Harvesting Garlic: Signs, Tips, and Storage Guide

[@MarthaGonzalez-jm3vn]

I love that you tell us about your mistakes. We all make mistakes. But I like to experiment.

[@valmiron4360]

I love your videos. Always information I can use! Thank you! 🙂

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

We are in Zone 5b, Maine, therefore, we have stratification in spades. Mid/late November to Early/mid April. We try to watch extended forecast for lengthy hard freezes to give the cloves 2-3 weeks to set down roots, heavily mulched. From that point the Garlic does it's thing. When the ground thaws they push their way skyward and the chase is on. Love growing Garlic. Almost, "Set It and Forget It"

[@UrbanWhiteBuffaloFarm]

'Hey Travis I'm doing several garlics this year all hardneck for Minnesota. Korean Red, Vietnam Red, Persian Star, Chesnok Red, Armenian and German Xtra Hardy. about 20-25 of each. I am using 50% of my own garlic now. Maybe 75%-200% this fall. Next spring I will be getting some softneck garlic for spring planting so I am excited to try that for the first time next year. I do love the hardware cloth shelving in the barn for curing and drying. I don't have a barn but I can use the upper area of my giant shed and store them up above out of the way. I open the doors and windows often for air flow and circulation. I'm Looking forward to the next hot sauce batch. I made a playlist of your videos including time stamps so I can pull up the video and go right to the spot. Peace and blessing on y'alls summer be safe bye for now, Steven

[@shirleyn4677]

Here in south central Texas hill country, I finally pulled the last of my onions (Texas grano, Timon, and Georgia Boy). Something went wrong with the Texas grano as a lot of the seedlings died during our frost. Timon and Georgia Boy both did well as you attested that they would. Georgia Boy, however, did bolt more than Timon. Timon is the winner with only two bolting. As for garlic, I only planted soft neck as I have room for only one variety. As in previous years, the cloves did appear but the bulb was not as big as the original two bulbs I bought. Watered and fed them, what the heck? Don’t recall their name off hand but it was recommended for warmer climates. Oh well, I think I harvested a dozen and they are hanging in my shed.😊

[@Flatbed2316]

Hello from northern Illinois. Our hardneck garlic is producing scapes about two weeks sooner than normal after planting last October. Had a real mild winter garlic looks great. We really enjoy your videos.

[@PlantObsessed]

I'm intrigued by this pearl garlic thing. In my zone 5 garden I plant in October it won't come out until the beginning of July. Fingers crossed I get some nice groceries.🎉

[@robinhite5468]

I'm in north central Ohio. I plant hard neck garlic about the end of October and harvest the middle to end of June. Garlic grows best when fertilized from a Buckeyes bucket. Lol

[@cherylbertolini3140]

I'm in Montpelier VA and moved here 4 years ago from NH and I have never put my hard neck garlic in the fridge and have good success.

[@diannemiller4754]

My garlic is starting to get scapes. I took one off and enjoyed it😊

[@fernetworek9030]

I have made pesto with them for the last few years and was just told about how to ferment them which I will have to try next year.

[@diannemiller4754]

@fernetworek9030 I'm going look up fermenting garlic scape. I already ferment many of my veggies as well as dehydrated them. I enjoy most things fermented.

[@allantrafford6262]

Harvesting corn tomorrow. Can’t wait for that sweet goodness.

[@yikes830]

God Bless you n family. Paying it Forward is Appreciated! 👍

[@teresecox4109]

Perfect timing!

[@elainedegoede6276]

Love all your tips on the garden ❤

[@pilsplease7561]

I got my garlic harvest like 2-3 months ago, it came in really early and fully mature got a lot of nice garlic. Was interesting as well, the hardneck garlic did amazing, softneck did not produce bulbs at all and failed to grow in california

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

Up here in the Toronto area my garlic is just beginning to send up scapes and that’s actually early for us. I usually expect to harvest around mid July but it may be earlier this year. I have ordered some Egyptian walking onion bulbils, I’m going to cut off the scapes and replant every fall just like garlic. I hope this will give me good sized divided onions! I’m very excited to try this!

