Growing Garlic

Growing garlic is a lot of fun, relatively straightforward and although there is a learning curve, it isn't too steep.  To help you out, you don’t need to spend three years learning garlic like we did, we want to share our experience with you and offer some advice, tips and tricks to make your garlic growing experience as fun and satisfying as possible. 

 

There are a few key things you want to consider to ensure you produce a great crop of garlic regardless of the scale of your operation.  You may plant your garlic in backyard pots, a boxed flower bed, directly into the ground or like us, on a slightly larger scale, in raised beds in a farm field.  We will continue to review and add more content to this page.  If you have any questions or comments, please email us.

 

​To help plan and simplify the garlic growing process, we developed the upback farms 5 Ps of garlic growing; steps to ensure you produce a great crop of amazing garlic.

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P1 - Prepare

You first need to PREPARE your soil. Don’t underestimate how important this first step is.  ​Garlic likes nutrient rich, loamy, well drained soil with lots of organic matter.  Garlic plants are "heavy" feeders so make sure your soil has sufficient nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash (K).  The easiest and most cost effective amendments for you may very well be, pre-bagged compost or prepared fertilizers.  If interested you can test your soil to determine which nutrients should be added.  The test kits are available at your local hardware store or garden centre and are a great little investment. In addition to nutrient testing, knowing the PH level of your soil can be just a crucial.  Garlic likes alkaline soil between 6.2 - 6.8.  Fortunately, PH level test kits are often part of the NPK soil testing kit.

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​Another important consideration is your garlic plot.  We plant our garlic in raised beds that are in full sun.  The raised beds help with drainage and makes it easier for us to pull the plants at harvest time.  Remember some garlic varieties are more resistant to soggy soil like Porcelain's Susan Delafield while others are not.

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​At UpBack Farms, we amend with all natural elements, such as aged manure, thanks to our team of poop machines, clover (red and white), buckwheat and mustard seed.

 

The last thing to mention here that doesn't deal with soil prep but its important to mention just the same.  Crop rotation is very import and you want to avoid planting garlic or other vegetables in the garlic family in the same bed year after year.  Rotation is beneficial to the soil and limits any diseases or pests that can set in without crop rotation.

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​P2 - Plant

It’s pretty obvious but the second “P” is all about how to PLANT your cloves.  ​Planting occurs in the Fall a few weeks before the frost stays and for us that's about mid October.  The first step in this process is to buy yourself quality seed garlic (SHOP).  Then you'll break up each bulb into individual cloves.  This is known as "Cracking" or as we like to call it, "Popping".  It's a fun activity but requires some time so if you are planting a lot of cloves plan accordingly. It’s been our experience that some varieties of garlic pop easier (i.e Porcelain) than others (i.e. Marble Purple Strip) and some clove skin may come off as a result of popping.  Don't stress, that's okay and hasn't resulted in any negative results to date.  Plant each clove roughly 2 - 3 inches below soil surface, pointy end up, and spacing between cloves of about 6 - 8 inches.  This has worked great for us but it can vary as clove sizes and your available space will vary.  What's important here is making sure your cloves have enough room to grow.  Then cover each clove with soil and press lightly.

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P3 Protect

For most of us Winter is not our favourite season and garlic is no exception.  Once your garlic is planted you will need to PROTECT those little cloves with some form of mulch.   We use straw as it's readily available, easy to use and makes an amazing weed suppressor in the Spring.  If you choose another mulching material that's wood-based, avoid anything containing dyes.  There are many debates about using a wood-based material as mulch since it uses nitrogen to break down, therefore stealing it from your garlic, however, this likely only applies if it's mixed into the soil opposed to on top of it like this application.  Regardless of who is right in this debate, just be aware so you can make the best informed decision.  And finally, should you be located in a dry part of the country, water your garlic before putting it to bed for the winter.  The bulbs will establish roots before going dormant for the winter so a little water may be needed.  We don't water our garlic in the Fall because we get sufficient moisture before winter sets in.

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​P4 Pluck

Come Spring you are going to need to PLUCK those pesky weeds. You’ll need to keep the weeds under control because weeds and garlic are all competing for the same nutrients, moisture and space to thrive.  While weeding be sure to inspect your crop and look for anything abnormal and remove any plants that didn't survive winter.  You may have to remove mulch around the plants that are unable to make their way through.

A lot of people ask about watering garlic and it can require 2 inches a week.  Take a small handful of soil form into a marble sized ball and squeeze it.  If it crumbles, your soil is dry and needs water.  If you can squeeze moisture from the ball of soil, you are okay for water.  Make sure that you check moisture levels on a regular basis and fertilize a couple of times before the plants start to grow scapes.  At that point, no more fertilizer is necessary.

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​P5 Pull

Come the middle to the end of July it’s gonna be time to PULL your garlic out of the ground.  We find this last step to be the most rewarding of all the steps…and quite frankly it’s really fun. Harvesting time happens in mid to late July, depending on the variety, about  three weeks after the scapes have been removed.  You will know it’s time to harvest when the bottom three leaves of the garlic plants have turned yellow and withered.  Carefully get a tool, like a garden fork, under the plant and slowly lift upwards, as the soil breaks away from the bulb, grab the plant and pull it out.  Gently remove any big clumps of soil and randomly inspect bulbs just to make sure they look full and healthy.

A straightforward process but a few things to be mindful of.  If the  ground is saturated due to recent rainfall, let the soil dry for a few days.  Better yet, harvest a few days early to avoid the extra moisture.  The time of day is also important as, you don't want to expose bulbs to direct sunlight or have the bulbs touch hot surfaces i.e. metal.  This can "cook" the bulbs and can have a negative effect on storage.  

To dry or cure your garlic, you can hang in bundles, or lay flat in a shaded well ventilated area for at least a month.  The amount of curing time needed depends on your region's humidity and airflow your garlic is exposed to.  When the stocks are dry and brittle and there's no sign of moisture, your garlic is cured.  Check by cutting a stock a few inches from the bulb, if there's no moisture, your garlic is cured. 

Clean up the bulbs by removing any remaining dirt, lose papers then trim the stock and roots.  Store in a dark place at room temperature.  Do not refrigerate.