How to Plant Garlic in the Winter for Early Summer Harvest

I'm a newbie to the gardening game, so imagine my excitement when I found out that I could plant some veggies in the fall to have them appear in spring or early summer.

Love it.

And with all the cooking I've been doing lately, I have discovered I use a lot of garlic. So why not start my fall planting experiment with garlic.

I started by breaking apart the garlic into individual cloves, keeping the thin shells on each.


I soaked the garlic in a mix of water and baking soda, which they say helps prevent fungus. Some also recommend throwing liquid seaweed in there for a boost, but others say it doesn't make much of a difference. You decide! I'm starting with this approach.

I then took those cloves, and planted them, one at a time, about 6 inches apart in a trough about 3 inches deep. I covered the cloves with soil, watered them and covered the entire bed with a few inches of a leaf mulch. I frequently see reference to a straw mulch, but I think a leaf mulch will work well. The idea is to keep the soil warm.

And it's easy. I took leaves we collected in our yard - which is a lot of leaves - and shredded them using a Worx leaf vac/blower/mulcher. Leaves are great for adding organic matter into your garden so that your soil is ready to go when spring comes around!

The garlic will start to grow in the fall, but will then hibernate in the winter, and start back up again in the spring.

You're basically giving it a headstart by planting it before the winter chill.

Here's a video on planting garlic from Organic Gardening magazine, a source I frequently use to get tips and tricks for gardening: