Planting garlic today

[carpevita]

I've never planted it, what should I know?

[Woost2]

Google is your friend.

Take heads apart. Leave paper on the cloves.
Prepare bed
Plant fat side down, six inches apart, two inches deep.
In Wisconsin we mulch heavily with marsh hay, say "goodnoght" and walk away.

[Briarwood]

Mine is ready to go in, too. A fourth of this year's harvest gets planted today. The other 3/4 will be used.

[StraightForward]

How do you guys store your garlic after harvesting? My hardneck garlic seems to go bad quickly so I barely have any to use after reserving enough to replant for next year. I pull it up, let it cure in a mostly shady spot outside for a few days, and then bring it in the house. Humidity isn't an issue here. Last year I thought I'd left it outside too long, but brought it in sooner this year and still am throwing over half away because the cloves have turned to brown mush.

[M&M]

Softneck garlick stores longer, Straightforward.

Having said that, I've never stored it, because when I grew it, it was for the restaurant DH and I owned, so it got used right away! Tzatziki....mmmmm!

Carpevita, I'm planting mine today, too!

[silk]

I too found hardneck garlic doesn't store as well. The stuff I grew last year only JUST made it the 6 months between harvest and planting (it was already sprouting) so I don't even know how it tastes. I won't be keeping any of it this time around as I want it for cooking/eating, not continuous re-planting. The softneck garlic is still OK even long after planting (I am down to the last 6 or 8 heads).

FWIW, I dry it outside until "quite" dry, but still a little green/damp, so it is easier to plait. Once plaited, I hang it from the rafters in our garage. Our climate is very damp/humid but the garage gets really hot especially in summer, so the garlic is better there than in the house. It never moulds or rots, and I find only the odd clove that's dried out a bit too much to be edible.

[WheresMyWhite]

I have a 2'x4' "planter" on a table (about 18-24" in depth).

Would it be feasible to plant garlic in a section of that?

[M&M]

I think so. Technically, on a raised (above the ground raised) bed, the air circulation is less than ideal, because it's easier for it to freeze and thaw, but if it's that deep, I think you should be perfectly fine.

[StraightForward]

Thanks. I picked up some soft neck organic garlic at the store today. Will stick it in the ground and see what happens. The problem with my hardneck garlic is that some of the cloves just seem to die. They get mushy and turn brown. Often the inner cloves are still good and this happens with the outer cloves shortly after harvesting. I prefer it though because the cloves are bigger. Maybe next year I'll just immediately skin most of it and toss it in the freezer before it has a chance to turn on me.

[WheresMyWhite]

I'm in the Phoenix area so freeze/thaw shouldn't be a big issue

Planter is 18-24" deep.

Do you plant garlic from bulbs you buy at the grocery store or specifically from nursery/online?

[StraightForward]

I've planted store garlic before it it works OK. However you can get other varieties if you buy from a specialty place, plus the seed garlic is raised under specific conditions to be robust and disease-free. Once you get it though, just save part of your harvest and re-plant, so theoretically you only need to buy seed garlic once.

[Canyon]

WMW – this looks like a helpful article.

You can use garlic from the store, as long as it has not been sprayed to prevent sprouting.

[WheresMyWhite]

Thanks!

[Suzon]

Google is your friend.

Take heads apart. Leave paper on the cloves.
Prepare bed
Plant fat side down, six inches apart, two inches deep.
In Wisconsin we mulch heavily with marsh hay, say "goodnoght" and walk away.

Oh, thanks for the directions! I'm collecting stuff like this for when we make our move to Oregon (we're hoping for next year). We will be doing a lot more gardening and garlic is one of the things I plan to cultivate.

[Snork]

You planted garlic on halloween? How very inconsiderate! I mean, the one day of the year the vamps claim for themselves and there you go, spoiling all the fun!

[carpevita]

Lol, the vamps are safe snork, it was such a glorious day we abandoned our work plans and rode ponies instead!
I've agreed to buy garlic for another year and well have a better idea of where to plant next fall.
So its store bought garlic for me for now!

[Woost2]

I have planted garlic from the local health food co-op which came from a local organic farm. Worked fine. Also shallots. Do not buy garlic from a grocery store. That will have been treated and is probably from China. Some garden center have different varieties available, but ours are well out of stock by now.

Speaking of shallots ... dead easy. I don't know why they are so expensive in the stores. One small shallot bulb/clove produces a double handful of new ones. In the midwest, it is planted like and with garlic. And mulched.

[carpevita]

Are leeks as easy?
Because it simply irritates the heck out of me to see them at 2.99 PER STEM!!!!!!

[Woost2]

I don't know about planting leeks for winter. I've heard they can winter over if they already exist but I don't know what you get in the end. Ah .... there are two cultivars. We need to plant them in the spring. The late season ones can go into winter. But you can't plant them in the winter.

[StraightForward]

Are leeks as easy?
Because it simply irritates the heck out of me to see them at 2.99 PER STEM!!!!!!

They grow slowly but they are pretty easy. Maybe not as easy as garlic. IIRC, you're in a northern clime? So you'd want to get seedlings or start seedlings in early spring then plant them out in a trench. Fill in the trench as they grow. They grow slowly but are very low maintenance, don't get -pests, etc. Mine got big enough to start eating mid-summer. I have had them overwinter with some straw, but best to pull most of them before the ground freezes.

[carpevita]

Cool, thanks for the instructions. Leeks are my very favorite onion and I will dig a trench in the spring for them.
With what do you fill the trench as they grow? More soil?