Plant Garlic in the Fall

Just because fall is here doesn’t mean the garden is done producing yet! Before putting the garden to bed for the winter, make sure to plant garlic in the fall. This will ensure you a good crop next spring. Then all winter you can be excited to have already started a garden for the spring.

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Brown Thumb to Homegrown Goodies

Growing up I was notorious for my terrible cooking and my brown thumb. I had to keep a plant alive for a class in highschool, so I immediately ran it home to my mom. She kept it alive and I got an A. It wasn’t a lack of experience. My mom and Mama both have beautiful flowers and bountiful gardens. As a kid I would help them plant, water, and pick. As a teenager, I would tend to the garden when my mom wasn’t home.

Something about doing it all by myself was different though. I started some seeds and they died. The night custodian gave me an aloe plant, which died within three months. We bought a lavender plant to put on the porch. Dead. Despite my track record, my husband agreed to build me a raised bed in the backyard. I was determined to make it work this time around, so I did what any 25 year old would do and got to Pinterest.

I measured out my bed and divided it into squares. Then I drew it out on paper labeling each box with a plant. Because I am a type A person, I also colored each box according to how many plants would go in a square foot. It looked pretty on paper, but I still hadn’t successfully grown anything yet.

My husband and I went to several stores and nurseries to get the exact number and types of plants I needed to make my paper garden come to life. After that it was up to me. I wound up with a bounty. We had more tomatoes and herbs than I knew what to do with. Success!

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Why to Plant Garlic in the Fall

The best time to plant garlic is in the fall. Garlic is very sensitive to the length of the day. That’s why it matures during summer when the days are longer. When you plant garlic in the fall, there’s enough sun for the roots to grow, but not enough for the plant to sprout. This gives it a headstart come springtime.

How to Plant Garlic in the Fall

Before planting the garlic make sure the garden bed is ready. Garlic likes loose soil. Compacted soil will cause the bulbs to be smaller. It also needs some compost or manure to help the ph level and nutrients. This can be done weeks ahead of time or just before planting. I never plan ahead enough to do it in advance.

Separate the cloves as you plant them. Leaving them together as long as possible prevents them from drying out. Put the cloves in the ground pointy side up and 2 inches deep. With the square foot gardening method, I put 4 cloves per square foot.

Clover them with mulch or straw. Make it deep to help protect them against the cold and snow during the winter. I’ll use about 4 inches of straw and by spring it’s decomposed down to about 2 inches.

When to Harvest Garlic

The garlic should be one of the first things up in the spring. It will be ready in late spring or mid summer depending on the weather and your zone. When about half of the leaves are brown, the garlic is ready to harvest. Allow it to cure and then it should last all winter in a cool place. I used this year’s garlic harvest to plant next year’s garlic. Three bulbs of garlic me 44 cloves to plant.