Growing Heirloom Garlic
I am often asked questions about growing Heirloom Garlics, particularly Hardnecks, so I thought I would outline how we grow our Garlic here at Abbott’s Garlic Farm.​ The information here is targeted to serve both small farmers and backyard hobbyists.
Hardneck, or Ophioscarodon garlic, is one of two main varieties of garlic, the other being Softneck, or Satvium garlic. Growing requirements differ between the two varieties, as most Hardneck cultivars (individual varieties) are from the north, including Canada, and need colder climates to thrive. Mild, temperate places like Gilroy, CA, are ideal for Softnecks, and is one reason why Gilroy became the garlic capitol of the world, and why California garlic remains the gold standard.
Our farm is located in Lakeport CA, only 150 miles north Gilroy, and a long way from Canada. So how are we able to grow Hardneck garlics successfully so far south? A couple reasons. First, we are at a regional transition point, where the mild, central California conditions change into the colder, wet Northern California climate. Second, our farm is located within the North Coast Mountain Range, a micro-climate that experiences dramatically colder temperatures than surrounding areas. For instance, our overnight lows in winter average 23*-28* while the City of Lakeport averages 35*-40* just a few miles away! This temperature dip makes all the difference for our northern Hardneck cultivars to succeed and helps bring out their full flavor and growing potential. Is it impossible to grow hardneck garlic without the cold? Not necessarily. We have had customers produce beautiful bulbs as far south as San Diego, but again, choosing the right cultivar for your area and understanding your particular microclimate might make all the difference. Give it a try!
Preparing your planting location
Tip #1 for successful farming: plan, plan, plan.
Determine where you will grow your crop and begin conditioning the soil ahead of time. First, consider timing; planting usually occurs in October before the winter rains begin, with the plants in the ground through June, approx. 8 months. Make sure you understand your regional climate conditions so you can prepare your field before the first rains come and adjust your planting timeline.
Keep the land clean of weeds and debris to limit bugs, and purchase a soil test. This will be some of the best money you can spend on your crop, or your backyard. For around $30, you can have your soil analyzed by a certified laboratory, providing detailed information that will help pinpoint your soil conditions and provide fertilizer recommendations. I have had good luck with Soil RX. You can find their basic test here.
Another main consideration during field preparation is dealing with gophers and moles. If gophers, and moles in particular, are not combated, they have the ability to wipe out your crop. I have personally seen pocket gophers eat over 1,000 plants in a single season when measures to control their population were not taken. This does not mean you have to apply poison or even kill the pests; start by making life miserable for them. Till or turn your soil repeatedly to disrupt their activities, and when their holes form, flood their tunnels with a garden hose. This will take repeated attempts, but many will eventually move to where they are not harassed! Stay vigilant across the entire season-they can reemerge anytime, and once their network of tunnels is complex, it is much harder to control their numbers.
Shaping Your Soil & Bed Size
Tip #2: Grow your garlic in raised soil beds
Not the formal wooden structures with limited space, but elevated mounds of freshly worked soil approx. 6”-10” above ground level. This will provide more control over the plants during the growing season. The elevated roots can withstand flooding and temperature swings better than surface planted bulbs, and the loose, worked soil allows bulbs to grow and expand.
I recommend making your beds approx. 2.5 to 3 ft wide. This accounts for 18” of planting space (the rest of the width = the sides of the mound). Next, determine the length of your beds. This is important because the amount of fertilizer you add will be dependent on the square feet of your beds. For instance, if your planting bed is 18” wide (or 1.5 ft) x 10 ft long, then your bed square footage = 150sqft. Notice I used 18” width for the bed, not 2 ft (24”). That is because 24” accounts for the entire mound, and you are only adding fertilizer to the bed, which in this case is 18” wide. As an example, if a fertilizer recommends using 1 cup per 50 sqft, and your bed is 150 sqft in size, you will add 3 cups of fertilizer.
Plant Nutrition
Tip #3: Use the right fertilizers for the right applications.
Fertilizer choices, and the amounts to use, vary from farmer to farmer, and no two farmers use the same nutritional program to achieve their results. Personal experience, along with soil and climate conditions help determine one’s approach to fertilizing, but it is very subjective. Remember that soil test? It outlines the minerals in your soil and the amount of fertilizer to add for successful growth. Most growers agree that garlic needs a moderate amount of nutrition, and given the crop takes 8 months from planting to harvest, fertilizers must be premixed in the soil prior to planting and be available longer than for most crops. Nitrogen is especially important throughout the growth stage, and slow-release nutrients like fish meal are a great way of providing sustained feedings for many months. My recommendation is to find a premixed, all-in-one fertilizer designed for bulbs and add the recommended amount per sqft to your beds. This will greatly simplify things. Garlic is a bulb after all, and many of the bulb-oriented fertilizer formulas contain sulfur and other minerals that bulbs require, making for an easy fertilizer solution for beginners. A good trick is to supplement your all-in-one fertilizer with Fish Meal, a high nitrogen fertilizer that provides plant nutrition for the duration of the crop.
Planting Cloves
Your soil is worked, your beds created, and your fertilizers added. It is now time to plant your cloves. Believe it or not, each garlic clove is not a seed but a dormant plant, ready to grow when conditions become favorable. Each farmer has their preference, but I like to plant 3 rows of garlic within my 18” planting bed. This = 8” spacing between the rows. I also like to space the cloves 8” apart down the row, for an 8” x 8” pattern. This provides enough space for bulbs to grow and mature, and enough room to control weeds between the plants.
