Zone Six Garlic

I garden in heavy clay soil in southeast Michigan. I've grown supermarket garlic, silverskin and artichoke softnecks ordered from a variety of catalogs, and hardnecks such as asiatic, creole, porcelain, purple stripe and rocambole ordered from organic grower, Filaree Farm in Washington state. I've had the most success by far, growing large and flavorful bulbs using porcelain garlic. These are always large, easy to peel and absolutely delicious in recipes or baked. In addition, I harvest around the first week of July and am still enjoying them through the following April. The shelf-life is exceptional!

As a rule of thumb, garlic is planted in the fall.
Mid-October--around Columbus day--is a good target. You want to give the bulbs enough time to develop good, strong roots before the ground freezes. They may send up a little greenery before winter sets in, but that's not a problem. They'll send up healthy shoots again in April.
Some people wait until Spring to plant, but this way you will definitely get smaller cloves.

First get a few basic things together such as plant identification tags, permanent markers and a tomato stake for marking out your plot (details below).
I generally use either store bought tags that I write on with a permanent marker, or I cut up aluminum blinds, punch holes in one end and thread long lengths of twist ties through them. Either one, I "laminate" with clear packaging tape so that the ink doesn't fade. No, permanent is not always permanent when ink and weather come together.

I generally turn over the soil in a weed-free spot where I haven't grown garlic for a few seasons. After smoothing out the plot, I take a tomato stake and press it into the soft soil. Then about six inches below, I make another impression. When I am finished, I have a series of 'horizontal' line impressions made in the soil.
Then I place the stake across all of the lines where I want the first row of garlic to be planted. I continue to make impressions across the horizontal lines about six inches apart. This is the width-- plus a little bit--of the hoe I'll be using to cultivate between the rows and keep them weed-free.


It should now look like you have a grid etched into your garden plot. Take the tomato stake and drive it about 2 inches down into the corner of each grid square. You now have your planting hole for each clove of garlic!
You can also use a dibble if you are planting supermarket sized cloves rather than the large porcelain strain or if you are just planting a row or two.

Grabbing each seed bulb with one hand, twist the tip with the other...sort of like unscrewing a lid off of a jar. What this does is break the paper so you can see the tip of each individual clove. Then place your thumb under the tip, and gently pry the clove from the head. Make sure you don't bruise the clove, or slice it with your thumbnail. I usually split all of the bulbs at once, keeping each strain separate if I'm planting more than one.
As you split the cloves apart, you'll notice a white area where the roots come out. This is called the basal plate. You want to make a clean break so that none of the basal plate remains stuck to the clove.

Drop a clove into each of your prepared grid holes. I usually cover each row with soil after I've finished planting it, so I don't lose my place. You are finished until the ground freezes. Once that happens, you can mulch your whole plot with straw. I have done it both ways--covered and uncovered--and found that the time and effort you save when you don't cover is spent weeding later. However, you need to have a place to put the straw later. If you can work it into a compost pile, you're all set.

I've read pros and cons about this practice, and I've done a bit of experimenting myself. The theory is that after a garlic plant sends up its beautiful scape, which can feature a gorgeous nine or twelve inch otherworldly pod, snapping them off will help the bulb grow bigger--which is really why you're growing it in the first place. And alas, I've found it to be true. So after admiring them for a bit, I do what I have to do--leaving one or two just for my later aesthetic pleasure.

You can remove any mulch you have placed over your garlic patch around late March. That's when the first shoots will begin to push up. Snow and frost don't much phase them in the springtime.
Keep the rows free of weeds. Using a stirrup hoe each week takes literally about ten minutes and will keep the weeds at bay since you're slicing them down when they're weeny. As with most vegetable plants, water about an inch a week.
You'll see the garlic develop stalks that may curve and curl, and develop scapes at the end. Some of these scapes are gorgeous and can be over a foot long! However, most growers agree that removing the scape puts more energy into bulb production. So I whack most of them, and leave a few to admire.
Once the plants leaves begin to yellow, quit watering and stand by to harvest. Some varieties have to turn totally brown, while most need at least half to turn brown. My rule of thumb is to begin checking the bulbs when most of the leaves turn brown--maybe two or three are still green.
I dig down around the stem and uncover the bulb. You can see if it's large or not without disturbing the roots. However, I usually yank at least one of every strain planted at this time. Pent up demand for fresh garlic usually kicks in by July.
If the bulbs are large and tight, I spade about six inches parallel to the first row, digging deep and pushing the bulbs up to the top. I tie the bunches of gathered garlic up by the stems, along with the row marker so I know later which variety and strain is which. If it's damp soil, I hose them off quickly, and then hang them up in the shade to cure.
Make sure you don't leave the bulbs in the sun as they will burn. Place them in a shady, cool and dry place as you work and they'll keep for a long time.
Once they are cured, snip off the roots and stem and store them in net bags. I used to save my onion bags until I bought a gazillion miles of netting from my garlic supplier for about six dollars. Now I snip off a length of netting, tie off an end, and fill it with cured garlic heads.

