How To Grow Your Own Garlic (and How To Not Get Any Planted): Garden Journal 1/1/13

Save your biggest cloves for planting next year's garlic crop.

Realization of the Day:

December is a bad time for me to plan on planting my garlic.

Of course I knew this already. The best time to plant garlic is a month or two before the ground freezes. Here in Missouri that means October. In warmer regions, you can plant after the first frost date through early winter. Ideally you want to get good root growth but no top growth before winter, although I've had sprouts shoot up before it got really cold, and they survived just fine.

If you're gardening by the moon, you want to put your garlic in the ground on a fertile day during the third or fourth quarter. (If you're interested in learning more about minding the moonsigns, Astrological Gardening: The Ancient Wisdom of Successful Planting & Harvesting by the Stars by Louise Riotte is a great book.)

The kitchen garden on Saturday, December 29th.

Miraculously, I did actually manage to get my garlic in the ground in October in both 2011 and 2010, but this year my planting plans were waylaid. Then I missed November. And on Saturday, which was my scheduled December planting day, the ground was frozen and there were three inches of snow on it. Yesterday and today are good planting days as well, except for the old snow and the new sleet. But that's okay.

Lots more below. . .

Garden Journal 6/23/11: Growing Garlic, Harvesting Garlic, and Green Garlic

Love garlic? Learn How To Grow Your Own Garlic here (it's easy!). And you'll find links to my favorite recipes that call for garlic at the end of this post, along with links to other garlic growing posts.

Freshly harvested green garlic (on the  mature side) that's been cleaned, trimmed, and is ready for cooking.

Realization of the Day:
Garlic is a lot hardier than I thought.

Green garlic, also known as spring garlic, young garlic, baby garlic, and garlic shoots, is simply an immature garlic plant. It's milder and sweeter than mature garlic, with a wonderful flavor.

I discovered green garlic back in 2006 and wrote about it in this post: What Is Spring Green Garlic? Growing It, Cooking with It, Loving It, plus a Recipe for Easy Green Garlic Fettuccine.

The green garlic pictured above is on the mature side. I've never seen green garlic for sale here in rural Missouri, but in photos I've seen of green garlic, such as this one and this one, the bulbs haven't started forming, and it bears a closer resemblance to scallions or baby leeks. It's edible at any stage.

Green garlic season starts as early as February in places with mild winters, like the San Francisco Bay Area, and has come and gone here in Missouri, but green garlic must still be available in some places because my spring green garlic post is still showing up as one of the ten most popular posts on In My Kitchen Garden this week. (The weekly top ten posts are listed in the left sidebar of every In My Kitchen Garden page).

6/24/11 Update: Today's weekly e-mail newsletter from the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) reports that the green garlic season is 'winding down' at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Look for green garlic at farmers' markets, in your CSA subscription box, or try growing some yourself.

Like with onions, you can grow green garlic in zero extra garden space by double planting your garlic and then thinning it out by harvesting half of it when it's young.

I accidentally missed green garlic season this year. Early last fall, volunteer garlic plants began sprouting up in the bed where I'd harvested the 2010 garlic a few months earlier because I'd left some of it in the ground while digging. Sometimes it pays to be sloppy.

More info and photos below. . .

Garden Journal 10-22-10: It's Time to Plant Garlic!

Planting garlic with Marta and Lucky Buddy Bear on 2-10-09

Realization of the Day:

I can't believe I might actually get my garlic planted on time this year.

When is the best time to plant garlic? There's no one right answer to that question, but in many areas it's October. If you live somewhere that has a real winter (as opposed to places like California and Texas and Florida), this gives the cloves enough time to sprout and get a good head start growing before the ground freezes and they go into hibernation mode. If you live where the winters are mild, you can get away with planting your garlic later. 

If you're minding the moonsigns (you can read more about how that works here), you'll want to plant your garlic on a fertile day in the third quarter, which promotes underground growth, because the waning moon is pulling things 'down.' This is also a good time to plant other root vegetables, like potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, and beets, though not onions.

