Planting Next Year's Garlic Crop

November 12, 2021

Our big autumn planting project continues at my Bedford, New York farm with the next crop of garlic.

Although this can be done in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, fall planting is recommended for most gardeners. This allows extra time for the garlic bulbs to grow and become more flavorful for the summer harvest. Every year, we plant garlic from Keene Organics, a family owned farm in Wisconsin that sells certified organic and naturally grown gourmet bulbs for both eating and planting. Garlic is great for cooking and very good for your health. It is known to lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol, and carries many antioxidant properties. Knowing that I also grow the garlic myself makes it even more special.

Enjoy these photos.

: It’s always exciting to get a delivery from Keene Organics filled with a variety of garlic bulbs for my garden. I’ve been planting Keene Organics garlic for several years, and am always so pleased with their growth and taste. The garlic is one of the last crops we plant before winter.

: When planting garlic, look for the largest most robust bulbs. There are always about three or four heads in each netted pack, and each one contains at least four to six cloves – some even more. If you’re a little unsure of the terminology, the entire garlic is called a “head” or “knob.” And each small, individual segment of a garlic head is the garlic clove.

: Among the varieties we are planting this year is Leningrad, which has a very rich, hot, strong garlic flavor. It starts off mild and becomes very strong and robust as it is eaten.

: Softneck Silver White is known for being the longest storing garlic. It has large bulbs and pretty coloring. Silver Whites are flavorful, mild and great when baked and roasted.

: The Chesnok Red garlic is an heirloom variety. It is loved for its rich flavor as an all-purpose cooking garlic. It’s also well known as a superb baking garlic.

: This hardneck Red Grain garlic has a spicy zing and a rich sweet flavor when roasted and sauteed.

: And, Elephant Garlic is actually a leek that resembles garlic in growing and in appearance. It has a very mild flavor. It is most commonly found in grocery stores. It is also larger than the other garlic varieties.

: Each head is carefully broken to separate all the cloves and then the cloves are grouped together and placed in plastic containers. For the best results, plant the largest cloves from each bulb and save the smaller ones for eating.

: The garlic cloves can be soaked in fish emulsion to give them a fertilizer boost and rid them of possible diseases, which could have been carried by the garlic.

: To prepare the solution to treat the garlic cloves, Ryan drops a scoop of baking soda into a watering can and then adds the fish emulsion into the same container. He also adds water until the can is filled.

: The baking soda and fish emulsion water solution is then poured into containers of garlic.

: The cloves are kept submerged until they have absorbed enough of the mix.

: Next, the garlic is strained and left to dry for a few minutes and then sprayed with isopropyl or rubbing alcohol. This helps to sterilize the cloves. If you don’t have alcohol, you can also use hydrogen peroxide or vodka.

: Meanwhile, here is where the garlic will be planted – in a bed behind my main greenhouse. While the garlic is soaking, Phurba cultivates the earth. Cultivating accomplishes two things: removing any weeds from the garden bed and loosening the soil to optimize the retention and penetration of air, water and nutrients for the plants. Building up the soil is the most important part of preparing a garden for growing vegetables and flowers. A deep, organically rich soil will encourage and support the growth of healthy root systems.

: To make sure all the cloves are spaced evenly, Brian uses a long bamboo stick to measure out where the garlic will be planted. Doing this creates straight, pretty rows, but it is also important to give each clove enough room to grow and develop.

: When planting multiple rows of garlic, be sure the rows are at least one-foot apart. Brian uses a ruler specifically designed for planting crops.

: Brian measures both ends of the row to ensure the rows are straight – we have a lot of garlic to plant. Measuring carefully guides where the next row will go.

: Phurba follows behind with a dibber, making holes in each row – six inches apart. The T-grip on the dibber allows the planter to apply enough pressure to create a consistent depth for each hole.

: Each hole is also about four inches deep.

: Ryan brings out the prepared garlic cloves – all in their labeled netted sacks, so varieties stay grouped together.

: Phurba plants the cloves – each one faced up, and the root side faced down.

: If the soil is well cultivated, this should be a fast and easy process.

: At the end of the bed, Brian uses a dibber to make slightly bigger holes for planting the Elephant garlic.

: Once all the garlic is planted, using a hard rake, Phurba carefully backfills all the holes at once.

: Next, Brian sprinkles a coating of organic fertilizer over the entire bed.

: We use Bio-tone Starter which grows larger root masses to help plants establish faster. It also provides all natural nutrients and is fortified with Bio-tone microbes and mycorrhizae.

: Using a soft garden rake, Brian goes over the area again to make sure the fertilizer is well-mixed over the newly planted crop. We’re expecting a good rain overnight, so the bed will get a nice drink.