Garlic Donation Tracker

🌱 How & Where to Grow Garlic:

• Plant hardneck varieties early-mid October when soil 50-60°F.
• Fall planting essential – garlic needs cold winter for bulb formation!
• Space cloves 4-6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart.
• Sunlight: Full sun (6-8 hours) for largest bulbs.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, loose soil with pH 6.0-7.0.
• Soil Amendment: Rich soil needed but avoid fresh manure

Garlic is the ultimate plant-it-and-forget-it crop – plant in fall, harvest in summer!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Plant when soil 50-60°F. Needs cold vernalization. Spring growth at 40°F+.

• Fall planting: Soil temperature 50-60°F (October).
• Winter requirement: Needs 4-8 weeks below 40°F.
• Spring growth: Begins when soil reaches 40°F.
• Hot weather triggers bulbing in June.

Michigan’s cold winters provide perfect vernalization for large bulb formation!

🌰 Planting:

Cloves pointed up, 2-3 inches deep, 4-6 inches apart. Mulch heavily.

• Break bulbs into cloves just before planting.
• Plant pointed end up, flat end down.
• Plant 2-3 inches deep in well-prepared soil.
• Mulch immediately with 4-6 inches of straw.
• Only plant largest, healthiest cloves.

💧 How to Care for:

• Spring growth: Remove mulch when shoots emerge.
• Watering: 1 inch weekly through June, then reduce.
• Fertilizer: Feed when growth starts in spring.
• Weeding: Critical – garlic can’t compete with weeds.
• Scapes: Remove flower stalks in June for larger bulbs.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Remove scapes in June. Harvest when 5-7 leaves brown (July).

• Timing is critical – too early means small bulbs, too late means split skins!
• Count leaves: Harvest when 5-7 green leaves remain.
• Bottom leaves brown from bottom up.
• Check a bulb – cloves should fill skin.

Each leaf represents a wrapper layer – you need some green for storage!

🧺 Harvesting:

Loosen soil first. Dig, don’t pull. Handle gently. Harvest on dry day.

• Always dig from the side – pulling breaks stems.
• Use fork carefully – damaged bulbs won’t store.
• Shake off dirt gently – don’t wash.
• Keep tops attached for curing.
• Get out of sun quickly to prevent cooking.

✂️ Pruning:

Remove scapes when they curl. Cut, don’t pull. Use scapes in cooking!

• Scape removal directs energy to bulb – 25% size increase!
• Cut when curled into one loop, before straightening.
• Use scissors or knife – don’t pull.
• Scapes are delicious – use like garlic-flavored scallions.
• Leave scapes on a few plants to identify varieties.

🌡️ Curing:

Hang in warm, dry area 2-4 weeks. Trim when papery.

• Don’t wash – brush off dirt gently.
• Hang in bundles or spread on screens.
• Ideal conditions: 70-80°F with good airflow.
• Cure complete when outer skins are papery.
• Trim roots and cut stems to 1 inch.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Onion maggots, white rot, bulb mites.

• Generally pest-free – garlic repels most pests!
• White rot – serious soil disease. Rotate crops.
• Onion maggots – rarely problematic with fall planting.
• Bulb mites – occur in stored garlic.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Everything! Especially roses, tomatoes, peppers, fruit trees. Avoid beans, peas.

• Universal companion – garlic helps almost everything!
• Roses – plant garlic around roses for pest control.
• Fruit trees – ring trees with garlic.
• Nightshades benefit from garlic’s pest repelling.
• Only avoid beans and peas.

🧄 Varieties:

‘Music’, ‘German White’, ‘Chesnok Red’, ‘Purple Stripe’.

• ‘Music’: Large bulbs, 4-7 huge cloves, stores well.
• ‘German White’: Strong flavor, excellent storage.
• ‘Chesnok Red’: Purple stripes, best for roasting.
• ‘Purple Stripe’: Beautiful bulbs, complex flavor.
• Always choose hardneck varieties for Michigan!

🫙 Preservation:

Store 60-65°F, 4-6 months. Freeze in oil. Dehydrate. Ferment.

• Room temperature: 60-65°F with good airflow.
• Braiding: Softneck only – hardnecks don’t braid.
• Freeze in oil: Peel, chop, cover with oil.
• Dehydrate: Make garlic powder or chips.
• Fermented: Black garlic or honey fermented.
• Never store in refrigerator – causes sprouting.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Plant Columbus Day weekend traditionally.
• Michigan winters perfect for vernalization.
• Always use hardneck varieties.
• Source local seed garlic when possible.
• Heavy mulch prevents heaving.
• Remove scapes for 25% larger bulbs.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• 5,000-year cultivation.
• Olympic athletes ate for strength.
• Michigan winters improve flavor.
• Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated crops in human history.
• Builders of the pyramids were paid in garlic.
• Chicago got its name from the Native American word for wild garlic.
• Garlic can reduce blood pressure and cholesterol.
• A fear of garlic is called alliumphobia!