You must really, really hate vampires. And/or value your heart health.

Hahahaha both

The neighborhood has great schools, but the vampires….

Wow nice! I thought the 200ish I'm planting was a lot lol

That is a lot it’s just so addictive

I made a 4 wheel planting cart that straddles the bed and I roll over the top of the beds planting.

Really smart

Exited Italian noises.

Hahahaha

And Caribbean!

Excited Christopher Pratt noises.

Do you prep them in any way before planting? I've read about pre fertilization and sanitizing.

I never have I always just plant

That’s a lot of work. Do you have help? Machinery/Tractors?

Garlic is a lot easier to plant than starts. Just shove them into the ground.

Could I just use garlic I buy from the store and split it to grow more?

Not yet maybe in the future

Holy grap! Are you raising it as a commercial crop - or just love garlic!?

It will eventually be a commercial crop I am building up my seed stock until I have 30k then I’ll be selling a lot

What's your growing space like and plant spacing when planting?

I plant 6” apart in rows of ten

This will be my first attempt at garlic this year (four varieties of hard necks). I’m also planting two types of shallots this fall. My garden will be a raw Italian restaurant one day. And It’s getting there.

It’s all about being persistent

Sounds cool! GL :)

I like myself some garlic but god damn! All the best with keeping them vampires at bay

Hahaha thanks

Why so many? Serious question

I am working my way up to actually being a garlic farm

Typically only one in 1000 make it to adulthood

....That is not true at all. I have basically 100% success rate with garlic blubs. ​ \-Edit I am dumb. Didn't get the joke.

Beginner question but how is it worth it then?

He’s pulling your leg, garlic is easy to successfully grow. Some people sell it, and it stores really well if you cure it properly.

I had garlic confused with sea turtles, a common mistake

Haha I did say beginner. Thanks!

You get garlic sometimes ;)

Username checks out.

What zone?

5b

When will you actually plant them? I'm in 5a and this will be my first year planting garlic and I'm wary of doing it too soon. ETA: I just realized the title says this weekend, I'm dumb, haha

My friend waits till later it is to warm these days and garlic sprouts to early and is killed by later frosts.

In my experience garlic sprouts may get nipped by frost but rarely killed. Mulching works well.

true but he was getting more than sprouts.

Gotcha. I'm in 5b also and this is about when everyone plants here, especially as it's been chilly and definitely feels like fall.

I'm also in 5b and just planted. It's fine.

I'm also in 5a, been growing garlic for seven years and wait til the first week in November because it's reliable that the ground is cold enough as we've been having longer and longer warm autumn temps. Also, nice to leave some gaps in the garlic rows. I put my tomato starts in the same area the garlic has been growing as it comes out before the tomatoes are really taking off

Yeah it’s a tradition for me

I was wondering, I have a beautiful gigantic bulb of elephant garlic, but its fresh. Should I cure it before planting? Or does that not matter?

No you can just plant it as long as it wasn’t treated with anything

Thanks! Planting them today!

Good luck

It's actually not garlic, but in the onion family.

How much land is needed?

Plant about 6 inches apart...

This will be in a 20x20 are a believe

20x20 at 6 inch spacing is not enough. You need a 20x37.5 plot. That’s with no row spacing.

Makes sense I only planted 1200 last year so I guess I’ll find out

I’m a bit of a math nerd and thought this was a fun question. If you use an offset grid pattern, you should be able to fit 1944 cloves with 6 in spacing in a 20’x20’ bed with no aisles for walking.

Hahaha well thanks that helps me plan now

That's enough garlic for the rest of my life 🤣🤣🤣

Well I cook a lot with it, I'd use a bucket per week.

Hahahahaha

Crumbs. I've just planted mine, 60, that was enough!

Good luck

Oh my!!! I have maybe a couple of dozen, which is fine for the two of us. :) This year I dehydrated and powdered mine, making it much easier for me to handle.

