Tom, if you're using all the output from those beds, and have no other room, then I wouldn't grow garlic. For you it doesn't make sense.

Whatever space you allot to garlic will be removed from the garden during what is, for you, the prime growing time.

Now, contrariwise and in refutation: You're devoting almost 300 square feet to growing greens. Surely you can cut then down by a few square feet to produce great tasting garlic that you cannot otherwise acquire? Once you compare home-grown "gourmet" garlic, you'll not be able to go back to the supermarket's California White.

Let's say you started with a 2 x 3 patch. That lowers your available space for greens to "only" 280 square feet. Would you really miss that tiny spot? But if you planted that in hardnecks you would grow a minimum of 12 large heads, plus get the taste treat of the scapes. Or put it in green garlic, and get "scallions" that compliment the greens you are growing.

Personally, I can't imagine not growing garlic. But everyone has his own garden needs.

one option is ...You can wait till mid December when the lettuce is gone to plant some garlic . You will harvest in June and will be able to replant with beans squash etc and again with fall lettuce. That way you can have lettuce a summer vegetable and garlic !

It's worth it to me. I love fresh garlic. I love having varieties of garlic not available for purchase. I love planting them, watching them come up, tending to the scapes, harvesting them, cleaning them, braiding them, photographing them but most of all eating them. I love fresh garlic roasted on the grill. I love garlic soup. Pickled garlic is pretty darn nice too. I love garlic and what you get at the store just doesn't compare...in my humble opinion. It's worth it to me to put up beds devoted solely to garlic.

So alliyum,
I take it you like garlic? :-]

Tom, The reason I grow is because it would be impossible to get all the varieties I grow in a market. Different kinds for different applications. And btw, I do believe I'm saving a considerable amount of money. The garlic powder alone in a store here is over $5.
So, garlic cloves, garlic powder, garlic spray... It's well worth it.

Tom

Don't hold back, Alliyum. Tell us how you really feel. :>)

OK, you people have talked me into it. Now what I need to know is if I plant one row of garlic in each of my three raised beds that are each 8' long I would be planting approx. 24 to 26 cloves per row at 4" apart. Thats about 75 plantings which is more than enough for me. Is 4" enough or should I go 6" apart in the row. Remember there will be only 1 row per bed. This will go right down the middle of the beds which is the least used. Should work out OK and take up a minimum of space. Thanks again and get ready for my next post.

Tom R.
edgman

Tom, although most of the literature recommends 4" spacing, many of us have found that 6 inches works out better.

I would have only one concern about running a row of garlic down the middle of the bed: What, if anything, will shade it? Garlic needs lots of sunlight, particularly during the crucial bulbing stage (which should be in June, by your). So keep that in mind as you lay-out your other plantings. If you confine these beds to greens, it shouldn't be a problem (the garlic will be the tallest thing in them). But if you branch out to other veggies, keep it in mind.

Also keep in mind that garlic, like all alliums, is a heavy feeder, and you'll need to have access long about May to side-dress the rows with either organic or chemical fertilizer.

I have rethought it over and will probably plant 6" from the edge of the boxes on the sunny side. My early Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts which get tall and bushy will be kept on the other side of the box. The other greens dont get higher than a foot tall and by June most are bolting out. Only thing I have to consider is the May planting for tomatoes and peppers. Still by June they are not tall yet. I side dress all my rows and individual plants with heavy compost at planting time because I have 2 large compost bins going at one time so I will feed the garlic in May with a side dressing. Will give this a try. Thanks again for the help. 6" does seem better than 4"

Tom R
edgman

My garlic was planted this past Thursday, in a trench filled with a mix of top soil and compost. And then mulched with wood shavings. It will be side-dressed with 10-10-10 in spring and when it is dug out the first week in July, that area will be used for a row of broccoli rabe. I got a crop of really big heads this year - enough to use in the kitchen for about six months and some large cloves to replant.

Hi Tom R.,
I also cannot imagine any size of garden without different varieties of garlics. Since they do need good light exposure, perhaps you can put garlic on two sunniest sides of the beds. I agree that as long as the ground isn't frozen and the greens are goners, that you can set your cloves in then.
What better cooking companion to many greens is there than garlic?! Think Vinaigrette, or garlic sauteed into hardy greens with some olive oil. They just go together like white on rice!
I also think the health benefits of the garlics are enough reason to have them in our menus almost every day - it seems to help our immune systems keep many of the minor plagues at bay, compared to many people we know. We eat alot, and do not wreak of the stinkin' rose.
Hope you will do it and love it, as many of us here do!
Glad

Glad you are going to try growing garlic. I can't imagine being without it. I grow mild garlics, hot garlics, earlier harvest garlic and later season garlics, hardnecks and softnecks. I love them in stir fries, salad dressings, and anything I can put them in. If one clove is called for in a recipe, ten must be better is my way of thinking. Garlic fanatics will understand this! LOL.

We use garlic almost daily and I agree with Glad. Don't get nearly as many bugs as some folks, but good handwashing habits may be an important part in that too.

Very best wishes for a great garlic garden.

Mary

While you people are all wonderful with your replies, one thing you dont have to talk me into is the virtues of garlic. OK, here's some for you! How many of you have put garlic in a potpourri warmer? How many have chopped garlic in a sachet bag behind their computer? How many have peeled cloves all over their workshop and kitchen? Who rubs their ankles and hands with garlic before going out on a warm evening to keep the bugs away. I do! Wifey says I am nuts but she loves the smell of garlic and is slowly coming over to my way of thinking. If I can only get her to hold the worms while I change their bedding!
Thanks again for all your comments. See my next post in a few days. Its getting colder and it's almost time to put the garlic in. Funny, my peppers should be dead and gone but they are growing at a huge rate and doing well with the cool weather. Just picked another crop of them.

Tom R (edgman)

I don't know about rubbing it on your ankles, but then again maybe it helps your socks to stay up? ö¿ò

My son is obsessed with soccer. He eats a clove of garlic every day. Last year in Alaska there was a soccer tournament. You wouldn't believe the black flies & mosquitos. Everyone was swatting bugs more than they were playing. My son wasn't even bothered by them. They wouldn't come near him. When they asked how come he wasn't being attacked, he just smiled and said "Garlic". Of course they all laughed and thought he was crazy. But hey, works for him. I think it gave them a tactical advantage.

Tom

I garden 30 miles west of Louisville KY. I do not like garlic much beyond the traces that food companies use to flavor foods but my doctor likes the health benefits of garlic.
I don't like the time needed to peel garlic so I use green garlic, But lack of time led to my 5 cultivars getting all mixed up so I just plant the ones that produce best. Yesterday I went around the garden spading up 10 clumps that had disapointingly small cloves, but my tallest biggest stalks of green garlic. I then used a dribble to set them an inch deep.
over 2 years one clove had multiplied to 4 inces wide and some of the new plants were 3/8 inch wide and a foot tall (hardnecks) and 200 plants after 2 or 3 years. Therefore, I am wondering whether I really need to set them any more than 1 inch apart each direction in a band about 6 inches wide.
Harold Eddleman