I'm not growing any garlic now, but I have had it previously. In fact, I think there's still some volunteer garlic growing across the street from me on an untended strip of land. I can't tell you anything about the variety, but it was VERY happy. My land is basically red clay, with a thin layer of nice loam on top.

I have tons of garlic growing in my yard. It was here when we moved here. Plus I planted some from the grocery store that had started sprouting in the fridge. I always have lots to dry. I did 35 cloves from one area last year alone.

Does the "volunteer" garlic grow from seed when flower heads are allowed to mature or are there some critters that dig and spread the cloves? I used to grow garlic in TX but didn't know if I'd be able to here. Do you fall plant it here?
Linda by Paris

I don't know how the volunteer stuff got started -- but it's across a paved road from where my planted patch was, so it moved itself over there somehow or other.

I don't think you'll have any trouble growing garlic here, unless you live in one of those areas that's solid rock. ;-) And yes, I think fall planting would be fine.

I got some at The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap last spring and it is going great guns! I'm not sure of the type but the cloves are huge and the plant got over 5' tall last year.

I received some garlic heads from a neighbor and planted them last summer...they are growing in the shade under a pine tree. LOL

Wow! All that very positive feedback is great!
I actually purchased some cloves at a nearby garden store and already have them planted.
I appreciate all your responses.
Pepe

hi I grow garlic. I live in middle tennessee today is oct. 28 I planted about three weeks ago and it is already coming up. it will be ready to dig next july 2009. this is my second year growing garlic and it did well here in middle tennessee. would like to hear from other growers.

This is my 3rd year growning garlic. I plant mine 4 or 5 to a square. Most of the bulbs were about the same size as the originals, some smaller, and some the size of baseballs. I harvested over 150 bulbs this year. I pickled most of it. The rest I use in cooking and making hot sauce. If you end up with a small round bulb that has no cloves you can either use it or stick in back in the ground and it will grow into a larger bulb. The sites below have some good instructions and information. I planted the following varities: Red Toch, Chesnok Red, Music, Silverskin, Oregon Blue, & Susanville. I'm not a Garlic expert but I do love the stuff.

http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/
http://www.hoodrivergarlic.com/planting-stock.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Hood River Garlic

Hello all - just checked in to see when the MTPS date is for this spring and saw the post on GARLIC - I have brought garlic to the swap the past two years. I have been growing it successfully for about 4 years. Mine is a hardneck, large cloved variety - don't know the specific name. I will bring more this year for those who want to try growing it. I grow all I need plus some for the year.

The Hood River Garlic link from the above post is GREAT information on ways to use all that garlic - I am going to try making garlic powder right away! Thanks for posting it!

I plant in the fall, and mine is sprouting now - does fine through the cold weather. I harvest around Sept. when the leaves start drying. I even let some go to flower, and dry the flowers for dried arrangements indoors.

I'd love to try growing other varieties, so if anyone wants to bring some to trade at the swap this year, just let me know.

Hello everyone-I also would like to know when and where the MTPS well happen. I would like to trade for or buy some types of garlic I don't already have. The kinds I planted this last september 2008 was Georgia Fire , German Extra Hardy , Chesnok Red , Inchelium Red , Ajo Roji , Metechi , Silverwhite , Lorz Italian , and Romanian Red .I hope all of this does well. I will know about july 2009 I love growing garlic and also cooking and canning with it. Can't wait untill harvest time. You will like the link below if you like growing garlic. Hope you enjoy it.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdlhr8My9n4

After reading the Hood River link information on garlic,
I got busy and dehydrated some and also made garlic powder!
This was a first for me!
I will bring some of mine to the swap (as always) and would love it if someone can identify what kind it is.

I got some elephant garlic from the mtps. I was so glad to see green tops this year and look forward to harvest.

Here in North Georgia. never planted garlic before. Someone said to separate the store bought cloves from the farmers market and plant them. So i did about a 100 of them. We did that about three weeks ago. Nothing is growing. In fact i dug one up and it looked like the day i planted it. am i doing something wrong? Should i have soaked them or something? Should i have removed the paper like casing around the clove? Can anybody help me?

Paul, You might try getting some pass a longs from a friend. I have always been successful with any garlic I have planted and I have heavy clay soil. Jeff, you might be talking about elephant garlic. I have some too. It is mild enough that you can grill a clove and smear it right on your bread to eat!

I am growing 5 pots (huge ones) of garlic this year...wicked excited about it! It all grows great in our region from what I can see. I have one pot of Elephant Garlic I got from some nice folks on here, two pots of California White Garlic & 2 pots of Silver Rose softneck garlic. Except for 3 out of the 7 Elephant cloves, it was all planted earlier this year (late Marchish, I think). The Elephant's are about 3 feet tall already & have very thick sturdy stalks (probably about an inch diameter!). They are beautiful! The other types are about 1-2 ft tall. They also have kinda thick sturdy stalks too, but nowhere near as thick as the Elephant. I plan on harvesting it all, per instructions i've heard, in late Summer (late August/early September). I'll post on this forum about it when I do. Hope this info helps you. =)

- Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Steve's Garden