If you’re looking for a low-maintenance, high-reward crop to add to your garden, you should learn how to grow garlic. Planting garlic in the fall is one of the easiest ways to ensure a bountiful harvest the following summer. With its incredible flavor and long storage life, homegrown garlic is far superior to anything you can buy at the grocery store, and it’s a perfect crop for any hobby farm or backyard garden.
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🌱 How to Plant Garlic in the Fall
Garlic is typically planted in the autumn, a few weeks before the ground freezes. The first step is to acquire ‘seed garlic’ from a reputable supplier; you should not plant garlic from the grocery store, as it may be treated to prevent sprouting. Break the garlic bulb apart into individual cloves, but leave the paper-like skin on each clove. Plant each clove, pointy-end up, about 2 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches apart. The cold winter period is essential for the garlic to properly develop into a large, segmented bulb.
mulch for Winter Protection
After planting, it’s a very good practice to cover your garlic bed with a thick layer of mulch, about 4 to 6 inches deep. Straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings all work wonderfully. This layer of mulch serves several important purposes. It insulates the soil, protecting the cloves from the harsh winter cold. It also helps to suppress weeds in the spring and retain soil moisture, reducing the amount of watering you’ll need to do.
✂️ Harvesting Scapes and Curing Your Garlic
In the late spring, your hardneck garlic plants will send up a flowering stalk called a ‘scape.’ It’s important to cut these scapes off so the plant directs all its energy into growing a bigger bulb. The scapes themselves are a delicious bonus harvest with a mild garlic flavor. You’ll know your garlic is ready to harvest in the summer when the lower leaves start to turn brown. After carefully digging up the bulbs, you need to cure them by letting them dry in a shady, well-ventilated area for several weeks. This process is crucial for long-term storage.
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