Garden Journal 7/27/10: Harvesting Really Late Planted Garlic

Growing Garlic: Not Bad, Not Bad

Realization of the Day:

I'm a lot more excited about growing garlic after digging up this year's crop.

I'm doing a little back dating here, so that the garden journal date above accurately reflects the day I actually harvested my garlic, as opposed to the day—two weeks later—I'm finally getting around to writing about it. It would only be cheating if it were the other way around, right?

Last year I promised myself I would never again plant my garlic in February, which is about four or five months later than it should go into the ground here in southern Missouri. And this year I kept that promise—I planted my garlic in March instead.

Garden Journal 6/27/09:Digging Up an Early Red Potato Harvest

Volunteer New Potatoes and a Few 'Test' Heads of Garlic

Realization of the Day:
Gardening must be one of the few things where your ineffeciency will sometimes end up rewarding you.

Of course that's not always the case—like when you never get around to mulching something and get a bumper crop of weeds that's twice as tall as what you're trying to grow (been there, still doing that).

But today some of my carelessness out there paid off in the form of the beautiful little red bounty you see above. Apparently I missed a few potatoes when I was digging the last of them in the fall, and when they started sprouting up come spring I decided to leave them—even though they were growing in the middle of what was now my garlic bed. I figured they would be growing deeper than the shallow rooted garlic and probably wouldn't bother it.

My 'real' potato planting (which I'll be writing about in a future post) didn't happen until May 12th (I always plant my potatoes much later than anybody else around here), so this early harvest—which I'll simply scrub clean, cut into chunks, boil until tender, and toss with organic butter and a sprinkling of salt—is especially welcome.

There are only enough potatoes for a small serving each, but for the amount of effort involved—which was zero, unless you count the three minutes it took to dig them up—I'll gladly take it. I bet they'll taste wonderful alongside a couple of homegrown grilled lamb leg steaks, some of the green beans I picked yesterday (more about these in an upcoming post, too), and maybe a warmed up hunk of Four Hour Parisian Baguette from the freezer.

The garlic, on the other hand, is a different story. It should have been planted back in the fall, but for some now unfathomable reason I didn't get it into the ground until February—and have the disappointingly small bulbs to prove it. I went ahead and planted it so late because I figured whatever I ended up with would be better than nothing. This is when your inefficiency becomes experimenting.

Has your lack of attention (or downright laziness) ever paid off in the garden?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the spud loving foodie farm blog where sometimes it seems like the volunteer plants (like this beautiful basil and these sprawling lemon cucumber vines, which are only two of many) provide nearly as much bounty as the cultivated ones—thank goodness.

9/9/06 Garden Journal How To: Growing Hardneck Garlic

I can do better than this—but it's gonna cost me.


Realization Of The Day:
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever spend $77.00 on five pounds of garlic.


But of course this is no ordinary garlic. This is Extra Special Super Duper Fancy Schmancy Punishment Garlic. Because if you somehow never get around to planting your garlic one fall, when summer shows up you will be hit full force by the frightening result of your laziness—there is not only no garlic to eat, but there isn't any to plant the following autumn either.


If you've been saving and planting your own garlic for ten years (and improving it along the way), this is a really big bummer. Then there's the shock to your already distressed gardener's system that comes when you start shopping around for replacement stock, knowing that you will need about 200 cloves. Garlic prices are high. Very high.


So if you just cannot bear to fork over $17 a pound (plus several more dollars a pound for shipping), the only alternative is to buy some very nice tasting organic garlic from the natural foods store and plant that. Which is what I did last fall. And the photo above is what I ended up with. Actually, this is what I ended up with. I know it doesn't look all that bad, but compared to what I was expecting, my Gardening On The Cheap way out was a dismal failure.


Part of the reason is because I had been growing hard-necked (Rocambole) garlic, and most commercial garlic sold (including what I planted) is the soft-necked type. Rocambole garlic produces larger cloves, and the clove covering tends to more easily come free from the clove, making it much more fun to deal with in the kitchen.

