Growing Garlic – A No-Water Crop

I was a little late getting my garlic planted this year and even later getting this post written! In many climates, you can still get your garlic planted throughout November, so now is the time if you still want to get started growing garlic this year!

While garlic may not necessarily be the most lucrative crop to grow in terms of saving money at the grocery store or filling our bellies, growing garlic brings me so much joy each year. It’s one of the first crops I started growing on our homestead because it doesn’t require any watering in our climate due to it’s unique growing season which is really the opposite of when most other garden crops grow. It’s really easy and I love having garlic to put into just about every meal I cook.

Garlic is typically planted in the fall and grows overwinter and spring, ready to harvest the following summer. While it is a long time to wait, it really takes advantage of the seasons when almost nothing else will grow. There is just something special to me about putting new life in the garden at the time when everything has died back for the year. I might also be a little crazy, but I do actually enjoy weeding it occasionally in late winter/early spring when I haven’t had my hands in the soil for a while!

How to Grow Garlic

Garlic is not grown by seeds, but rather re-planting a garlic clove. Break apart a head of garlic into individual cloves not more than a few days before planting, leaving the papery cover on each clove (do not peel it like you would for cooking).

It’s recommended to buy certified “seed” garlic, but you can save and plant your own garlic or grocery store garlic even. You do run the risk of spreading diseases or potentially treated garlic from the store, but if you know where your garlic came from the risk is pretty low. I’ve been saving and re-planting some of my own garlic for several years now and we’ve been fortunate not to have any diseases. I do also always rotate the location where I plant it in the garden.

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Ideally garlic likes loose, fertile soil (what plant doesn’t right?), but as long as you have some decent soil that is not going to be completely flooded with water overwinter so the garlic can get some air and spread it’s roots, you can grow garlic. Loosen the area where you want to plant if needed and put each clove pointy side up about 3 inches deep and about 6 inches apart. If you’re planting multiple rows, the rows should be about 10-12 inches apart.

For nutrients, garlic does like to have a lot of nitrogen but don’t let that intimidate you. As with most crops, getting your soil tested to know exactly what nutrients to apply is best, but don’t sweat it if you aren’t up for that, you may just get smaller heads. Last year I planted my garlic in our brand new hugelkultur garden beds which is advised against, mulched them with aged goat bedding to add some extra nutrients and they did great. Most years, I use blood meal as my go-to garlic fertilizer. I sprinkle about 1 pound per 100 square feet into the soil before planting and then again a couple times during the spring and gently scratch it in around the plants. I know I worked my hugelkultur beds hard this last spring and summer so prior to planting the garlic this year, I added some comfrey clippings (a new fertilizer plant I’m experimenting with), a thin layer of compost we had available and blood meal to the soil where I was going to plant. I followed that with straw mulch.

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Depending on your climate, the green growth may not start showing until spring which is just fine. Once they emerge, weed as needed if the garlic is being crowded otherwise they require very little care. If you grow a hardneck variety, a curly shoot called a “scape” will emerge late spring. You’ll want to cut these off to encourage larger heads and cook with them like you would garlic – they are delicious! If you are having a hard time waiting for the mature heads, you can pull some garlic and eat it at any point. Immature garlic is called “green” garlic and won’t have the individual cloves with papery skin yet, but can still be minced and cooked as normal.

Mid-summer, usually July in our climate, the garlic is ready to harvest when the green leaves start dying back and falling over. Pull the whole thing out of the ground, brush off any loose dirt and spread out in a dry, shady place to cure for a week or two. Trim back the leaves (or braid if you are really ambitious) and the garlic is ready to eat or store for the coming year.

Cooking with Garlic – My new favorite tool and recipe!

I cook with garlic almost every day which means a lot of peeling and chopping. I recently got this new garlic peeling tool and press that I’m really happy with! I promise nobody is paying me to promote this, I just really like how much time it saves it. The green silicon tube-like thing is used to roll the garlic cloves for peeling and then you press them with this curvy metal tool to mince. Rubbing stainless steel after handling garlic also takes the smell off your hands. I got this set on Amazon (ugh, it’s so convenient).

If you really like garlic like I do, you might also like this recipe from a Portland-area pizza restaurant, Pizzicato. They generously shared their super garlicky Caesar salad dressing recipe online and I’m just passing it along because I enjoy it so much. I often make this with kale for our Caesar salads because we have a hard time growing lettuce. Note that this makes a lot of dressing, but it does keep in the fridge for a week.

Pizzacato Caesar Dressing

It’s best to make this ahead of time and refridgerate 2 hours before.

• 1/4 cup minced garlic, mashed into a paste
• 3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinigar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil
• 1/4 grated parmesan cheese
• salt
• pepper
• optional* – 2 anchovy filets
• optional* – 3 dashes of tabasco sauce

*The original recipe calls for these, but since they aren’t things I keep around my kitchen I skip them and it’s still really good.

In a jar, mix all of the ingredients except the oil and parmesan cheese**, until silky. Slowly add the oil and mix. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Cover and put in the fridge. Stir again just before using.

**I’ve totally got carried away and put the oil in with the other ingredients and it was fine.