I Planted This Garlic 6 MONTHS AGO! Growing Garlic in Zone 10 Southern California

Root crops are always funny. They can be a little tough to know when to harvest, especially if you forgot when you planted them! We've had lots of questions about growing garlic, so let's check in on my patch and show you what you need to know: Stock up: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... 0:18 Harvesting early 2:03 Soil conditions 3:36 Garlic scapes 4:37 Planning for next year Garlic is one of my favorite things to use in the kitchen so we grow A LOT of it. We're constantly working to keep seeds in stock, so many of you are growing garlic too. Here in April, we're only about halfway through the garlic growing season. You don't want to harvest anything yet because it will be small and pretty disappointing. Your bulbs will have all of the right flavors, but they're not going to have the size. That's going to come with the longer days and increase in hours of sunlight. Up until about late May, you want to really keep an eye on your soil's moisture levels. As the leaves turn brown and fall off, that's your signal to turn your water OFF. This is a critical step to help dry out the paper on the outside of the cloves. Otherwise, you run the risk of your garlic rotting and the cloves separating. Around April or May, you may notice flowers forming at the tips of your leaves too. These are garlic scapes, and they're a delicious mini-harvest before you pull the whole bulb. The leaves are also green, but the scapes are really tasty! They have a lot of culinary uses, but some of my favorites are garlic scape pesto or just right on the grill. Homegrown garlic is just the best, but it takes a long time especially considering its size. You want to start out with good seed from a reputable source. You want it to be disease-free and local if possible. Garlic also needs to be vernalized, or you may have also heard this said as chilling garlic so it can get the right number of chill hours required to encourage sprouting. You usually want to do this for about 40-60 days. You want to plant it in the fall. We like to plant it on Halloween! That gives the plant all of the winter to grow and establish its root system. You'll be ready to harvest in the late summer. After harvesting, leave your garlic in one place - either on the counter or in the fridge. If you store it in the fridge and take it out, the cloves are going to want to start the process all over again! KEEP LEARNING →Want more gardening tips? Head on over to our site and the LEARN dropdown: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/blog/ →You can also sign up for one of our classes (go through it at your own speed): "Organic Gardening: Grow Your Own Food" and our famous "Seed Starting Academy" are available at https://organicgardening.teachable.co... GET STOCKED UP: →Vegetables: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Flowers: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Herbs: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Rare Seeds: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... →Tools & Merchandise: https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/produ... CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA →Instagram:   / sandiegoseedcompany   →Facebook:   / sandiegoseedcompany   #Gardening #Garlic