Hard-necked garlic also sends up flower stocks in the spring that will steal energy away from the growing bulbs if you don't snip them off. Once snipped, they become garlic scapes, which seem to be all the rage with foodies and food bloggers these days. Who knew? For years I tossed them around the garden as a natural pest deterrent or fed them to the chickens.

While some people claim that garlic scapes have a pleasant, very mild garlic flavor, I've found the opposite to be true. My homegrown garlic scapes are strong and fiery—and I love the taste of garlic. Even the donkeys don't like them. On the other hand, spring green garlic, another chic item these days, is wonderful, especially when cooked in some butter and tossed with pasta.


Now that it's almost time to plant garlic again, I figured I'd better stop ignoring the "Hunt down some reasonably priced but superb planting garlic" note that has been on my Never Ending To Do List since, oh, late last spring. One thing I quickly discovered while doing a little online research is that by now many suppliers have been sold out of garlic for months. Oops.


Not to fear, though. Sometimes even lazy, scatterbrained gardeners are given the gift of Being There At The Right Time (and being coherent enough to realize it). For me, 'there' was at my computer this morning when the September e-newsletter from Johhny's Selected Seeds in Maine arrived. And the coherent part was when I remembered that I'd been meaning to see what kinds of garlic Johnny's had to offer and immediately opened up the newsletter.


After reading that some varieties have indeed already sold out, and that the rest typically will, too, I followed Chairman Rob Johnston Jr.'s advice to "get your garlic plans settled and your order to us ASAP." I hopped right over to their website and managed to nab five pounds of organically grown German Extra-Hardy Garlic, which I was thrilled to learn is their "easiest garlic to grow." This is what else Johnny's has to say about it:


Among the most winter-hardy garlic varieties. Very large bulbs with 4-5 large cloves. The outside skin is very white and the skin covering the cloves is dark red. The New York farmer who grows this stock for Johnny's says, 'Out of over 200 sources of garlic that I have had in my trials over the past 15 years, I believe that this is the finest garlic that I have had on the farm.' A vigorous-growing garlic with long roots, which gives it the ability to winter over without heaving out of the ground. Flavor is very good and stores well.


Sold! I readily forked over my credit card number. Okay, I hemmed and hawed and dawdled around for an hour or two before finally explaining my dilemma to Joe, who immediately told me to "Get back online and buy some before they run out!"


Realization #2:
Today's realization is also a rationalization. I finally convinced myself that this seemingly outrageous outlay of cash for a few pounds of garlic really is worth it—because you'll never end up with the best if you start out with anything less.


And if you figure that this is hopefully the last garlic I will ever have to buy again in my life, it's definitely a worthwhile investment. Now all I have to do is make sure I never, ever forget to plant garlic in the fall again—but I have a feeling that won't happen anytime in the near future.


I'm just happy that I finally took the great garlic plunge—and even managed to find some wonderful sounding organically grown garlic for less than $17 a pound plus shipping. (Although I did find one possible explanation for why gourmet garlic prices are so high. Click here and scroll down to "How Did All These Garlics Get Here?")


Now while I obviously will not be able to report on how this garlic performed in my garden until next year, I can say that I have purchased all kinds of seeds from Johnny's over the years and have never been disappointed. They're a reputable company offering quality products that all come with 100% satisfaction guarantee. They are also in the process of becoming employee owned.


If you're interested in planting some really good garlic this year, you might give Johnny's a try. You can purchase as little as 3 heads at a time, and other varieties are still available. If you live in a warmer climate, you'll want to plant a soft-necked variety, as Rocambole garlic requires a cold winter and a cool spring. You can also call Johnny's toll-free number (found on the website) for help deciding what variety would do best in your garden. Each garlic clove that you plant will (hopefully) turn into one head of garlic. When figuring out how much garlic you'll need to buy, don't forget to add in enough to save and plant next year.


Another place to look for interesting garlic to plant is at your local farmer's market. You may be able to find several varieties, and if you can't decide which one(s) you'd like to grow, you could buy a few heads and have yourself a little taste test. Another advantage to purchasing locally grown garlic is that it should do well in your climate. And of course you can always ask the farmer for growing and planting tips!


