GARLIC
Garlic is one of the main annual crops I grow. I have grown it at our farm for a number of years now and it has proven to be a relatively reliable, low maintenance, high value crop. Much of our garlic is grown to be sold as seed garlic to others who would like to grow it. Because we sell garlic that may be grown by others, I try to be very meticulous when it comes to preventing diseases. Cultural practices, like crop rotation and keeping foreign garlic seed cloves out of my production areas, have served me well in preventing disease problems.
The way I usually grow garlic is in slightly elevated 'beds' with straw mulch for weed suppression. This can work fine as long as you don't have weeds that are germinating in (or growing through) your straw mulch. In my experience, hand weeding garlic can require a large amount of labor if weeds cannot be kept under control by other means.
Two of the cultivars I currently grow the largest amount of are 'Siberian' and 'Chesnok Red'. 'Siberian' can make large bulbs with only a few very plump cloves per bulb, while 'Chesnok Red' often makes smaller bulbs and smaller cloves but is known for its flavor and beautifully colored bulbs. Both of these cultivars are in the hardneck group of garlics, and are quite different than garlics in the softneck group.
For those interested in growing garlic in Missouri, this is my 'timeline' of activities:
August-September (year 1) - prepare an area for growing garlic that you will harvest in the summer of year 2.
Late October (year 1) - make your raised beds (if you are going to grow the garlic in raised beds) and plant your seed garlic cloves. I have started planting my cloves somewhat shallow, making sure there is about 1 -2 inches of soil on top of the cloves. You can plant deeper if you like, some growers will plant them 2-4 inches deep. I plant them a little shallower because I use quite a bit of mulch. I plant all of my garlic cloves on an 8 inch by 8 inch grid, so there is 8 inches between plants and 8 inches between rows.
Mulch right after planting (year 1) - I generally cover my bulbs with 5-6" of loose straw mulch. This will settle during the winter and will often only be a few inches by spring.
Late March - early April (year 2) - Pull any weeds germinating
May (year 2) - Watch for scapes. Timing varies. Cut the scapes off low when they are relatively young. They taste better and it can improve the size of your bulbs.
Periodically pull weeds in the beds. Can apply a little more loose straw mulch after pulling weeds in an area.
Late May-early July (year 2) - Watch your garlic like a hawk for the right time to harvest it. I generally will dig/pull all my garlic plants when most of the plants average 50% of the leaves have turned brown and are dying back. I have heard some people harvesting as early as when 25% of the leaves have turned brown. The key is not to wait so long that most of the leaves are dead and your bulb wrappers (underground) have been compromised.
Post-harvest - I hang all the garlic plants immediately with leaves still attached in a covered well ventilated area. I do not allow the bulbs to be in an area where there is any direct sunlight or where they may get wet again as they dry. I usually allow the bulbs to dry, hanging, for approximately 4 weeks before the tops are cut off and the bulbs go into longer term storage.
Two things I won't go into detail about, but are important to mention:
1) Irrigation - If you can irrigate your bulbs it can result in larger bulbs in some years. Methods to do this vary.
2) Fertilization - This can result in larger bulbs and there are many various recommendations out there for garlic. Generally, fertilizer or compost is added just before or right at planting, and some fertilization is often done in the spring.
