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Seven Steps to Growing Larger Garlic

Garlic is on of the easiest things to grow in the garden and also it grows at a time of year when nothing else is growing which is really motivating and enjoyable as a gardener.

There are some important tips to help the garlic that you grow to be even bigger. I know that I hate peeling off a little garlic papers when I’m trying to chop garlic for dinner so bigger cloves of garlic is definitely a win.

To grow the biggest cloves of garlic you need to select the largest heads and cloves for planting, plant in the fall for proper vernalization with generous spacing, fertilize properly, and avoid harvesting prematurely.

Read along and I will explain each of these steps.

Plant only the Largest Cloves

The first thing to do is separate the clothes of garlic from the head. You will start to see that some of the cloves are bigger than the others. Only keep the largest cloves to plant. You can take these little ones and put them in the cupboard or in fridge to use in your cooking.

You want to leave the paper around the clove in tact. It is going to help the clove to not rot in the soil before it starts growing.

Consider how many heads of garlic you use in a week or month to decide how many cloves to plant. Each clove of garlic will grow a whole new head of garlic.

Plant 4-6 Inches Apart

I plant my garlic at least 4 to 6 in apart. This will give the garlic plenty of space to for the heads to plump up nice and big.

Every once in a while I’ll accidentally plant two smaller cloves of garlic that are together wrapped up in paper and look like a single large clove. When that happens I’ll get two shoots growing out of the same spot and both of them will compete for sunshine and nutrients and I end up with two very small heads.

Plant with the flat side down–that’s where the roots are going to come out. And the pointy side up–that’s where the shoots grow from. Plant 2-3 inches underground. The hori hori is a great tool for this job.

Plant in Late Fall

For most places the proper planting time is late fall. In the Northern Hemisphere this is usually mid-October to mid-November. This is after we’ve had our first freezes but before the ground is frozen solid.

(If you live somewhere that doesn’t go through such a harsh winter– you may not need to plant your garlic so early. You may wait until January or later to plant your garlic so just check your local Extension office.)

With a good late fall planting there’s enough time before the ground freezes for the garlic to start start to sprout a little bit. And it will send out some roots and it will just wake up from its dormancy a little bit. It may even get a few inches of shoots above ground.

If it goes fully dormant for the winter before it has sprouted the garlic will sit there in the ground and it could simply rot.

If you wait until spring planting time to start planting your garlic what you’ll end up with his clothes of garlic that will grow and they will send out shoots out the top but they will never form a head of garlic underground. This is still usable product it goes by the name of green garlic and it’s delicious for making pesto or for using in stir fries.

It does not form a head because it did not get it’s period of cold vernalization. You can experiment with getting around this by purchasing pre-chilled garlic, or try chilling it in your fridge for a few weeks before planting.

Mulch 4-6 Inches

Cover the garlic with a nice thick 4-6 inch layer of a light mulch like straw or leaf mulch.

This is to help the soil retain moisture and to prevent erosion and prevent nutrient loss over the course of the winter. This is going to let the garlic start growing nice and early in the spring as soon as conditions are perfect.

Spring Maintenance

There are two necessary jobs to do in the spring.

Even though you planted your garlic in fertile, healthy soil, garlic is a heavy feeder which means it really needs an application of fertilizer in the springtime. Liquid seaweed fertilizer is a great natural fertilizer to use.

The second job you only have to do if you are growing hard neck varieties of garlic. Hardneck garlic will grow scapes in the springtime which need to be trimmed off.

Scapes are flower buds that grow out the middle of the plant on a stalk. The flower bud develops into small bulblets of garlic. These bulblets are intended to grow new garlic plants, so a lot of energy from the plan goes into develop those plants. So if you’re growing your garlic for nice large heads you want to trim off those garlic scapes to prevent that energy loss.

Don’t Harvest Too Early

To get the largest head of garlic it’s very important to harvest at the right time. Many people may see their garlic pop up in the spring and think that then it should be ready to harvest in a month or two, but this is not the case.

In most areas of the country garlic is not ready to harvest until at least the first week of July. To see if your garlic is ready to harvest, look for the bottom two sets of leaves to start to dry up and turn brown.

