Growing Garlic Tips
Choosing your garlic
Each individual clove is a seed and will grow into a bulb. You want to pick the biggest and best garlic seed. It will make a big difference at harvest time.Select only clean, disease free cloves. Plant the biggest cloves of each garlic bulb and eat the small cloves. You will need to separate the garlic cloves because you will plant individual cloves to make your garlic bulbs. To ensure larger bulbs at harvest, you should plant the largest cloves from the largest bulbs.
How much garlic do I need?
Generally you can plan for a 1: 4-7 return. So if you plant 1 pound in the Fall, you should harvest 4-7 pounds in the following Summer. Keep in mind that bulbs that have fewer cloves, will produce few bulbs. 1 clove grows into 1 bulb.
When planning your planting space, give at least 6" in all directions between bulbs.
The bigger bulbs going into the ground usually gives you bigger bulbs coming out of the ground. Order early to ensure you get our best bulbs. Big bulbs go out first, to our customers who ordered first.
When should I plant my garlic?
We plant 3-4 weeks after our 1st frost, but any time before the ground freezes will be fine. If you are in a cold climate, you should consider topping with a heavy mulch. Other good mulch options include: dried leaves, grass clippings, weed free straw, 2nd or 3rd cutting alfalfa, or even using no mulch but planting your garlic deeper (3-4").
How should I care for my garlic?
Plant in full sun and provide plenty of food and water throughout the growing period. You will taper water off after scaping to allow the soil to dry at harvest time.
WATER: Provide about 1" of water each week. Tapering the water off after scapes have been picked. Be careful to avoid too much water near harvest time.
SCAPING: Hard neck varieties of garlic will produce a scape. Scapes are a delicious Spring treat. Pesto or cook any way you would prepare asparagus: Roasted, grilled, stir fried, or in soups.
When should I harvest my garlic?
After your scapes have been picked your garlic will bulb and mature rapidly. Havest when approximately 60% of the leaves have turned brown.
This is part of the art of growing great garlic. Harvesting to soon and your bulbs will not reach their maximum potential for size.
What does it mean to "cure" my garlic harvest?
Cure your garlic out of direct sunlight in a place with lots of air flow such as an air porch, a cool garage, or an open barn or shed with a fan to encourage air flow. Keep garlic out of direct sunlight. This curing process generally takes 2-4 weeks depending on temperature and humidity levels.
When the garlic has fully cured, the top and roots should be trimmed and the dirty outer layers of bulb wrappers should be gently rubbed off.
How long will hard neck garlic store for?
Kept cool and in the dark you can expect your properly cured garlic to store for 6-8 months.
About the farmers
We are Mike and Stephanie Kress, first-generation farmers.
When we began our farming journey, we envisioned a place where we could grow high quality garlic for our family and friends. We had our first growing season at the end of 2019 and a successful fall harvest in 2020.
We have just begun this journey and we already have many ideas for this farm's future. When we move forward with these ideas, you will all be the first to know!
