Garlic Harvest

Garlic Harvest

I think garlic is one of the foundational ingredients in today’s western cooking practice. Almost every dish I cook starts with sautéing garlic in low heat with olive oil. Because of this, it is very natural for me to grow garlic at home so that it is available throughout the year.

My garlic growing season for 2023 has ended, and I had a much-improved harvest compared to the disappointing harvest of last year. I wanted to reflect on how I grew garlic this cycle, think of measures that helped, and steps I could have taken.

I believe the most crucial factors for growing garlic are the following three: location, watering, and fertilization. I will present what I did this cycle and list possible improvements. Then I will finish by expanding on the plans for the 2024 cycle.

Location, Location, Location!!

While not surprising, good sun exposure is very important for fat and healthy garlic bulbs. Looking back, the year I had an amazing garlic harvest was when I planted garlic in a plot of a community garden with an open plot and ample sunlight. Unfortunately, the community garden closed, so that is not an option now. Perhaps I can ask around if anyone is interested in renting me some space or if there is a different community garden open.

In the 2023 cycle, I prepared a plot at the corner of my front garden for garlic planting. It did not look very pretty, though I might wonder what passing by people thought of it. One important aspect of garlic (and other allium family plants in general) is that they grow very early in the season when other plants are still underground. So this is something I should keep in mind. I can possibly have a garlic planter or planting area in the front garden that may be crowded later in the season, but I can still grow garlic there.

I am now considering growing garlic on my upstairs balcony since the location receives a huge amount of sunlight. More about this future plan later.

Watering

I started irrigating the front yard as we received almost zero rainfall in May 2023. In hindsight, I should have started irrigation a bit earlier, perhaps in April.

• We only received 0.54" of rain in May 2023.
• We received 4.93" in 2022, 1.79" in 2021, 9.3" in 2020, 9.55" in 2019, and 8.21’ in 2018 (this is the first season when we moved to this house).

There is quite a bit of variation from year to year. Our average precipitation in May is about 5" of rain. Just like any other bulb plants, garlic does not prefer excessive moisture as it can result in rotting of the bulbs. But extreme drought can also hamper and stunt the growth, especially from April to May, which is the season when garlic grows a lot.

Fertilizing

Garlic is one of the first plants to wake up in the spring, along with crocuses and green onions. Well, green onions and garlic both belong to the same allium family, so that is not a coincidence. I find that many allium family plants tend to have an early start when other plants are dormant and establish themselves before others do. It is one of their survival strategies, an early start.

Anyway, garlic wakes up in March and grows steadily in April and May. Their growth seems to stop by June, and they are harvested in July. So their actual growing period is only about 3 months, and the key must be to deliver nutrients during this limited window.

This seems to indicate that we have two separate, potentially complementary strategies for feeding garlic plants.

1. Give them instant, liquid fertilizer during their growing month. Liquid fertilizer is convenient, and I can apply it whenever it is needed. Because the weather and rain are very volatile and unpredictable in spring, this quick-acting liquid solution would be quite responsive.

2. Build up organic matter and nutrients in the soil throughout the year. Organic material works as a buffer and can retain nutrients. Though I am certain some nutrients, such as nitrogen, may leach and run off, and I might need to provide it as a supplement. I think building the soil is definitely the best long-term key to success, but given there is such a short window of growth, it will be a challenge to let the soil mature for the right timing.

Next Steps

For the 2024 cycle, I plan to try growing garlic in three locations.

1. The first is the same place as this year since I know I will likely have similar or better success in the same location.
2. Second, I will create another location in the front yard to increase the growing space. The key is to make it so that it does not look like a bunch of grow bags lying around. For this, I would consider making a small raised bed or creating an appealing garlic growing space (such as using grow bags in rainbow colors).
3. Third, I think I will try growing them on our balcony since the location receives the maximum sunlight. One issue is that the location is exposed to wind and snow all winter, and I suspect that the garlic may freeze and die off due to the small volume of the grow bags. For this, I might need to insulate the bags before winter.

While I cannot predict the weather pattern of 2024, I will set up irrigation early and also try to use well-aged compost for the growing medium. I think it is very important to not only irrigate but also add fertilizer in March to April when it is actively growing. I gave them chicken manure in May, but I think that may have been too late. I will definitely give more nutrients much earlier in the cycle.