Baked Garlic
Four whole heads of garlic, top and bottom removed.
Olive oil.
Favorite herbs to taste.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice through garlic tops and bottoms. Arrange on pie pan or small baking dish.
Drizzle with olive oil and season with parsley, oregano, thyme or sage.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cover with foil.
Bake 30 minutes.
Remove foil and bake 15 additional minutes.
Serve with warm bread.
Once baked, the garlic can be squeezed out of each clove like a paste.
To eat, spread baked garlic paste onto bread, sprinkle with grated (italian) cheese and enjoy!

Garlic Toast
Toast your favorite bread until crispy. Peel one clove of garlic and rub it over the toast. It will disappear right into the toast if you made it crispy. THEN butter it. Yum! This is what my Aunt Wanda called her secret blood pressure weapon!

Italian Garlic Bread
How can you have spaghetti without it!
Coarse Italian bread slices (or Italian rolls cut in half)
Three cloves of garlic minced through a garlic press.
1/2 teaspoons fresh, chopped parsley (or 1/4 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp ground thyme.
1 stick butter, softened.
1/4 cup freshly graded parmesan or romano cheese.
In a small bowl, combine butter with parsley, thyme, minced garlic and a dash of salt.
Spread over bread.
Place bread evenly in a 9x13" baking dish.
Sprinkle bread with grated cheese.
Broil about 2 inches below broiler for about five minutes. Check to make sure it's browning evenly and not burning.
Remove from oven and let cool for just a minute or two before placing in a serving basket or plate.

Game hen stuffed with garlic
2 Cornish game hens
1 lemon, quartered
1 bunch fresh flat-leafed parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole heads of garlic with top and bottom sliced off.
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rub hens (or whole chicken) with 1 TB olive oil.
Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
Drizzle 1/2 tsp olive oil over each garlic head.
Place two lemon wedges, two sprigs of parsley and one clove of garlic into each bird cavity.
Line roasting pan with foil.
Arrange birds in pan and roast, uncovered for 30 minutes.
In a small saucepan, stir together white wine, broth, 1 TB chopped parsley and 2 tsp olive oil over low heat for about two to three minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Pour wine sauce over the hens. (Sauce should not be cold)
Roast uncovered an additional 30 minutes, basting occasionally.
Remove birds to platter.
Remove garlic and lemons from hens and arrange on platter.
Transfer pan juices to saucepan and simmer until reduced and thickened--8 to 10 minutes.
Spoon over hens, sprinkle with additional chopped parsley and serve.

Hammy Spaghetti
(A version of Spaghetti Carbonara renamed by my son)
2 jumbo eggs (brought to room temperature)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or romano, or a blend of the two)
2 TB fresh, chopped parsley
1/2 tsp ground thyme
2 TB olive oil
1/2 lb italian pancetta or baked ham cut into julienne strips
4 cloves garlic minced
1 lb fettuccini noodles
3 quarts boiling water
1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional)

Set 3 quarts of water to boil. In the meantime...

.break eggs into a glass or other non-reactive bowl, large enough to hold the cooked fettuccini later.
.whisk in grated cheese(s), thyme and parsley.
.Blend well until foamy.
.Set aside.

.Heat olive oil in frying pan.
.When hot but not smoking, add ham and fry until edges start to crisp.
.Add garlic and stir-fry 1 minute longer.
.Remove from heat.

.Now back to the water...
.When water starts to boil, add salt if desired.
.Add noodles and cook according to package directions until al dente.
.Drain cooked fettuccini--do not cool!
.Add immediately to egg mixture, tossing quickly to coat. This cooks the egg!
.Reheat ham/pancetta mixture quickly and pour over pasta mixture when hot.
.Toss again.
.Sprinkle with chopped parsley as a garnish and serve with additional grated cheese.

I have had two people in my family rid themselves of high blood pressure and swear that it was because of the garlic they ate. One aunt lived well into her eighties, the other is about to celebrate her 90th birthday. Before they started their garlic "experiment", they both were on high-blood-pressure meds. They both have/had doctors that couldn't explain what happened but took them off Tenormin and Atenlol--and they stayed off for decades! Unfortunately, doctors aren't as educated in nutrition as they should be. But we can be! So not only is garlic safe, beautiful, and fun to grow--it's good for you too!