great moisture retainer. (The worms love it right there and also add their castings as a great natural fertilizer).
Like any garden, everyone has their own methods and this is what we’ve found to work best in our context. We don’t use fertilizers nor do we use a rototiller after our beds are first established. Additionally, in 2021 we will be implementing another technique to help boost the quality of our garlic crop. We plan on alternating 2 beds of garlic with 2-3 beds of our regular annual veg production throughout our entire farm. There is research to support diversity in the garden can and will improve yield and plant health. As well as information (which you can find online or in books / podcasts) stating that interplanting or alternating rows of crops based on their fungal connections and the nutrients they excrete will not only promote health but also allow the plants to access water during periods of drought via micro-rizal connections. (again, please do your research and adopt what you want based on your context).
Regardless, we aim to grow the most nutrient dense crops possible and use a beyond organic method of no chemical fertilizers. We make our own compost and that is the base of all of our garden production. If you have interest in learning more about no-till growing, please let us know. We recommend checking out Charles Dowding on YouTube, as well as the No Till Growers YouTube channel and their podcast. They are great resources and will be a wealth of knowledge regardless of your gardening methods.
Thanks again for supporting our small farm and for choosing to buy your seed garlic from us! We’re trialing over 20 new varieties right now and hope to offer many of them in the coming years.
Happy gardening!
Josh
GROWING INFO:
- Row Spacing: 1 foot
- In-Row Space: 6 inches
- Depth: 2 inches
- (For us) Anytime in October before the ground freezes solid.
The largest bulbs usually have the largest cloves, and those large cloves will produce the largest bulbs again the following year. We make sure to set aside our largest bulbs each season before we sell, eat, etc any of them. We estimate how many we want to plant, then divide by 5 for hardneck and 8 for softneck varieties to see how many actual bulbs to set aside for our following years seed stock. Once we’re ready to plant, we break apart all of the bulbs that we set aside for seed and then again, sort for the largest cloves. The smaller cloves that don’t get planted are perfect for dehydrating and turning into garlic powder for the winter, or pickling, etc.
In SE Idaho where our farm is located, zone 4b, we plant in (give or take) mid October before the ground complete freezes and also after most of our outdoor crops have finished. The snow usually sticks and stays around the 10th of November so its about 1 month before that. Our gardens are done in a no-till method, so once they are established we don’t till them. We just clip the old plants out at ground level, add a 1-2’’ layer of compost, rake smooth, and then re-plant with the next crop. The compost is used to feed the soil life and add organic matter to the soil surface. Once we have a clean surface of fresh compost we string our rows (3 rows on a 3’ bed is what we’ve found to work best in our context), run a tape measure down the row, then use a dibber (which is just a 1.5’’ down with a point and handle) to make the holes. Once the garlic is planted, we then mulch over it with an organic hay. The hay will help retain moisture through the fall, continue to feed the spoil life, and insulate the newly planted garlic against temperature swings until the ground is completely covered by snow.
In the spring, the garlic beds are the first to spout nearly as soon as our snow melts. Once the garlic is about 6-8’’ tall, we add another layer of compost on top of the hay mulch layer. This additional compost will give the garlic and soil life lots of nutrients to thrive all season long. It also suppresses most of the weed seed that may be in the hay, and additionally locks in the hay layer as a great moisture retainer. (The worms love it right there and also add their castings as a great natural fertilizer).
Like any garden, everyone has their own methods and this is what we’ve found to work best in our context. We don’t use fertilizers nor do we use a rototiller after our beds are first established. Additionally, in 2021 we will be implementing another technique to help boost the quality of our garlic crop. We plan on alternating 2 beds of garlic with 2-3 beds of our regular annual veg production throughout our entire farm. There is research to support diversity in the garden can and will improve yield and plant health. As well as information (which you can find online or in books / podcasts) stating that interplanting or alternating rows of crops based on their fungal connections and the nutrients they excrete will not only promote health but also allow the plants to access water during periods of drought via micro-rizal connections. (again, please do your research and adopt what you want based on your context).
Regardless, we aim to grow the most nutrient dense crops possible and use a beyond organic method of no chemical fertilizers. We make our own compost and that is the base of all of our garden production. If you have interest in learning more about no-till growing, please let us know. We recommend checking out Charles Dowding on YouTube, as well as the No Till Growers YouTube channel and their podcast. They are great resources and will be a wealth of knowledge regardless of your gardening methods.
Thanks again for supporting our small farm and for choosing to buy your seed garlic from us! We’re trialing over 20 new varieties right now and hope to offer many of them in the coming years.
Happy gardening!
Josh