Grow Your Own Garlic, For the Love of Garlic

For the Love of Garlic

Did you know that Garlic is more than just a delicious additive to food? Garlic is a key element in homemade tinctures like Garlic Honey and other herbal medicines. Garlic is a staple item in our pantry at Little Purple House. For the love of garlic, we started to grow our own!

How to Grow Garlic

Fall of 2016 is when we kicked off our first adventure with growing garlic. The cloves were organic and sourced locally. We separated the bulbs and selected the largest cloves to plant around mid-October (Little Purple House is in Zone 5b- planting dates may vary depending on location). We dedicated one raised bed worth of real estate for the project. Our soil was deep and friable, so it was an ideal location with good drainage and sun. We added amendments because garlic takes a long time to grow and we wanted to ensure the bulbs would have enough nutrition. Our goal is to use organic inputs when available. For our garlic, we dug 4″ trenches and added Coast of Maine Quoddy Blend Lobster Compost and Espoma Organic Garden-tone Herb & Vegetable food. We mixed in the inputs and spaced out the cloves 6″ apart, pointy side up /root end down. Last steps were covering up the cloves with 2″ of soil, lightly watered them in, and covered with a heavy layer of straw/hay for protection.

The Waiting Game

I’d say the most difficult part of growing garlic is waiting for it to grow. After planting the cloves in mid-October, we had to wait until early July to harvest! The milestones along the way are fun to observe and give you faith that the winter wasn’t too brutal on the cloves.

Spring will have small shoots pop out of the soil. Move some of the straw out of the way so the plant can get more sun and not stay too damp. Mid-May time is when the garlic scapes start to grow. This is a delicious bi-product of your garlic plant- the scape in it’s early growth can be cut and cooked! Don’t wait too long or it will get fibrous and too tough to chew. If you let this scape continue to grow, it will product little cloves and flower.

Harvest Time

In early July, you’ll probably start to see the bottom leaves browning, this is a sign your garlic bulbs are ready! Dig around the tops to see if they covers are white-ish. If so, dig them out and lightly brush off any extra dirt. The bulbs will need to dry out where it is warm, in a place with good air circulation and out of direct sunlight. Expect 2+ weeks depending on the temperature and conditions. The garlic bulb will have a dry, paper like covering and the leaves would have fully wilted. You can braid the garlic together or cut off the stems, leaving a short stub (1/2″) on the bulb to keep the paper and cloves protected and intact. Proper drying will allow your garlic bulbs to be stored in a cool, dry place for months!