Next, make sure you are planting the clove in the right direction! the top of the clove (the pointy top, not the flat bottom side) must be planted upright for proper growth and maturity, otherwise the garlic stalks will twist and deform as they look for the soil surface. Plant each clove about 2” – 3” underground; 2” in warmer climates and up to 4” deep in cold climates.
Irrigation
Tip #4: Irrigate your crop with low flow, water saving drip tape.
Garlic wants a consistent, moderate amount of water throughout the growing season until the last week or two before harvest when water is reduced. Deciding how much water the crop needs and how often to deliver it depends on several factors, namely how much water your soil can hold, and your weather and climate conditions. Winter rains can provide the irrigation needed in most locations, but spring usually requires supplemental irrigation, and there is no method better than drip tape.
The trick to full growth and maturity is to provide consistent irrigation at the rate the plants want, and the way to accomplish that is through drip irrigation, namely drip tape. Drip tape can be placed between the planted rows (remember your 8"x8" planting pattern?) to deliver consistent, root targeted waterings that can be adjusted throughout the growing season. Drip tape is available in different flow rates, so to save yourself a ton of technicalities, I recommend choosing an average flow rate in the middle range of options.
In early spring, drip tape helps supplement rainfall with occasional, time-limited waterings. As the season warms and dries, the garlic requires more irrigation. As an example, our climate can see early high temperatures and low humidity, and it is typical for us to irrigate once or twice per week through late spring. Again, consistent irrigation is the key to the plants growing and maturing properly.
Weeding
Tip #5: Stay on top of the weeding
​Growing Organic means having to weed around the garlic throughout the season.
You can limit how many weeds grow and how often you have to weed with targeted irrigation (drip tape), but there is no getting around the need to weed. It's very important to keep up with weeding because:
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They will make your garlic grow smaller since they out-compete for space and nutrients.
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They use up the fertilizer that the garlic needs to mature
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They act as a home to bugs and diseases you don’t want near your garlic.
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They provide cover for gophers and moles.
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They make life miserable when you are weeding a jungle in the heat of late spring.
For the reasons above, staying ahead of weeds is one of the most important aspects of crop management.
Cutting Scapes
In terms of maintenance, the garlic should be left alone through winter, with occasional weedings as the only activity. Action starts again in late spring (May 15th for us), with increased weeding and the removal of scapes, or garlic flowers. Hardneck Garlic strains still retain their ancient behavior to flower, but the flowers must be removed or the bulbs will not enlarge. The scapes are edible and prized by Chefs for their flavor and versatility. Their texture and flavor can be described as a "Garlic green bean", and they are delicious either cooked or pickled. We offer them during their brief 3-week window in May, and you can find them here.
Cutting the scapes occurs once the flowers have grown for 10 to 14 days and have undergone a very recognizable curl, at which time they can be removed. Waiting even a few days after the curl forms to remove the scape will likely result in an average bulb size decreases of .5 inch to 1 inch or more, so be quick to remove them.
Harvest
After 8 long months, it is finally time to harvest your garlic. Here are some indications when the bulbs are ready:
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Garlic leaves naturally die from the bottom of the plant towards the top as they mature. A good rule is to harvest the garlic when 60% of the leaves have died (about 6 dead leaves and about 3 to 4 green leaves at the top of the plant). When to harvest takes some practice, and it’s best to harvest a little early than late, since late bulbs do not store as well.
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260 days from planting until harvest is a fair guess for days until maturity. Keeping track of days since planting will help you know when the garlic is getting close.
The moisture needs of the plant are greatly reduced in the last 3 weeks. Some growers recommend shutting off the water completely the last two weeks so bulbs can begin drying out. This helps limit potential disease and is understandable, but our climate is so dry that shutting off the irrigation too early results in rapid maturity and loss of bulb size. For that reason, we tend to water until 5 days before harvest, which seems to be the right balance for us between providing enough irrigation and letting the plants finish their final maturity. Your climate may be cooler, wetter, or more humid, and you will need to analyze the right time to shut off irrigation for your location. Too much irrigation provided too late will cause bulbs to rot, so if in doubt, stop irrigation earlier than later.
Curing Your Garlic
Another step? Yes, and this one is important. Allowing the garlic to cure is a process of placing the bulbs (with stalks still attached) on racking or in an environment where air can circulate and the bulbs can slowly dry for 2-3 weeks. This action brings out their delicious flavors, and should be done in a shady, somewhat temperature-controlled environment (avoid large swings in temp). Outside is fine as long as the garlic has protection from the sun. You will know when the garlic is ready because the flavors will be strong and much more pronounced than when the garlic was initially harvested.
Storage
Once the garlic has cured, cut the stalks and most of the roots off (leave some roots for aesthetics and storability), place the bulbs in an onion bag for long term storage, and put them in a cool, dark location with ample airflow. A pantry can be a good location as long as air can circulate around and between the bulbs to some extent, otherwise the bulbs can mold. Garlic, depending on the variety, will store anywhere from 3-10 months, with hardneck strains storing about 4 months on average, slightly longer under ideal storage conditions.