This year I'm planting a few different types I purchased from Botanical Interests and re-planting some of the garlic I harvested in May of this year.
If you haven't grown garlic before, this is your year to give it a go.
It's one of the easiest vegetables to grow, and you can plant it now through the end of this month.
A few tips:
Plant in a location that gets a minimum of six hours of direct sun per day, and amend soil before planting with plenty of good quality compost from a nursery. If you have heavy clay soil, expanded shale is another important amendment that will help loosen soil and improve drainage for proper bulb formation.
Give garlic a minimum spacing of six inches between plants. Crowded garlic plants lead to smaller bulbs.
Experiment with lots of different types and varieties. We can grow both hardneck and softneck garlic here in North Texas.
"Seed garlic" (garlic meant for planting) is sometimes available in local nurseries but can also be ordered online. This year I ordered from Botanical Interests. Don't try and plant garlic from the grocery. Grocery garlic is often too old to be viable as seed garlic and is sometimes treated to prevent it from sprouting. You can re-plant your harvested garlic if bulbs are still good come planting time, so save your largest garlic bulbs for re-planting. As you save and re-plant garlic, it will adapt to your garden over time.
Plant cloves root end down, two to three inches below the soil surface. Once it sprouts, mulch area to conserve moisture and insulate plants through winter.
One of my garlic harvests.
Most garlic is ready to harvest between late April and mid-May. Depending on the type, properly cured garlic can store for up to six months in a cool, dark location.
If you'd like to learn more about growing garlic including how to know when it is ready to harvest and how to cure it properly for long-term storage, check out my Awesome Alliums E-book.
The 2026 planners are arriving in homes across Texas!