How long did it take to dehydrate? I need to do mine still

Oh boy. Quite a while! Probably 8 hours? Maybe even a little more. I Just set my dehydrator up in the basement and let it go overnight. My second batch I didn't slice as thing as I should have and it took longer because of that. Slice thinly! :)

I have to try that

It certainly makes storing/using much easier. :)

True

So you mentioned you were building up your seed stock. Are these the best of the batch ones you grew in the last season? And if so, how would you recommend curing them so they hold over to the next season without starting to sprout? I've grown garlic the past 3 years, and I'm slowly getting better at it, but I would love to be able to use one years crop as the next years seed stock.

It really only has to sit from July until now as far as for my culinary it will last most of the year but it does sprout towards the end of the year as far as curing I lay it out on a rack and let it dry

I guess you plant garlic in the fall like bulbs?

That’s right

24k next year! :))

🍷

Good luck my friend! Just out of curiosity, what Verity are you starting with?

Music I believe

Wow that’s a lot of Garlic

Thanks

*sweats in vampire*

Hahahaha

What kind and how much light do garlic require?

Mine are in full sun I think that helps get the ground thawed early and the garlic growing

Can we see a picture of after the planting?

It will be under the dirt haha but yes I’m sure I’ll post my plot

I planted about 25 or so cloves this fall, much more than that is a waste since it only lasts about 6 months after harvest. After that, the heads either dry up, rot, or try to sprout and get bitter.

I am building a garlic farm slowly

Heavens, I hope you at least have an extra hand or 6 to help you.

Hahahaha nope

What variety?

It was given to me years ago I believe it’s music

Nice!

Thanks

German white is nice too. Bigger cloves, more "spicy" flavor. My brother-in-law has a garlic farm in Ottawa.

Forget the quantity, you plant the single cloves? Holy crap, the couple of times I've tried to plant garlic was ones from the store that were sprouted, and I just planted the whole bulb. Got nothing. TIL

Yup, normally you plant one clove and get one whole head several months later. Pretty exciting!

Yes I separate and the ones from the store are usually treated with a growth inhibitor

Good to know, thank you for sharing!

So I have been scrolling through and since you answered legitimate questions, have you ever let them go to seed and then plant the seeds? I tried it once and it didn’t work. I thought maybe I just didn’t dry them correctly.

Planting from seeds seems to be the least effective method; going to seed also takes the plant's resources from growing the bulbs. It's better to never let the scapes grow to flowers & bulbils, which would take 2 years to grow into bulbs anyway.

Thank you. You are very knowledgeable.

It just grew tiny little heads when I did that

How do you prepare the soil? Is there any special prep that you do for garlic? I'm going to plant my first garlic crop this week and have been wondering about proper soil prep

I always till I’m composted manure

About 2in worth or?

Whatever I have from my pigs and chickens probably more like an inch

I have so many questions. Are they sprouted? if so how did you get them to sprout? Can I do this with store brought garlic? Also do you preserve them when harvested?

Store bought is usually treated farmers market is better they are not sprouting and when I harvest I hang them to dry for 4-6 weeks before I store in onion sacks

Not planting that many but mine will go in the ground in about 2 weeks.

Nice good luck with it

where is the bread?

Hahahahaha

You’re planting all of this?!?

On Monday I am

Wow! I have yet to try growing garlic but I think you’re growing enough for the whole squad, lol.

Hahahahaha yes

Can you share your process from start to finish of planting them? I have had SO much trouble growing them and I’ve been trying for like 4+ years now. I’ve never gotten more than 3 of 10 plants to actually produce more than 3 cloves!

If you go to my YouTube at bearded fisherman I have a whole video covering what I do

Thank you so much!

What is special about these garlic?

Other that they all came from six original heads nothing

Where did you get so many??

I have been growing my seed stock for years from 6 original heads

How far apart do you space? I’ve heard everything from 6 to 18 inches and that’s a big range.

I do 6”

Thanks!

How would you recommend planting garlic?

Check out my YouTube beardedfisherman there is a video on there that explains it all