Planting Garlic in the Fall

Garlic plant (internet photo)

Since I’m an “instant gratification” kind of gardener, fall planting is not my favorite.  There’s just something about putting things in the ground in the fall,  knowing that you won’t see any signs of that labor until many months later, that doesn’t speak instant gratification.  Having my own fresh garlic straight out of the garden for cooking and pickling makes it worthwhile, though, and planting in the fall assures that I will have an abundant supply by the time pickling season starts.

 Traditionally, garlic in North Dakota is planted on Columbus Day  - sort of like potatoes are planted on Good Friday and corn needs to be knee high by the 4^th of July.  Well, I didn’t get my garlic planted on Columbus Day.  And I didn’t get it planted the week after Columbus Day.  Or even the week after that.  We had 8.75 inches of rain the first part of October.  My garden was a muddy mess.  I’m not too worried about missing the deadline, though.  I’ve never gotten my potatoes in on Good Friday and sometimes my corn just doesn’t make it to knee high by the 4^th of July (whose knees are they talking about anyway?) and I’ve still had good crops.  With fall planting, there is a bit more of a push to really get it done, since the bulbs need enough time with soil temps above 45 degrees to set good roots.  It’s also important not to plant too early, since planting while soil and air temps are too warm will foster tender above ground growth which will be destroyed with freezing temperatures.

 Things were still pretty wet in the garden by the end of October, so I had to alter my garlic plans slightly.  I had planned to plant my crop on the very edge of the big vegetable garden, right next to where I will plant my cucumbers next year.  I was hoping that way, when I finish picking cucumbers, I’d see the garlic and think, “oh, gee, I should take some of that in, too”, rather than remembering that I need garlic after I'm back at the house ready to make pickles.  (As one ages, one has to make accommodations, I guess).   Instead, I planted my garlic in a raised bed that has much better drainage than my garden to be able to get it in the ground in time to have that adequate rooting time.

 Garlic requires soil with high organic matter and good drainage.  Too much moisture will cause the cloves to rot before they begin to grow.  I added about two inches of well composted sheep manure to the raised bed; then sprinkled some 10-10-10 all-purpose fertilizer over the top of the compost, and tilled both into the existing soil.  After tilling, I raked the soil smooth and made planting rows about 16 to 18 inches apart.  The heads of garlic are separated into individual cloves and then the cloves are placed, unpeeled, into the row about every four to six inches.  If planting the larger cloves of elephant garlic, the cloves should be planted about six to nine inches apart.  Cloves are set in the soil with the pointy tip up and then covered with about 1 ½ to 2 inches of soil.  Even though the soil was nice and wet, I watered the area where I planted, to settle the soil around the cloves and get them set for starting root development.

 Garlic is really a wimp when it comes to competing with other nearby plantings and weeds, so it’s important to give it enough space from which to draw nutrients and moisture, and to keep the weed population down.  I’ll spread about six inches of clean straw mulch over the top of the planting when the soil has cooled to the point where mulching won’t create enough heat to start the bulbs’ growth cycles.  That will suppress any brave weeds that might try to grow there yet this fall, and it will protect the garlic bulbs from the freeze and thaw cycles so prevalent in our North Dakota winters.  In the spring, I’ll remove all but about two inches of that mulch.  The rest, I’ll leave in place to continue its weed suppression duties and to help maintain moisture in the bed.

Next year, I’ll provide adequate moisture to keep the soil moist but not wet.  Garlic is actually quite drought tolerant; that is, it won’t die during dry conditions, but it won’t yield nice, large, flavorful heads without adequate moisture.  On the other hand, too much moisture will cause the bulbs to rot in the ground, so adequate drainage and controlled watering is critical. 

Some warm temperatures come spring, plenty of sunshine, the right moisture level, and controlling the weed population should guarantee me a good supply of garlic for cooking and pickling, beginning in about mid-July of next year.