[@martywilson5522]

West Central Alabama, soft neck & the elephant garlic did good with 100% on the stratification with soft neck. Great video.

[@tamiholloway6452]

Have you ever used Surround Clay?

[@becky3086]

The few garlic I grew did great this year. Apparently we get cold enough up here in Jefferson Co. that we won't need to put it in the fridge.

[@miltkarr5109]

Really have to give it the N when it pops up in spring.

[@russcampbell2414]

Growing garlic for many years in the Atlanta area. Zone 8A. Do not grow hardneck garlic here. Great for elephant and softneck garlic.

[@rich63113]

Its funny - I'm in 7b (VA) and I've tried 3 years now with softnecks and haven't had any come up in the spring. Hardnecks (music, german hardy, romanian red, chesnock red) have all done great. Creole types would probably do well for you

[@hm1040]

Thanks for explaining I couldn’t figure out why my garlic grew the way it did now I understand what stratification is 👍

[@Northstar7733]

In northwest Wisconsin we plant hard neck in late Oct./ early Nov. We get scapes in late June, and harvest them in mid to late July. your hard neck garlic probably has a way to go yet is my guess.

[@eddielyles8930]

Maybe it was beginners luck. Just harvested my soft neck garlic today here in North Alabama, it done great! First year growing garlic and used organic grocery store cloves, and am well pleased!

[@patricacompton9603]

We have a hard time growing hard neck garlic and soft neck up here in chahalis Washington because our springs are so wet. I only grow elephant garlic because I know it will survive the wet springs and mature in June or July for us

[@gcc2313]

The ones without the cloves are great for garlic paste. Or larger recipes ofcourse.

[@joshuab738]

Just as a little reference. I am about 6 hours north-west in northern Alabama (zone 7b-8a depending on the year). I always get stratification on ~95% (this is lower than what I use to get when I lived in the northeast PA,VA, NY areas) of my hardneck (grow primarily Korean Red) depending on the 1-2 weeks of hard cold we get in the first weeks of January. I have friends (big Korean community between Montgomery and Auburn with the plant and univeristy) down in Auburn (about midway) and they don't get that stratification rate unless they place it in the refrigerator. No clue what the rate is for them, but I do know they always do the refrigerator trick and warned me about it when I first moved to Alabama from the northeast -- though I didn't listen and got good rates, luckily. It is amazing how much that 1-2 weeks of winter weather and a few hours in the car can change what you can and can't do.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Good to have a general idea of where the dividing line is, although I'm sure it varies a little depending on the winter weather each year.

[@kayb.5322]

I'm in Houston and hardneck did better for me this year. I did have about 20 softneck that had single bulbs. Will try the freezer trick this year.

[@urbugnmetoday3183]

Music is a great variety

[@hollynelson543]

HeyTrav😊

[@shirleyemerson]

Are you in zone 7B? I live in Northwest Alabama in zone 7B. Could you tell me when to plant collards? And should bell peppers be grown shade? Your help will be appreciated.

[@ringohaze3881]

the scapes that form from the flower and look like little garlic cloves, will they grow if you plant them

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

They will grow! It might take a couple of years to get good divided cloves. The first year they will likely form a round (undivided bulb), plant the round the next season and you will probably get divided cloves! Sometimes it can take three years.

[@ringohaze3881]

@@WhatWeDoChannel Awesome thanks there are many that were already planted in multiple locations on the homestead property we bought. I didnt know what they were until recently.

[@karenyeates8820]

When I harvested my elephant garlic, I had some cloves to divide and the paper around them split and of those, some turned slightly brown. Are these still good? I put those in the refrigerator in a glass jar and thought maybe I could use them first but I don’t know if they’re any good. Thank you so much for your help and information you provide.

[@carmenfringer4740]

Haven't grown a stratified garlic yet... although we get plenty of freezing temps...lol . My goal..1 good head of garlic...

[@douggreene4458]

Thanks, Travis, very helpful. I’m 90 miles north of you, just pulled my hard neck garlic. Pulled the soft neck 2 weeks ago. Both grew in raised beds and did well without refrigeration pre-planting. I think it’s wise, though to cold stratify the hard necks in the future. I would like to try some new varieties but my usual seed companies show “out of stock”. Any suggestions as to where I should go?