When you see this sign you can dig down a little bit and pull out a test head of garlic from the ground. Look for ridges or lines between the cloves showing a definition between the cloves of garlic. Once they start to form ridges with this definition between cloves you know that the head of garlic has reached its peak of growing and that it’s about as large as it’s going to get, and you can harvest at that point.

Plan for Next Year at Harvest Time

I like to pull off the outer set of leaves right at the time of harvest because they come off so easily at that point. Then you have beautiful clean, white garlic. You need to set out the garlic in shady spot with good air circulation to cure until the stems are dry.

This is a great point of time to sort your heads of garlic and put aside the largest head. Save your largest heads for planting next year.

This process of only planting the largest heads that you grow and only planting the largest cloves of garlic from each of those heads is going to over time select for those growing properties. And your garlic will grow larger and larger over the years.

There’s always variations of weather and climate from year to year which will cause variations. So it’s not always a linear progression but over time you will see larger and larger heads of beautiful garlic.

March 15, 2022

Gardening/ Raised Garden

How to Choose Between In Ground or Raised Bed Gardening

Many people choose raised bed gardening because of its consistency and predictability and the solutions it offers to a number of gardening challenges. However there are many valid reasons, especially if you have a larger plot of land, or lower annual rainfall why you may choose to garden in-ground instead.

Gardening in ground is the most well-known type of gardening and has been around the longest, but people began raised bed gardening for a number of beneficial reasons. Let’s discuss first some of the pros and cons of raised bed gardening, and then move on to the reasons to choose one over the other.

Benefits of Raised Bed Gardening Over In Ground:

Complete Control Over Soil

In the ground one area of your soil may have a lot of organic matter, while another area may be completely clay. When filling raised beds you can ensure that your soil mix is consistent across any number of beds. This will lead to more consistent results in your gardening.

In a raised bed you add everything to the bed that the plants will grow in, so you ensure that it is the perfect medium for growing. You don’t control the composition of your native soil. So even though you could add amendments to your soil, you still have less control over the composition.

This complete control over the soil can allow you to crow crops with very specific soil requirements. Blueberries require a higher than normal soil Acidity. It is easier to achieve this in raised beds in areas where the native soil is not useable.

Start Planting Earlier in the Season

There are two reasons why you can get a head start in your garden when using raised beds. Drier conditions and warmer temperatures.

As winter snowmelt and late winter rains saturate the soil it makes it impossible to start your garden.

An old gardener once taught me that in the spring, the proper time to start planting is when you can pick up a handful of soil and it will clump together in your hand, but when you drop it on the ground it will break apart. If the soil is too wet then when you drop it it will land in a glob on the ground and not break apart.

Overly-wet soils create poor growing conditions where you can experience root rot, and undesirable fungi. Also, you will really destroy the soil structure by digging it up while it is so wet.

Because the raised beds are above ground level, more of the rain water drains out of the beds into the soil beneath. So even in the early spring when the soil around the beds is muddy and squishy, the raised beds will be ready to plant.

Being above ground and holding less water also helps the beds to warm up from the sun earlier in the season before the ground does.

Seeds germinate when all the conditions–including soil temperature–are perfect. These warmer raised bed conditions will give you a head-start on planting.

High Intensity Planting

Traditional gardens hold beautiful single rows of vegetables–each separated by a pathway large enough for a wheelbarrow to go down–or at minimum–a person to walk down.

Raised garden beds use a high intensity planting model, where we take the spacing recommended between plants in a row, and give the plants that much space in every direction, but plant multiple rows next to each other.

This creates the appearance of a grid in the garden bed. By getting rid of the space between the individual rows of vegetables–a gardener is able to plant exponentially higher numbers of plants in the same amount of space as the traditional garden.

There are additional benefits to this high intensity planting model. The plants themselves act as a sort of living mulch, helping to prevent nourishing sunlight from getting to weeds and helps retain moisture in the garden bed.

Avoid Wasting Amendments or Materials

Many people find it necessary to add amendments to their garden–whether that be sand or peat moss or compost or other fertilizer to help promote satisfactory growth.

The traditional model of gardening is very wasteful in this respect. Amendments are spread across the entire growing space and tilled into the ground. But only a portion of that is in the soil that will actually hold a plant.

In a raised bed garden, you will only add amendments to the raised garden beds. None of the amendments will be wasted in the aisles or walkways. This also helps avoid the environmental impact of fertilizer runoff.

