When should you plant garlic? The common advice is to plant after the first hard frost. That advice may work but it is not right. The best planting time has nothing to do with frost!
Does Garlic Need Frost Before Planting?
garlic
Planting Garlic – How Late is Too Late?
I hear about a lot of people planting garlic in winter or even early spring. In most cases they never report how well the crop turned out so I wondered, how good is the crop if you plant late? Can you plant in spring, in a cold climate, and still get a good crop?
Garlic – the King of Companion Planting
Garlic is one of the most popular companion plants. It can be grown next to most plants as a natural pest and fungus deterrent. It takes up little space, is not fussy about soil and can grow in most conditions.
I am sure that its pungent flavor is what convinces people that it keeps pests and diseases away. If it keeps vampires away, surely a few bugs are not a problem for it.
Chives, Garlic Chives, Onion Chives, Garlic Scapes – Which One Do You have?
There is a lot of confusion out there about various chives and garlics. Identifying one from the other is actually quite simple, until we add other alliums to the list, then it can become very complicated. In this post I will look at the common ones and provide a simple way to correctly identify your plant. I’ll also include some cultural information.
Planting Garlic – When Is The Right Time?
The recommended time for planting garlic in colder climates is mid-fall – October in zone 5. That certainly works but is that the best time?
Spring bulbs, like tulips, are also planted in fall but common advice for these is to plant them as soon as you get them. Earlier is certainly better than later. Planting earlier allows the bulb more time to develop a good root system before winter sets in. Since garlic is a bulb, would the same logic not apply to it? Would it not be better to plant garlic sooner?
Growing Garlic
Garlic is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the home garden and if you grow too much, it easily keeps all winter long. Plant some today.
Growing Garlic – Hardneck or Softneck?
I have grown garlic for years and consider it the easiest vegetable crop to grow. I have always been taught that, given our northern zone 5 climate, we could only grow hardneck garlic. Turns out that this is a myth.
Both the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Filaree Farms (keepers of the largest privately held collection of garlic in North America) agree that both hardneck and softneck can be grown in colder climates.
