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Garlic is one of the easiest and most useful vegetables you can grow in your garden and like tulips fall is the time to plant garlic.
Planting garlic – In northern Illinois garlic should be planted in mid-October. This works out well because it is when most of our other garden vegetables are finished producing for the year.
Choosing garlic – A hardneck garlic variety is the best choice for Zone 5. Most garlic sold in grocery stores is a soft neck variety and typically not hardy enough. You want to start with a good quality seed garlic that is produced specifically for planting, and found in seed catalogs and garden centers. Hardneck garlic varieties that do well in Illinois include: Music, Metechi, Georgian Crystal, Carpathian and German Extra Harty. While seed garlic may be more expensive than the garlic you may find in your grocery store, it is important to start with to prevent the spread of disease. Once you have successfully grown garlic you can save several bulbs to plant the following year.
Garden bed – It is important to properly prepare the garden bed before planting garlic. Look for a spot that doesn’t hold a lot of moisture and is in full sun. Raised beds are perfect for garlic. Mix into the soil plenty of mushroom compost and a 10-10-10 slow- release fertilizer. You want the soil to be loose and airy.
Crop rotation is also important. You want to rotate your garlic crop to avoid pests and disease, so if possible, don’t use the same location as the previous 2 years. Onions are in the same family as garlic, so avoid planting garlic in a location that you have recently grown onions.
Planting garlic – Separate the garlic bulbs into the individual cloves. Plant garlic cloves 6″ apart and 3-4″ deep with the points up. Cover with soil. Cover the bed with about 2-3″ of straw. Thin out the straw in early summer as the weather warms up to prevent moisture retention but leave enough to block weeds. Water during dry periods but stop watering in mid-June, about a month before harvest.
In mid-June you will start to see garlic scapes. Scapes are the buds of garlic flowers. As soon as the scape stems begin to curl cut them off just above the first leaf. If you harvested the scapes early enough, while they are still tender, you can eat them – sauté with salt or use in pesto. Cutting off the scapes allows the energy to remain in the garlic bulbs.
Harvesting garlic – When the lowermost leaves turn brown it is time to harvest the garlic bulbs. For northern Illinois this is typically the week of July 4th. Look for a day when the soil is slightly dry. Work the soil with a shovel a good distance from the bulb so as not to damage it, then gently pull the garlic out. Do not wash the garlic bulbs, just brush off as much of the soil as you can. Let the garlic “garden dry” for 1 day.
Curing garlic – Leave the stalks on the garlic and bunch them together with a string (about 8-10 per bunch) and hang them to dry in your garage or or shady porch for 3-4 weeks. They can also be dried on a drying rack. To do this cut off the stem about 4″ above the bulb and place them in a single layer on the racks. The goal is to get them out of the sun and with good air flow so they don’t mold.
Storing garlic – Once the garlic has had a chance to dry cut off the stalks about an inch above the bulb, discard any soft/rotten garlic bulbs, cut the roots close to the bulb (this removes most of the soil but don’t worry if there is still some soil attached), and store your garlic in a net bag that you will hang from a peg in the basement. I use crochet market bags to store garlic and onions in my basement and it really works out well. You want the garlic to remain cool (about 60 F) and dry until you are ready to use it.
Don’t forget to use your largest garlic bulbs to plant another crop in the fall.
Contact the DeKalb County Master Gardner’s Extension for more information uiemg- dekalb@ illinois.edu or call 815-758-8194.