[@LazyDogFarm]

Filaree Farms online usually has a great selection. But they always sell out, so you have to get on their email list and order early.

[@dieag8273]

Can you dehydrate or freeze dry the pearl garlic for garlic powder? In my area you can plant garlic in the ground before it freezes in the late fall. Hopefully roots will grow alittle. You should mulch them well. The frost can reach 18 inches. Remove some or all mulch in spring

[@LazyDogFarm]

I don't see why you couldn't.

[@SeedsofFaithGarden]

How many cloves did your plant to get a wheelbarrow full???

[@LazyDogFarm]

Can't remember exactly, but not as many as you'd think.

[@DaSm-v8c]

Hey man, great video. Do you have issues with critters at the storage rack?

[@LazyDogFarm]

I don't because we have barn cats.

[@LogBaseTwo]

Its funny. I have no problem getting hardneck to stratify, but cant get softneck to without the fridge trick.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Interesting. What variety of hardneck?

[@TrishAllen-r7m]

I live in central IN so our hardneck garlic gets plenty of cold weather during the winter months. How does the elephant garlic taste?

[@LazyDogFarm]

Not as strong as softneck or hardneck, but we like it for making pickled stuff.

[@bleixena]

Marvelous! I lost all my onions and garlic due to allium leaf miners 😢

[@ncanellos]

Do Leeks make carbs? My Leeks been growing I'm same patch 8 years now

[@allantrafford6262]

Have you eaten any purple Viking potatoes yet? If so, what did you think?

[@LazyDogFarm]

I haven't yet. Been overwhelmed eating cucumbers, squash, and cherry tomatoes lately. Need to cook some taters.

[@ScottFidler]

7 months is short. Close to 9 months here. It’s like a baby.

[@sherryblake1345]

This is my first year to grow garlic. I planted Elephant clove. I just pulled it but had watched a utube video that said to clean off the dirt as much as possible and also to clean the balls. Unfortunately I did that but I see you didn’t. I don’t have a cellar or a basement so do you have an idea where I could store mine to dry?

[@LazyDogFarm]

Under a porch would be fine. Just somewhere where they can have some airflow and stay dry.

[@sherryblake1345]

@@LazyDogFarm I have them hanging in my dining room where the get plenty of air from the AC. I don’t have a porch to put them under. Will the AC hurt them?

[@saltyhillbillyfarm]

Just got my fig tree in the mail the new sticker is great. Thanks.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Awesome! If you don't mind, would you please leave us a Google review here: g.page/r/Ce0wCoaWkbnJEBM/review We'd greatly appreciate it!

[@Blendedfamilyfarms]

Yeah I’m pretty sure I’m going to have an failure on my hands lol didn’t even realize stratification was necessary for garlic 😅

[@sandysmith8567]

My hardneck garlic is starting to turn brown, and the lowest set of leaves have died already. Last year they weren't ready till August. I pulled one and it's the size of the smaller one you held up. Will they continue to grow? They're in a raised bed. Any idea why this happened early?

[@sandysmith8567]

Only a few scapes, also.

[@CalZimmerman]

Greetings from Western Kentucky! We harvested scapes from hard neck garlic about 3 weeks ago. They’re looking yellow and brown now like your elephant garlic. We may harvest this weekend :-). Our soft neck garlic did horrible! After planting last fall, we covered all the garlic (soft and hard neck) with leaves for insulation. The soft neck struggled to break through the leaves and never recovered. Stratification doesn’t seem to be a problem here as we get down to 0° or 5° most winters.

[@ScottFidler]

Northern ky here. My soft neck looks bad this year. Just harvested the scapes on the hard neck this week. A few weeks behind you. Hard necks looking ok.

