How to grow garlic | A homesteader’s guide to growing garlic

Seed garlic

Seed garlic refers to cloves of garlic used for planting to grow new garlic plants. Unlike other vegetable crops, garlic is not usually grown from seeds; instead, it’s grown from individual garlic cloves. Cloves are planted in the ground, where they will develop into new bulbs over the course of several months. When selecting seed garlic, it’s important to choose bulbs that are healthy, disease-free and suited to your local climate. Ask on local pages to see if anyone in your region is selling any — this is normally a great indication of which varieties grow successfully in your area. 

I thoroughly recommend securing yourself some seed garlic for next year. To select high-quality seed garlic: 

• choose the larger cloves from bigger bulbs 
• look for healthy-looking cloves 
• plant extra this season for your own seed next year.

When to plant?

There is a common theory that you should plant garlic on the shortest day and harvest on the longest day. My recommendation is to plant at least a month before this. Planting in April or May will give your garlic more time to become established and more resistant to diseases like rust. If you follow the moon calendar, wait until after the full moon and plant in the first part of the moon’s waning phase.

Where to plant?

Choose an area of your garden which is sunny, warm and well-draining. Avoid parts of your garden that get wet in winter if planting directly in the ground. Raised beds are typically well draining so they’re a great place to start. Many growers experience problems down the track due to poor soil management. Crop rotation, companion planting and using quality fertiliser (blood and bone, seaweed tonic etc) are all recommended practices for successful garlic growing. 

These plants are good companion plants for garlic: 

• tomatoes 
• strawberries 
• cabbages 
• broccoli
• cauliflower 
• kale 
• carrots 

Our garlic will stay in the garden until mid-summer, so choosing the right area is a key part of garden planning. To plant, break the garlic bulbs up into cloves and select the biggest ones as seed. We prepare our planting area by ensuring that it is topped up with some fresh compost mixed into the soil. You can also mix blood and bone into the soil if you have it, as this will give the soil a great boost of nutrients as the seed goes in. 

Leaving the skin on the seed, plant the clove with the pointy end up at around 5–10 cm deep. I prefer to leave about 15–20 cm between cloves, as this makes it easier for weeding, as well as allowing space for the bulbs to grow. Gently cover with soil and top with mulch — leaf mulch is great (especially at this time of year!) but you can also use pea straw, fresh grass clippings or wood-shavings. Give the bed a good watering before and after planting; I thoroughly recommend adding some diluted seaweed tonic to your watering can after planting.

TIP: Try soaking your bulbs in a diluted seaweed solution overnight before planting. This is like a fertiliser marinade and gives the cloves a boost. 

Mulch

Pull any weeds as they come through. Mulching garlic through winter with pea straw, wood chips or coarsely chopped leaves leads to bigger and better yields. Winter mulch helps keep nutrients in the soil from leaching away, and also can help protect plants from strong winds. 

Fertiliser

Keep your plants well fed. You can do this by adding blood and bone once a month, or watering every 4–6 weeks with seaweed tonic. 

Common problems

Garlic is a relatively easy crop to grow, but like any other plant there are some problems to try to avoid: 

• Regularly inspect crops for signs of pests for early intervention. Look out for aphids, thrips and slugs! 
• Diseases can be prevented by practising good crop rotation, using disease-free seed, and planting in well-drained soil. 
• Too much water can cause bulbs to rot. Avoid overwatering by watering the soil around the plant rather than the plant itself. 
• Plant in late autumn so the garlic has enough time to grow and mature before harvesting in summer. Planting too late can lead to small bulbs or even failure to grow. 
• Planting garlic too deep can cause bulbs to rot, as they need to be close to the surface to develop properly. Plant cloves about 5–10 cm deep. 

If you notice signs of garlic rust (fungal disease), it’s important to take swift action to prevent the disease from spreading.

For more information on growing garlic or self-sufficient living and modern homesteading, visit Gillian’s website.