This same principle affects using things like row cover, insect netting or greenhouse plastic. You can get more plants covered with less material than traditional rows.

Structural Benefits

There are a few benefits to be had from the actual structure of a rigid raised bed.

Raised beds which are constructed with sides out of lumber, stone or metal can be any height you desire. This makes raised bed gardening ideal for people who are unable to bend over to tend a traditional garden. People using wheelchairs, or the elderly are often able to garden in a raised bed built to fit their needs.

Raised beds with rigid sides can also be constructed with either a rigid bottom, or a screened bottom using hardware cloth. These garden beds will help keep out burrowing animals such as moles and voles. This may be the only way gardeners with this type of animal pressure can successfully garden.

Non-compacted Soil

Having the raised beds distinct from the path ensures that the planting area does not get stepped on. Stepping on the soil compacts it and makes it harder for the roots of your crops to grow.

For this reason many people build raised beds no longer than 12 feet so the gardener will never be tempted to step in the bed to get to the other side instead of going around. For the same reason others suggest only making beds 30″ wide so that the gardener can simply step over the entire bed to get to the other side.

Drawbacks of Raised Bed Gardening:

Beds Dry Out More Quickly

One of the major drawbacks of raised beds is that they will dry out much more quickly than the ground. This may be a bigger problem depending on where you live. Most crops grown in the garden need at least an inch of water every week. If this is not provided through rain you will need to have a system for supplementally watering your garden.

Cost of Materials

The biggest drawback to constructing raised garden beds is the cost of materials. Inexpensive raised beds can be constructed out of pine boards. (See my DIY Raised Bed Instructions)

Cedar or Redwood will be more expensive. Stone, brick and metal are also options that will cost more but can be very attractive.

The simplest raised beds can be made by forming mounds of soil that have no rigid side at all. But regardless types of raised beds will need a substantial amount of soil ordered in.

Semi Permanent Nature

One additional drawback to building raised beds is that it would be difficult to move them.

If you want to till up part of your yard and plant a few rows of a garden one year. You could easily reseed that area with grass and move your garden to a different location if you realized it was not the best spot, or you did not enjoy it.

Moving raised garden beds would be in some cases impossible, and in every case a lot of work.

All of these considerations about the pros and cons of raised beds help inform the decision of how to grow your garden. The following indicators about your personal situation can help you determine what type of garden you should grow.

When to Choose Raised Bed Gardening:

You only have a small plot available
You have very poor native soil
You have heavy clay native soil
You have burrowing animals like moles and voles
You have trouble bending over to ground level or getting up and down

When to Choose In Ground Gardening:

You don’t want to put money toward bed construction
Your native soil is average or good
You have a lot of land available
You want to produce on a large scale
You want to use large farm equipment

February 23, 2022 (Last Updated: February 28, 2022)

Gardening/ Raised Garden

DIY Raised Garden Beds

A simple way to get started growing a garden is in a raised bed and it is not very hard to create that bed all yourself. Follow these easy step-by step instructions, or skip to the bottom for a video of the process and FAQs.

(If you aren’t sure if raised bed gardening is for you read my article about how to choose between in-ground or raised bed gardening.)

Steps to Create a Raised Garden Bed

Construct the garden box
Lay down grass or weed suppressor
Add soil
Add amendments
Plant bed
Surround with mulch if desired

How to Construct Easy Garden Boxes

I usually build my boxes 4 feet by 8 feet. The supplies needed to construct one box are:

3– 2x10x8 untreated boards
8– 3 inch deck screws
Power drill/driver

Cut one of the 8 foot boards in half to make two 4 foot boards. All of the big box home improvement stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Menards) will cut a board for free that you are buying from them.

Dry fit the boards together with two long boards making the sides and short boards on the ends.

To avoid splitting the wood you can pre-drill screw holes with a drill bit that is narrower than the deck screws.

Secure the boards at a 90 degree angle at each corner with two screws.

Setting Up a New Raised Bed Garden Area

You can set up a raised garden bed on any surface that provides drainage–including a grass lawn. Just lay a weed barrier where you want to set up the garden bed to prevent grass and weeds from growing up through the bed. I like to use cardboard, but you can also purchase specialty barrier cloth.

