AlliumsAmaryllidaceae
Garlic.
The spec sheet.
- Direct sow / out
- Oct 10–25 (fall!)
- Germ
- Roots in fall, shoots in spring
- Days to harvest
- Harvest early–mid July
- Spacing
- 6" apart, rows 8"
- Depth
- 2"
- Square-foot
- 9 per square
- Qty target
- 60–80 cloves = a year of garlic for a big-cooking household.
Where garlic grows here.
This crop is planted in 1 bedright now. Click through to see the full layout and what it’s planted with.
Plant
Break bulbs into cloves (skins on), plant pointy-end up. Mulch 4" with straw immediately after planting.
Care
Nothing until spring. May–June: snap off curly scapes on hardnecks — doubles bulb size (scape pesto!). Stop watering 2 weeks before harvest.
Harvest
When bottom 3–4 leaves are brown but 5–6 are green. Loosen with fork, never pull. Cure 3 weeks dry/airy/shaded. Save biggest bulbs for seed.
Cured heads keep 6–9 months at room temp. Also: fermented honey garlic, pickled cloves, garlic powder, frozen minced cubes.
What garlic likes, and doesn’t.
- Peas
- Beans
Garlic planted in fall near tomato/strawberry beds and harvested in June makes excellent use of off-season bed space; deters whiteflies, Japanese beetles, carrot rust fly.