Planted Garlic – Sunday Nov. 12th. Purchased red garlic from Red Bank lady vendor at Chico Farmers Market, about 4 cloves. We have NOT had our 1st frost. I did not soak in kelp extract. Planted in box #4. ( box #5 was planted to beets week before ) Have not mulched yet. ( last years garlic was in box #1 & #2 – several varieties from Peaceful Valley )
[ Garlic – Plant in the late fall after the first frost… about November. Break the cloves apart and soak in kelp extract overnight. Plant in loose soil with lots of organic matter. Plant in rows about 18″ apart and each clove about 6 inches apart. Plant blunt end (root nodes) down. Cover with about 2″ of soil. Mulch over the entire bed, not too heavy, or remove some in spring time. Likes even moisture throughout the growing season so mulch and drip line will help achieve this. Garlic does not like competition so mulch and weeding are important. Summer activity is cutting the scapes. It is time to cut the scapes when they curl back down. Cutting the scapes will help improve the size of the bulbs. You can stir fry the scapes ( yum ). Harvest time for most varieties happens between mid July and beginning of Auguts. When leaf tips turn brown stop watering and wait about 2 weeks. When plants are about 1/3rd brown check bulb size on one or two plants. Better to harvest too early than too late. Once out of soil tie in bunches and hang in a dark place with good air circulation for all sides of the bulbs.
