Planting Instructions: It is recommended to plant your seed garlic around six weeks before the ground freezes. This will give the garlic time to get its roots established, but no top growth should be evident. (Once the ground thaws in the spring and the soil begins to warm, green shoots will emerge.) We plant at our farm beginning no earlier than the week after Thanksgiving.
When planting, separate your garlic bulbs into cloves, planting your garlic cloves pointed end up 6-8 inches apart, and about three times deeper than the clove is tall. Mulch well with 3-6 inches of weed-free straw, hay, or cut grasses.
Garlic does not compete well with weeds. A couple of thorough weedings during the growing season will ensure the largest possible bulb size at harvest. Mulch helps with weed pressure, and also retains moisture.
Garlic likes moist but not wet soil and appreciates consistent moisture.
Hardneck garlic produces a scape which is the flower stalk of the garlic. It needs to be removed once it curls around 1-2 times, before it becomes woody. Scapes are delicious cooked, pickled and dried. Removing scapes helps the plant put it’s growing energy into the garlic bulb, which helps the garlic bulb grow bigger.
Garlic needs to be dry for a few weeks before harvest so if you water it, stop about 3 weeks before harvest. Garlic won’t store as well if it is harvested from wet ground.