How to Harvest Garlic (For Continual Harvest!)

Garlic is a necessity, right? Learn how to harvest your own garlic, and never be dependent on store bought ever again.

If you are like me, then you add garlic to pretty much anything you cook. Recipe calls for two cloves? Let’s make it four!

Last year, we harvested our own garlic. I’ll be honest…I was clueless about how to do it correctly. But I did a little experiment in my garden, and it worked!

When Can I Plant Garlic?

We made the rookie mistake of planting garlic in the wrong season. We transplanted it in the spring, from existing plants that my sweet great uncle gave us. He was clearing his garden and said, “Do you want these bulbs of garlic?”

Of course I said yes. (These garlic plants were grown originally by my great granny. She had them all over the farm.)

Neither of us had grown garlic in any official capacity. Every old farmhouse has garlic. It was just always kinda…there…but no one did anything with it.

So we transplanted it that day at our farm.

To do garlic correctly, you are supposed to plant garlic cloves in the fall, before your first frost. (For our zone 7, this is Sept-Nov.)

However…those garlic bulbs that we planted came back. And I was delighted.

How Do I Take Care of Garlic

In my experience, garlic is very forgiving and very hardy. We have a hardneck variety. Other than that, I’m not sure what kind we grow. I just call it Granny’s garlic.

I have seen my friends take great care of their garlic. They will spread mulch or straw over the planted cloves in the fall to protect it from the freeze.

We did not do anything like this.

Our garlic is basically in our “woodland” garden area. Here my mint, comfrey, lemon balm, and elder trees thrive. The garlic seems to love this environment. We do not plant in rows…we plant in a small area alongside my mint. And the garlic thrives.

In truth, when I cover my cloves up, plantain usually moves in on top of it. This has proved to be a great cover for it.

To protect the cloves that you sow, though, a layer of protective straw is great.

I do not baby the garlic…ever. Poor garlic. I’m thankful it loves me back through it all.

When to Harvest Garlic

You will harvest your garlic at the beginning of the summer. For us, it was mid June.

To know when the garlic is ready, just watch for the scapes that grow out of the top. The garlic scape is what will eventually grow into that lovely seed head that is so beautiful.

Sorry, but I chop off the garlic scape when I see it budding.

This serves a purpose. First, it helps the garlic bulb grow larger! Yep!

The energy the plant would use to flower, goes back down into the bulb and helps finish growing.

Secondly, the garlic scapes are edible! Use them as you would a garlic clove in a recipe!

I fermented a jar of garlic scapes and made pesto out of it. Yum!

About a month after you cut the scape off the plant, it will be time to harvest.

Look at the Bottom Leaves to Know When to Harvest

When the bottom layer of leaves start to turn yellowish-brown, it’s time to harvest.

Picking the garlic too early is not good…and picking it too late will results in mushy bulbs. We don’t want that!

I noticed I had about a week’s time to pick my garlic.

Wait until it is a fairly dry day, or you’ll be digging up a muddy mess.

How to Harvest Garlic

I was very careful when I harvested my garlic. I have messed up before.

What you want to do is take a pitchfork, shovel, or a little spade if you like.

First, make sure you are clearing the garlic head that is in the ground, and gently dig into the dirt to pry up the garlic.

Then it should lift out fairly easily. Resist the urge to pull straight up on the garlic stalk. This is a good way to break off cloves. (I’ve done it.)

You can gently lift the by easing up on the garlic stalk and loosening it from the dirt.

Shake it off a little, and there it is!

My garlic heads will always have little stragglers hanging off the side. Maybe it’s the variety of garlic I have? Not sure. But I will take that little baby garlic clove and plant it back into the hole. I’ll cover it up with dirt, and let me tell ya…it comes back!

Our garlic did fabulously without me having to fuss with extra planting.

I also left the tiny stalks in the ground. They will grow, and they will divide.

What Now?

Now that you’ve dug the garlic up out of the ground, let it dry in a well-ventilated area for a few hours.

I put them on my picnic table to allow the dirt to dry and harden. Then it easily dusted off.

After I cleaned them up, I brought the inside.

Now they will cure and dry, just like any other herb I bring in to dry.

Long Term Storage for Garlic

You can store your garlic in a cool, dry place for up to a year!

I left my bulbs from last year on my shelves. Then I let the stalk dry completely before trimming the garlic head.

I have seen lovely tutorials for braiding the garlic! So pretty and would add a nice rustic touch to your kitchen.

You can also store it in mesh bags, like an onion bag.

I left mine up on my shelf in a stainless steel bowl. Hey, it worked! (Not everything has to be super complicated or fancy, ya know.)

Never Buy Garlic Again

I promised in the title of this post that you’ll never buy garlic again. How does that work?

Well…you see, you can re-plant the cloves you harvested! Simply save back a head of really nice looking garlic.

In the fall, when it is surely good and cured, divide the head, and plant one clove of garlic per hole, and next season you will have more garlic.

Isn’t that cool? Now you have prolific garlic from now on. (At least that’s the idea.)

Happy Garlic Growing!

For more, see the Garden section.