It’s officially garlic planting time and you might be surprised to know what a tremendous selection you have from which to choose. Garlic can be separated into two main groups: hardnecks and softnecks.
Hardneck garlic is my favorite because it has a stronger flavor and sends up lovely curly-cues, called scapes, every May. Within the hardneck garlic family you have dozens of varieties from which to choose. Some are described as sweeter, others spicier, hotter . . . you get the idea. Read the descriptions to have an idea of the flavor you can expect and also pay close attention to which part of the country your variety has a tendency to grow the best. The drawback of hardnecks is that they do not store as well as softneck garlic, usually about 4-6 months from harvest (harvest is in June).
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| Garlic Scapes--The curly flowering stem hardneck garlics produce. Delicious! |
Softneck garlic is what you buy in the store. Planting garlic purchased from the grocery store is not ideal because it isn’t as fresh, you do not know the variety name, and some are treated to prevent sprouting. Softneck garlic has a milder flavor and lacks the tasty scapes so popular with home chefs. The benefit of planting a few of these is that they store very well. Eat your hardneck garlic first and then move on to the softnecks. Another benefit is braiding. Since softnecks lack the scapes, the stems are, well . . . soft. And as such lend themselves to garlic braids, both decorative and a handy way to store garlic.
Under ideal conditions, you can expect to reap approximately seven times the amount of garlic you plant. This year I’m planting 4 different varieties of garlic, 4 pounds in all. If all goes well, I’ll harvest about 28 pounds in June! Planting is easy. Till your planting bed, add some all-purpose fertilizer, compost, or well-rotted manure. Break apart the garlic bulbs into individual cloves and plant the cloves, pointy end up, about 4 inches deep 6-8 inches apart. Water, mulch with straw or leaves and wait. You’ll see green shoots appear in 2-3 weeks and in the spring they’ll begin putting on even more growth. Fertilize a couple more times before the end of May, break off and devour the scapes just as they’ve made a full curl and then wait a few more weeks to dig your garlic. You’ll harvest when the bottom three leaves have turned brown–and if possible, wait for the soil to dry out a little. Don’t delay the harvest because you’ll give pests a chance to start nibbling at the bulbs. After digging, lay the bulbs on a tray in a well-ventilated area for about week, then cut off the tops or braid them if you’re growing softnecks. Keep the largest ones for replanting in the fall and eat the rest!
This year I'm replanting from stock I harvested this past summer:
-Siberian, Music, Chesnok Red, and Dukabour. These are all hardnecks.
I'm trying two softneck varieties this year for the first time:
-Kettle River Giant and Transylvanian
