Garlic has held a special place in human culture for millennia.

Taking part in this lineage is a blessing, fostering deep connection to the earth. Garlic was our first major crop in our cultivation journey at Mountain Jewel. Here's a little snapshot of our first crop of garlic.

The beautiful plant with so much to give.

The rich flavor is irreplaceable, and has amazing antimicrobial and anti viral properties. By protecting the system from invaders and lending itself to a wide range of flavors, garlic is a magnificent addition to the gardens, diets and herbal medicinal practices. In temperate climates I feel garlic is the easiest high value crop to grow. Because it is planted in late fall (at least in zone 6b where we live), planting it fits well into seasonal cycles when most things are going to sleep.

How to Grow Great Garlic

1. Obtain high quality seed stock. This is slightly confusing as the seed is actually the previous years cloves, meaning you are actually vegetatively propagating garlic- not sexually propagating as with other seeds. Ensuring blight free garlic is crucial as some soils foster viruses that can devastate crops. So get your seed (selected for size, uniformity, vigor etc.) from a reputable grower.

We purchased about 15# of mixed seed garlic form a garlic farm. We bought Nootka Rose, Killarney Red, Island Rocambole, Rose de Lautrec, Idaho Silver, Carpathian, Chesnok Red, Mild French. We selected heirloom varieties and favored silver skin types that keep for up to a year. We also added some unique varieties for diversity, flavor and interest. This ended up being A LOT of garlic and was about 1500 plants. I'd suggest starting smaller.

2. Carefully break up heads into individual cloves. Discard or eat any damaged, soft or extra small cloves. Remember that on the whole we are selecting for healthier bigger head (big cloves make big heads).

3. Soak cloves in a kelp solution (4 tsp of kelp extract in a gallon of water) for a few hours prior to planting to encourage proper rooting and offer a slight micronutrient boost.

4. Mark out rows or the patch you want to plant. We opt for planting 3 inches deep and 6 inches between plants. You can either dig a furrow or use a dibble stick to poke a hole and backfill. A straight stick marked at regular intervals is a great help in maintaining consistent planting. These numbers may vary depending on soil depth and quality and personal preference. I find a triangular planting pattern (offsetting each row) works well to use the space efficiently while giving space for bulbs to grow. We get 4 rows on a 30" bed.

5. Cover each clove and press soil to remove air pockets.

6. MULCH!!! Garlic does not compete well with weeds, mulch is garlic's best friend. This is crucial to protect soil structure, mitigate frost heaving in cold regions, aid moisture retention and weed suppression. A generous 4-6 inches will make sure your crop is mostly weed free and will keep evenly moist. We use wheat straw and get some seeds that sprout, so we just pull them up and add to mulch layer.

Put your garlic to sleep and know that the hardest part is done. You can watch the slow emersion of tender shoots. If you cannot plant in the fall, spring planting can also be done, but yields will not be the same. Stay tuned for more posts on garlic care and curing.

Thanks for reading! Next we'll cover spring care & feeding, harvest, curing and storage.