It’s mid October in the UK, which is a great time to start planting your Garlic. Garlic can be planted from September to March depending on what variety is grown.

Garlic is great as a filler for your Leek and Onions beds as any plants that didn’t make it can be replaced with a garlic clove. Onions and Garlic are harvested at similar times from June to August.

Garlic is great friends with the onion family so can be grown and loves the same conditions as Onions, Shallots and Leeks.

The variety I am growing is an Early variety called Extra Early Wight from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight and I chose this specifically so it would be an early harvest. Extra Early Wight is a large Hardneck variety from French origin.

The Garlic will take up some room in the bed until June so I wanted to be able to replace it with summer vegetables before the growing season is over. Other types of Garlic harvest from July to August.

I’ve also planted some garlic in the Leeks bed which will be due to be harvested before June. Vegetables which can be grown after Leeks but next to Garlic include: Beetroot, Lettuce, Cabbage and Tomatoes. The only thing not to plant in this bed would be beans or peas.

There are two types of Garlic.

Softneck and Hardneck.

Softneck Garlic can be stored for longer and Hardneck can’t. I haven’t grown Hardneck garlic before but I thought I’d try it this year as it is supposed to have more flavour than the Softneck varieties.

Step by Step – Grow your Own Garlic

1. Garlic Bulbs look exactly like they do in the supermarket. To plant them, your first task is the break them up into individual cloves. I break them up with my fingers so I don’t split any cloves open. Peel off any white paper outing to just leave your clove of garlic to plant in the ground.

2. The garlic clove has a top, usually the pointy bit and a bottom which is flat, where the roots grow from.

Plant 1 garlic clove in the ground about an inch deep (3-4cm) with the bottom end downwards in the soil and the pointy tip facing the sky. Then cover over with soil. Plant the next clove 6 inches away.

3. Water during dry periods only as it will get enough water from the rain in autumn and winter.

4. Harvest garlic when your stem bends over during June to August.

What are Garlic Scapes?

Find out here in my post – What are Garlic Scapes and why is my Garlic Flowering.

If you like growing Garlic, Onions are similar to plant.

Read my 🧅 guide to Growing Onions in cell trays when it’s too wet outside PLUS free planting video.