Remove all tape and staples from boxes, and only use matte, not glossy coated boxes. And only use blank boxes, or those with a minimal amount of black, not colored, printing.

Overlap the edges to prevent weeds from coming through.

Fill the bed with raised bed mix. You do not need to use a liner in raised beds, though using a liner can extend the life of wooden beds.

Home improvement stores will sell bags of raised bed mix. Or a local landscaping company or nursery may sell and even deliver bulk mix.

To figure out how much soil you need–can you remember geometry from high school? This is where it comes in handy:

A 4×8 bed is 32 square feet. And the sides are 10 inches high, but you don’t want the soil all the way to the top or it will get washed out by rain and watering. So just fill it 9 inches high which is .75 of a foot. So .75 feet times 32 feet squared is 24 feet cubed.

You will need 24 cubic feet of soil to fill one 4×8 bed 9 inches deep.

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. If you are able to buy in bulk you could potentially save money by purchasing one cubic yard of soil to fill a 4x8x10 bed. You would just have a little bit extra you could just smooth out on the top, or fill in around your landscaping.

Homemade Raised Bed Mix

You can also make your own raised bed mixes. I have used both these mixes in the past.

DIY Topsoil Raised Bed Mix: use 1/3 each

topsoil
peat moss
sand

DIY Soil-less Raised Bed Mix: use 1/3 each

compost
peat moss
pearlite or vermiculite

I always add soil amendments when starting a new garden bed. I use both Bone Meal and Blood Meal according to the package instructions.

Each year you will need to add amendments, including compost, to your raised beds for good fertility.

The peat moss, sand, vermiculite and pearlite do not get “used up” and will not need to be replenished each year.

The fun part is planting your bed! The soil should be nice and loose which will make planting very easy. After getting rained on and watered a few times the soil will compact more.

A really nice way to finish out raised beds is to surround them with a pathway border of mulch or gravel over weed barrier.

This will help prevent weeds from getting into your beds by growing up under the edges from the outside. It is necessary in areas with crabgrass because of their aggressive runners. In areas without such troublesome weeds, leaving grass between the beds is an attractive option.

Watch the whole process of setting up two new garden beds in the video below.

FAQs

Should I use raised beds or garden in the ground?

Visit this post I wrote about how to decide between gardening in beds or in the ground.

Do garden beds have to be 4×8?

Garden beds do not have to be 4×8, it is simply a common size.

Most of my beds are 4×8, but I have a few 3×8 beds as well

What is the best size garden beds?

Garden beds should be no larger than 3-4 feet wide and 6-8 feet long. This is so that they are narrow enough that you can comfortably reach to the center without stepping on and compacting the soil in the bed. And this ensures they are not so long that you are tempted to cross the middle of the bed by stepping on and compressing the soil rather than walking around to get to the other side.

Do I have to pre-drill the wood?

Pre-drilling wood is not necessary, but makes it less likely that the wood will split when screwing together.

Can I put dirt in my raised garden beds or pots?

Plain “dirt” from you yard is generally not suitable for raised garden beds. Dirt in many parts of the country has too much clay and will be heavy and not allow water in the beds to drain well. Topsoil is mixed with peat moss and some sort of grit such as sand, pearlite or vermiculite to improve friability and drainage to be made suitable for raised beds.

Will animals get in my raised beds?

If you have groundhogs or moles you can staple a layer of hardware cloth inside the bottom of the bed before adding soil, this will prevent burrowing animals from coming up under your bed and eating your crops.

If you have rabbits you will probably need to make your raised beds taller to keep them out. You can stack two bed boxes on top of each other and secure with a 2×4 inside the corners.

Is using peat moss in the garden sustainable?

Though peat moss is only a slowly renewing resource many people choose to use it in gardening as part of a sustainable lifestyle. Peat moss is only required at the set-up of a garden and never needs to be “replenished” like you do with a yearly addition of compost or fertilizer. Home gardening and home composting for gardens have so many positive benefits for the planet that the one-time modest amount needed justifies its use.

(ie getting food from your backyard instead of letting it travel to you from a continent away, turning food waste back into useable fuel for garden growth rather than putting it in a plastic bag to pile up in a landfill, and others.)

January 11, 2022 (Last Updated: February 23, 2022)