Garlic is a crop that takes a long time to grow for us northern gardeners. When grown at home and harvested, garlic is milder and sweeter than what you get at the store. There’s no need to get fancy starts-just buy a clove of garlic at the market, separate into individual cloves, and then peel off the paper.
In the square foot gardening system, you’ll plant 9 per square. Need more? Then plant another square. Even more? Then plant a third square to give you 27 heads of the best tasting garlic you’ve ever had. When I peel off the paper and place in the garden, I push each clove down about 2 inches and then cover with soil.
It get’s a good start before the harsh weather gets here and then in early spring you’ll see the greens start to break the surface. Maybe even sooner if it’s a mild winter.
Lennie…so sorry that I missed your comment. I hope you’ve had a chance to try a SFG. If not, you might consider coming out to an in person SFG class at my home. It’s a beginners 2 hour class filled with all the basics to get your garden to a new level. SFG is really the way to go. No hard work. No heavy digging. No rototiller needed, no weeding, and no thinning.
I really like the square foot idea, I am going to do it with my raised beds.