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

Cal, it sounds like you are there, it's time. The tried and true test would be to pull 1 with a thin stem, and 1 thick stemmed now. This will give you an average size of your bulbs right now. Keep in mind 2 things. If left in the ground too long, as the plants are drying the cloves/bulbs are still growing in size and will have a tendency to split the paper wrapping. If that happens the Garlic is still good, but won't store very long. Second, keep in mind, you'll be saving the largest bulbs for replanting this fall. How many you plan on planting, divide that number by 4, and that will give you the number of bulbs you'll need to set aside. Example. We plant 162 cloves each year, so 40 of the biggest and best bulbs are going right back in the ground for this coming fall. This is assuming they are a hard neck variety. That's all we grow. Maine, zone 5b. This year will be our 6th year of growing free Garlic! German Extra Hardy and Music Best of luck to you.

[@danettenewell4994]

We had a hard hail that stripped the leave on the garlic and all that’s left is a stem. Will the garlic be ok to harvest in July ? That’s the normal time I harvest the garlic.

[@LazyDogFarm]

If there are no leaves left on it, it might not be growing any longer. I might pull a few to check.

[@reneebrown2968]

Do the pearls taste any different from the stratified garlic? If not any taste difference then i doubt I'd care. Most of my garlic will be dried for garlic powder anyway.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Taste the same to me.

[@rebeccainspiringhope4357]

Witches broom?

[@carolynmoody9460]

❤❤❤🕊️

[@nancycusson8861]

My garlic is DEFINITELY ready to harvest, but it did not break into several bulbs. Almost all are just one single clove. Some have 2 cloves. But, the garlic is bigger than the palm of my hand. Can you tell me why?

[@irony11]

He stated the answer in the video.

[@rthepunk]

What is Witches Broom?

[@LazyDogFarm]

On hardneck garlic, sometimes you'll get a ton of scapes and seed heads forming from a single plant -- looks like a broom.

[@rthepunk]

@@LazyDogFarm thanks! New sub

[@kelliwebb2870]

Elephant garlic did not stratify for me. Hard and soft neck did. Cloves were very puny on the real garlic. Elephant garlic is big but one big clove. That’s ok I’m going to chop it up and freeze it in little pucks. Makes cooking so much easier. I did not cold stratify the elephant garlic. I did cold stratify the hard and soft neck garlic. I’m in zone 10a, Southwest Florida.

[@cheriberry9633]

I just wonder if your Athens buddy’s extension agent hasn’t gardened enough with 5 gal Dawgs buckets yet. That could be an explanation 🤷‍♀️ #sickem

[@rickthelian2215]

I hope you saved some bulbils from the flowers on the elephant garlic

[@josephauld6565]

I thought you were gonna eat the corn..lol

[@bingster-223]

With the small size of my garden I can't sacrifice the space to grow garlic. Besides i live close to quite a few Amish communities and i just buy all the garlic we need, cheap too. Here is another great thing about living near Amish communities. Some of them operate their own greenhouse garden centers up on their property. I just purchased a 4 pack of Super Heavyweight yellow bell peppers @ .75 cents. At Lowe's they had a sale 3 solo cups with vegetables for $10.

[@beckym5730]

The Pearl garlic why couldn’t you just put it in the blender with some oil in it and then put it in a jar or blended up and put it in ice cube trays to make a smaller amount

[@LazyDogFarm]

You could.

[@matthewking2209]

Nobody seems to know 100% why it does it. I have heard fungus, weather and too much nitrogen. So they think if you replant it might do it again and not worth it. I will probably replant them to see if it does it again. I think it had to do with the cold hot cold weather we had and not to much nitrogen or fungus. I had them on double rows and the variety on the east side (hottest side) with no shade is the only one that did it. If it was nitrogen or fungus the whole double row would have been affected. I hope you left the hard neck to see what it does.

[@katrinagarland5219]

What? We want to SEE YOU pull up the garlic... not just jump to a shot of a wheelbarrow full. Don't need to see you harvest every one but at least one... Gettin choppy boy... lol Otherwise, love your channel!

[@LazyDogFarm]

It's hot out here. lol Trying to move as fast as possible.

[@jeromerose3867]

I was disappointed in my garlic harvest since most of the bulbs were undersized. This should not happen in Iowa which has like the best soil on the planet.