Planting Seed Garlic

We grow hardneck garlic in the Wisconsin Northwoods. If you can keep a garden, you can grow it. Plant in fall, mulch for winter, harvest the next July.

Shop seed garlic · Ready to plant cloves

When to plant

In Wisconsin, plant in October. We harvest in July and cure the bulbs on the farm. We ship as orders come in. Get the cloves in the ground before the soil freezes, about 2 to 4 weeks before a hard freeze if you can.

What to plant

Use our planting garlic: bulbs 2 inches or larger. Bigger cloves make bigger bulbs. One pound of porcelain types like Music, Metechi, and German White plants about 30 cloves. Chesnok Red and Korean Red run closer to 50. Or skip cracking bulbs and use our ready-to-plant clove bags.

We only grow hardneck. It is what likes a real winter.

How to plant

• Break the bulb into cloves. Keep the wrappers on. Plant the largest cloves. Cook the rest.
• Pointy end up, root end down.
• About 3 to 4 inches deep, 6 inches apart, rows about a foot apart.
• Cover with soil, then a thick mulch (straw or leaves). In the Northwoods that mulch is what gets them through winter.
• Sun. Decent drainage. They do not like sitting in a puddle.

What happens next

Shoots come up in spring. Hardnecks send up a scape in early summer. Snap it off and eat it. That also helps the bulb size up. Dig in July when the bottom leaves have browned and a few green ones are still on top. Cure in a dry, airy place out of the sun, then store cool and dry.

Which variety

Chesnok Red is the one people ask for most: sweet, good for roasting. Music and German White are the big storage porcelains. Metechi and Korean Red are the hot ones. Korean Red is an earlier harvest.

Questions or a bulk order: use the contact page.