Add Compost Before Your Fall Garlic Planting

You usually plant garlic during the second to last week of October, depending on where you live, and then cover in at least 6 inches of a good mulch of shredded leaves or grass clippings, and harvest the following July.

Getting the soil ready is an important and often neglected prerequisite for successful garlic growing. Although garlic evolved in poor soils (most likely in the desert regions of Siberia), application of organic matter to the soil prior to planting will definitely increase your yield. Summer is the best time to add compost or well-rotted manure to the site where you intend to plant.

To prevent weed growth between when you are finished with preparations and when you plant, cover the bed with black plastic or heavy mulch. You can add a little more nitrogen to your garlic bed in the spring in the form of compost or rotted manure but not after that; too much nitrogen may cause premature yellowing of the leaves.

When you’re ready to plant, it’s best to divide your garlic bulbs into cloves before starting. Plant the cloves 6-8 inches apart, in rows or double rows with room to weed in between. You may have to remove some of the mulch in the spring if it is compacted and impedes your plants’ growth. Often, though, the mulch breaks down enough over the winter to allow the garlic to push through.

Planting garlic is a joy because the days are crisp and cool and there are few pests that bother garlic. In fact, it is often used in companion plantings to protect other plants from pests.

Selecting the type of garlic you want to plant is a matter of individual taste, but be aware that there are many species of garlic out there other than the California white you usually see at the supermarket. There are dozens of exotic varieties available with names like Russian Red, Purple Stripe Porcelain, Rosewood, Kabar and on and on.

So-called “hardneck” varieties develop a flowerhead on the stem called a “scape,” which curls and then extends upward, eventually becoming woody (hence the name “hardneck”).

Garlic scapes are considered a delicacy in their own right. They are harvested soon after they appear and are often sold in bunches at farmers’ markets. Cutting the flower heads off garlic when they appear also allows more of the plant’s energy to go into producing larger bulbs. Many commercial operations “pop the tops” off of their garlic for this reason.

You will find garlic seed bulbs in many of the Garden Centers this time of year, or some people buy from reliable companies online. If you have issues getting them, you can always go to your neighborhood grocery store, but make sure to buy only organic garlic bulbs; simply plant the cloves from the bulbs.

Here at THE SEED GUY, our 60 Variety Heirloom Seed Package has over 32,000 seeds, all non-GMO, 90 - 93% germination and is currently priced on-sale at just $79.  You get 49 Heirloom vegetable seed varieties along with 11 Heirloom herb seed varieties all snuggled into a nice-sized Mylar for year-to-year or long-term storage. What a great gift for that person you know who loves to garden!

Check out our website to see the above highlighted seed package at https://theseedguy.net/sixty-variety-heirloom-seeds or you can also call us 7 days a week at 918-352-8800 if you would rather place your order by phone. We have a wide variety of both small and large Heirloom seed packages along with all our individual varieties currently in stock.

We’ve recently updated to a new SEED GUY website https://theseedguy.net  that is faster, mobile friendly, and offers our customers more ways to pay; Credit Cards, Paypal, Paypal Pay Later, and Apple Pay.

We’d love to have you follow and LIKE US on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theseedguy  so you’ll be able to see more of our gardening articles and new seed offerings and sales. Thank you and God bless you and your family!!