Louisiana Garlic From Clove to Harvest (Zone 9)

Since summer started, my weekends have been filled with beach trips, pool days, and busy schedules.

I am so happy to have some extra time on my hands before heading to Arkansas next week. My wonderful husband is turning 30!! So we will be celebrating and relaxing with his family for the week.

But today, we are here to talk all things garlic.

Oh yeah, baby.

What an awesome success this garlic year has been! I recently harvested around 30 garlic heads!! If you would have told me this 2 years ago, I would not have believed you.

I’ve found one of the best things about gardening is every year you learn new tips and tricks. What to do and what not to do. (Lots of failures). But you are growing and learning and the fruit of your labor will eventually flourish.

One thing you need to know if you want to grow garlic is it takes time and patience. Similar to onions, it takes roughly 9 months from planting until harvest. It’s like having a baby! But seriously worth the wait. It makes you realize where your food comes from and how long it takes to grow. When you shop at a grocery store for all of your food, you really don’t understand the process.

I heard an old timer around here say,

“You plant garlic when the kids go to school and harvest when the kids get out of school”.

Which means:

Plant your cloves in late September
Harvest your garlic in late May

Sourcing:

You can find garlic seed (same thing as a single garlic clove) from local garden centers in the fall. Also, you can order them online from places like Johnny’s Seeds, Urban Farmer, or Baker Creek. I’m sure there are more online options out there as well.

According to LSU AgCenter, “The three main types of garlic that we grow here are Elephant, Creole and Italian.” Softneck varieties is what you want if you plant if you want longer storage times. And being in south Louisiana where we don’t have a root cellar for proper storage, I need the garlic variety to have optimal storage properties on its own.

This year I planted all Elephant Garlic. It has a much milder flavor. If you live in the Baton Rouge area, Clegg’s Nursery sells them in early fall.

Planting:

Sometime in late September or early October, plant your garlic cloves. I space mine about 5 inches apart and 4 inches deep. You want to plant them with the small tip pointing upward. This is where the green tops will grow from. I plant mine directly in Black Kow compost and water them in after planting. After that we wait.

Waiting until the Harvest:

Wait to water garlic again until springtime. After the last frost has passed. Water them but make sure they don’t stay too wet. You don’t want them to rot.

The next part is so easy. Just wait! Wait until late May to harvest. They are ready to harvest when the tops turn from green to yellow.

How easy is that!

Curing:

Now the work begins. Curing is one of the most important steps of growing garlic. It helps the garlic suck all of the energy into the bulbs and to dry out. This will help the garlic last longer in storage. Without the curing process, the garlic would probably quickly go rancid.

Once you harvest the garlic heads. Shake most of the dirt off them and lay them in a shady, ventilated spot. I put mine in my garage and laid them flat so that they had air flow around each plant. I left them in the garage to cure for about 2 weeks. You will know when they are done curing because the green tops will be completely brown and crispy. Also, the papery outer layers of the garlic will have formed. When you squeeze each garlic head, you want them to be firm.