How Garlic is Grown

The first step is cracking the cloves. Each garlic bulb has several cloves & it’s the cloves that will be planted. This task is usually completed at the kitchen counter & there’s sometimes Hard Cider involved.

In Northeast Wis, I start planting around the end of October, depending on the weather & hope to be done by early November.

The ground is prepped – we use composted horse manure for fertilizer, which is spread on the field to be planted in early Fall & then worked in. Once we’re ready to planted, it’s tilled up again & staked so our rows are straight. We plant in beds that are 5 garlic plants wide, each plant is 6″ apart. All cloves are planted by hand & I use a tool to make the holes that each clove goes it.