Planting garlic is super simple.
Gently break up the garlic bulb to free all the cloves. Leave the cloves in their papery skin, but separate them from the bulb and from each other. Do so carefully so as not to damage the clove or tear the protective skin.
Remove any cloves that are pitted, moldy, squishy, or tiny. They won’t grow well in the garden and aren’t worth planting. You’ll be left with all the large and healthy cloves for your garden stock.
Each clove will be planted in its own hole. Dig the holes about three inches deep, and at least six inches apart from each other.
Drop the cloves of garlic into the holes, pointed side up. Cover the holes with soil and press down gently.
If you have fertilizer, aged manure, or compost, now is a great time to add it to the garlic bed!
Water the garlic bed then it’s time for mulching!
Mulching the garlic bed
You can use a variety of materials to mulch the garlic bed.
Organic materials like mulched leaves or straw are the best materials to use for mulching the garden. These will help to insulate the garlic in the winter, conserve moisture, and keep the weeds at bay.
In the spring, the garlic will be one of the first crops you’ll see as it sprouts right through the layer of mulch.
Lay down the mulch in a thick 4 inch layer. This will help protect the cloves throughout the winter, yet will be easy enough for the garlic sprouts to push through in the spring.
If your region experiences an unusually warm and wet fall, your garlic may try to sprout a little early.
Don’t worry a bit about this, the leaves that sprouted will die when the cold hits, and new leaves will sprout in the spring.
Your garlic bed is now ready for the long winter, and we’ll see you back here in the summer when it’s time to harvest!
