Part of our family’s vision at Buck Moon Farm is to grow, raise, and harvest most, if not all, of the food that we consume. We also encourage others to grow some of their own food even if that means starting with a small garden of tomatoes or a small raised bed of garlic. No meal tastes better than a meal prepared from your own harvest! We offer hardneck garlic seed to get you started growing your own garlic. Once your order of Buck Moon Garlic comes in the mail, follow the information below for proper storage and for information regarding the planting and growing process.

Garlic Storage

Proper garlic storage is important to ensure that your eating garlic keeps for as long as possible and that your seed garlic keeps until it is ready to be put into the ground. Improper storage will reduce shelf life, but with proper storage, our hardneck varieties will keep for six months or more. Store your garlic in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area. We suggest placing your bulbs in a mesh or brown paper bag and keeping them in a dark room in the basement as long as it is dry.  If you can keep the room well-ventilated and at about 40-60F, your garlic should store for an optimal amount of time. We have had luck storing our eating garlic in a brown paper bag and putting them in the crisper of our refrigerator as well. Just be sure that you only take them out when needed, however, as the garlic will start to sprout when it warms up.

Soil Preparation

Quite possibly the most important step. Ensuring that your soil contains a sufficient amount of organic matter and levels of N-P-K will give you the best chance of growing healthy, beautiful garlic bulbs. Although garlic will grow in most soil types, a well-drained, sandy loam is best. We like to grow summer cover crops to work into the soil before planting. These cover crops increase the organic matter in the soil. We plant oats in the spring and work them into the soil in late summer. We then plant a cover of buckwheat (6-8 week maturation) that we work into our soil with composted cow manure. Try to work your cover crops and compost into your soil at least two weeks prior to planting to allow for them to break down. We test our soil and aim to get the soil in the 6.0-7.0 pH range.

When to Plant

Planting times are largely dependent on where you live and your climate. In northern climates like ours in Wisconsin, we plant our garlic about 6 weeks before the ground freezes. We aim to have ours in the ground about the second week in October. In states with milder climates and in the south, you can plant your garlic later than we do. The goal  is that you get your garlic in the ground so that it can establish its roots before the ground freezes. Planting too early may result in your garlic sprouting from the ground, which could affect bulb growth in the spring.

Separating and preparing your cloves

Keep your bulbs in proper storage until you are ready to plant. The bulbs will need to be separated into individual cloves, and we suggest breaking apart the bulbs no more than one day prior to planting. Keeping the bulbs intact gives you the best chance of planting healthy cloves.

A general rule of thumb is to plant the cloves from your largest bulbs. The larger cloves will generally produce the largest bulbs come harvest, but with proper soil preparation, care, and weather, even your smallest cloves can mature into big bulbs. Prior to planting, we soak our cloves in a fish emulsion fertilizer for at least 3 hours. This pre-soak will give the cloves a boost once planted and encourage healthy root growth. We suggest an organic 5-1-1 fertilizer such as Alaska 5-1-1 Natural Organic Fish Fertilizer. After the fertilizer soak, we soak the cloves in vodka for about 20 minutes. Yes, we said vodka! This soak will ensure that the cloves are sterilized. Others may chose to use isopropyl or rubbing alcohol. The last step is to remove your cloves from the alcohol and allow them to drain. Your cloves are now set for planting!

Planting your garlic

Space your cloves at least 6” and rows at least 8” apart to allow enough room for growth and bulb development. We stagger our cloves to allow for the most growing space. Plant your cloves at least 2-3” deep. It is very important that you plant the pointy tip of the clove up and the root side (also known as the basil plate) down. Improper planting will make it difficult for your plant to establish its roots and grow.

Mulching

After your garlic is planted you will want to apply a layer of mulch to protect the cloves over the course of winter. We suggest using a 4”-6” layer of straw that is free of any weeds, but we have also used manure compost successfully for mulch. The compost provides added nutrients to the soil in the spring. If using straw, monitor your garlic closely in the spring to ensure that the mulch is not preventing your garlic shoots from poking through. You may need to loosen the mulch around the shoots. The mulch will also retain moisture and help suppress weeds. Weed control is vitally important to your garlic crop. Weeds can overtake your crop quickly and use up the nutrients that your garlic could be using instead.

Removing Scapes

We highly suggest this step! Hardneck garlic is unique compared to softneck garlic for the fact that the plants produce scapes. Scapes are stalks that grow from the center of hardneck garlic plants. If left unpicked, these stalks will form a flower-like bud that will eventually release what are called bulbils. These bulbils are the natural seed of the garlic plant. If the scapes are left on, your bulbs will be significantly smaller than if picked. Once these scapes form an upside down “U” (usually early June), they should be harvested. Harvesting the scapes will allow the plant to direct its energy into the bulb instead of the bulbils on the scape. Plus, the scapes are delicious, and they can be used for cooking just like garlic cloves. You can simply break the scapes off the plant with your fingers, but we suggest wearing gloves as the juices can sometimes irritate skin.

Harvesting your garlic

Knowing when to harvest your garlic can be difficult, but there are some tips for recognizing when your bulbs are ready to come out of the ground. Our hardneck garlic has been harvested from the last week in June to the end of July. Some varieties may be harvested even later in August. A good rule of thumb to follow is to harvest your garlic when the bottom half of the leaves have browned and the top half of leaves are still green. Dig a few bulbs from time to time to check to see how they are maturing. If the cloves have filled out the skins, it is time to harvest. Waiting too long will result in cloves breaking off from the bulb.