For information on everything from preparing your soil for planting to harvesting and curing your garlic, visit this page on the Gourmet Garlic Gardens website. And click here for a close-up look at 21 different cultivars of garlic.


Minding The Moonsigns:
I usually plant my garlic in October, on a fertile day in the 3rd quarter, though last year I didn't get it into the ground until the end of November. As long as the ground isn't frozen, late planting isn't a problem.


Here are the upcoming "good" days to plant if you're minding the moonsigns. First and 2nd quarter days are best for starting seeds. Third quarter days are best for transplanting and starting things that grow underground such as garlic and potatoes and turnips. Some people treat the 4th quarter the same as the 3rd, and others consider it a bad time to do anything but weed and mulch. (Click here to learn more about this.)


--3rd Quarter Fertile Days: Monday September 11th & Tuesday September 12th
--4th Quarter Fertile Days: Saturday September 16th
--1st Quarter Fertile Days: Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday September 25th, 26th & 27th
--2nd Quarter Fertile Days: Monday October 2nd, Thursday October 5th, & Friday October 6th
--3rd Quarter Fertile Days: Monday October 9th & Tuesday October 10th
--4th Quarter Fertile Days: Saturday October 14th, Friday October 20th & Saturday )ctober 21st
--1st Quarter Fertile Days: Monday October 23rd, Tuesday October 24th, & Saturday October 28th


© FarmgirlFare.com

Garden Journal 6/17/06: Growing and Harvesting Hardneck Garlic

Freshly dug garlic

Realization Of The Day:
2006 is not My Year Of Garlic.



This morning, in the hopes that today's forecasted rain really was going to show up, I dug up the plot of garlic that I planted back in November (click here), using my trusty Korean style hand plow (also called an EZ-Digger) of course.

I'm sure that at some point I must have had a lousier harvest than this, but at the moment I cannot recall it. Well, except for the year I never got around to planting any garlic at all—which was the beginning of my garlic downslide. I honestly cannot remember if that was last year or the year before. This is why I now have a garden blog.

More below. . .

What Is Spring Green Garlic? Growing It, Cooking with It, Loving It, and a Recipe for Easy Green Garlic Fettuccine

Young volunteer garlic: surprise gourmet food right under my hoes.

2013 Update: Love garlic? It's easy to grow, even in containers. Learn How To Grow Your Own Garlic here.

Last week I received an email from Catherine at Albion Cooks saying that she had just made another batch of my Savory Cheese & Scallion Scones, but this time she substituted cheddar and green garlic for the feta cheese and scallions.

Green garlic? A quick pop over to her site revealed a lovely photo of the item in question, a delicious looking batch of scones, and the nagging feeling that I'd just read about green garlic somewhere else. But where? Oh, wait. Everywhere.

There were green garlic growing instructions from Veggie Gardening Tips. Then the little bit of green garlic history and a great photo, along with a recipe for Catalan-Style White Bean and Green Garlic Tortilla at In Praise Of Sardines.

Mariquita Farm had another beautiful photo of green garlic, along with numerous tips on ways to use green garlic, plus several green garlic recipes, including green garlic mayonnaise, green garlic soup, and step-by-step photos of how to make green garlic pesto.

This stuff really is everywhere. And those are just the ones I remembered.

So what is green garlic, and how had I lived this long without knowing about it? Green garlic, also known as spring garlic, young garlic, baby garlic, and garlic shoots, is, claims Catherine, "a culinary secret." It is "immature garlic that hasn't yet developed its garlic bulb and has a much milder flavor than the mature bulbs, yet still has that distinct garlic flavor."

What do you do with green garlic? "It can be used in any recipe in place of regular garlic or leeks, and can be used raw or cooked." And, obviously, it can take the place of scallions, too.

Green garlic is also a market gardener and small farmer's (and backyard gardener's!) dream crop, as you can grow it in what would otherwise be unused space.

More below. . .