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Garlic Breath For Everyone…
Garlic is one of those magnificent vegetables that offers so much. Not only is it great for cooking, but it’s also very useful medicinally. Garlic is considered a vegetable by most people, and scholars agree it has been used as a medicinal plant and food source for over 7,000 years. Some of the truth and medicine we search for can be grown right in our backyard.
While you’re joining us, we’ll briefly discuss the two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. We’ll cover how to grow, harvest, and store garlic between seasons. So grab a snack and let’s get into it!
Grow garlic for yourself, your family, and anyone you want to bless with an amazing medicine. Use garlic in your cooking. Use it for its health benefits. Share it with family and friends. Growing a lot of garlic covers all these bases. There are so many ways to use it!
Table of Contents
- Which Type of Garlic Is Right For You
- Hardneck garlic
- Softneck garlic
- How To Grow Garlic
- Growing Garlic-Step 1:
- Growing Garlic- Step 2:
- Growing Garlic- Step 3:
- Growing Garlic- Step 4:
- How To Harvest Your Garlic
- When Is The Right Time To Harvest?
- How To Dry/Cure Garlic
- When Can I Use My Garlic?
- How To Store Garlic
Which Type of Garlic Is Right For You
Hardneck garlic
Hardneck garlic is cold hardy and richer in taste than most store bought garlic but, does not store as long as soft neck. If you enjoy garlic scapes, then hardneck varieties are what you want to grow. Garlic scapes are an amazing added benefit when growing the plant.
They are delicious and can be used in so many dishes. Soft neck varieties will not grow scapes. If you live in a climate that experiences winter temperatures down to 0 degrees, then hardneck varieties are for you.
Softneck garlic
Softneck garlic is a great choice if you live in a milder climate during the hot summer and the cold winter. This variety will store longer than hardneck. If you are looking to grow a large amount of garlic and want to store the bulbs for a longer period of time, then softneck is for you.
Here in northeast Tennessee, we are in plant hardiness zone 7a. We grow both types of garlic and haven’t found a clear favorite yet. We’re new to the area, so we’re experimenting to see what works best. Next time, I might try growing more hardneck varieties to get the scapes along with larger bulbs.
We like to fly by the seat of our pants here at In Harmony Farms. It has to be fun and creative. If something doesn’t work out as planned, we’ll adjust next time. There are no sad days on the farm unless we lose an animal or have to cull one….or get a booger stuck in a unibrow! Ewww!
How To Grow Garlic
Growing garlic really is a very simple crop to grow. All that is needed is to learn which type of garlic grows best in your zone, hardneck or softneck, and if you feel the need to research all the different varieties in their class, we advise against it.
You could spend all that time researching which varieties to choose from but, I will tell you straight that there are tons of varieties out there, and if you are like me, I could spend the better half of an afternoon searching for a variety that I think will suit my palate. But my suggestion is to not get caught up with all the varieties and how wonderful each one is.
Just pick one and get started.
The best thing to do when starting out is to just get things growing. After you are comfortable with that, then you could spend some time deep diving into different varieties of specific crops.
Growing Garlic-Step 1:
Once you have your seeds, break up the bulb and pull all the cloves off. Do not start removing all the paper from the clove. This protective layer is there for good reason. It protects the clove during the early stages of growth and will eventually fall off.
Try not to overthink the simplicity of planting cloves. Some folks will soak their cloves in fish emulsion or other fertilizers over night before planting. I experimented with this and found very little difference. Others will put the bulbs in the refrigerator for an amount of time to get them ready for planting.
I have never tried that nor will I. If what you have been doing works, why change it? There is so much information out there. Some good but, some add rather unnecessary steps. And for beginner growers it’s just not needed.
Growing Garlic- Step 2:
Put your cloves in the ground. Plant them 6 inches apart between rows and 4 inches apart within the row. Make sure they’re 2 inches deep with the pointed end facing up. Mulch heavily! We like to use straw that hasn’t been sprayed.
But, there are plenty of other things to use for mulch. You can learn about different things to use for mulch here. Water them in well after planting. After that, just let them be on their own.
If the right amount of mulch is used, you should not have to water them again unless you are in a climate that doesn’t get much rain fall. Here in north east Tennessee, we rarely have to irrigate our crops.
Growing Garlic- Step 3:
Continue to watch them grow until the bottom few leaves begin to die. When you have 3-4 of the bottom leaves turn brown and die off, now is the time to pull them.
Growing Garlic- Step 4:
It’s time to harvest your beloved garlic. After settling on a variety and ordering some, you learned the difference between bulbs and cloves. The cloves were separated from the bulbs and planted, then mulched properly. With all the care they needed, the garlic is ready for harvesting.
Well, now my friends, is when we get after it and take care of business.
How To Harvest Your Garlic
Harvesting garlic is the time when you get to reap all the benefits of all your hard work, diligence, and patience of waiting so long with this amazing crop.
But first, before you get all giddy and think that it may be the perfect time and you march out to your garlic plot and start pulling them up like a crazy person, you may want to learn a thing or two about the proper time to harvest.
Harvesting at the right time delivers many benefits. You will get larger bulbs that will store longer, have better taste and more medicinal benefits.
When Is The Right Time To Harvest?
The right time to harvest will vary. Especially between soft neck and hard neck varieties. First thing to take a look at, is to scrape around the bulb to see the size of the bulb. If you see a bulb that is visible and good in size like the ones you buy in the store, it may be ready.
Check the bulbs and see if there is a distinction between the cloves. Feel around and see/feel if this is present.
Hardneck varieties
Are ready to harvest when 4-5 green leaves remain. The lower leaves will generally die off first.
Softneck varieties
Are ready to harvest when 3-4 of the lower leaves have turned brown/dying off.
How To Dry/Cure Garlic
Drying /Curing time is a very important step. I know, this may all sound like a lot of work, but we must continue the process to complete all of our hard work. You can dig them up with a garden fork gingerly and set them aside of the bed, if there is no rain in the forecast, for a couple days.
Then we will be hanging them up, out of sunlight and out of any chance of rain getting to them with plenty of ventilation. Hang them upside down with the leaves hanging down. You can brush off some of the dirt on them, but don’t go crazy and do not try to remove the skins.
I like to hang mine in the garage with fans on them. This time of drying will take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. You will know they are done with the drying process when the leaves are dry and crunchy and the skins on the garlic are dry and crispy.
When Can I Use My Garlic?
This is the exciting part. This is the time when all of our hard work is almost done. Not there yet friends. Now we cut the leaves off leaving 2-3 inches above the head of the garlic. Then, we will trim off the roots.
We are almost done…hang in there.
You have now completed the process of growing garlic, but now we have to store them properly.
How To Store Garlic
Garlic storage is very easy. Simply place them in a cool, dark, and well ventilated place. If you have a basement, store them there. If you have not been turned off by the journey of growing this wonderful plant, keep the largest ones to use for planting more garlic for the next season.
As hard as it may be, use the smaller ones for use in the kitchen. You can place them on a wire rack, you can put them in a mesh bag, you can braid them and hang them in your kitchen. Or you can simply put them in a paper bag leaving the top open.
I firmly believe that you are now ready for growing your very first garlic crop or ready to correct any issues you may have run into in the past. I am excited for you to start using garlic in every way possible to live a healthy life, make great food, and best of all share the abundance.
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