Please add this to your order if you think you may plant our garlic as it has important information for growing garlic and very specific details for the hot water soak method. See our "How to Plant Garlic" information sheet at this link: https://weebeefarms.blogspot.com/p/how-to-plant-garlic.html HOW TO PLANT GARLIC Plant garlic in mid-October up to Thanksgiving (earlier for high elevations.) The idea is for the roots to start growing in the warm soil while not having the tops grow. However some years the tops do come up in November and the garlic does fine anyhow. Choosing Garlic to plant- Start with locally grown garlic, adapted to our environment. Garlic from California or China or other parts of the world may not grow well here. It also may have been treated with an anti-sprouting agent. Our bulbs average 8 plantable cloves per bulb. 10 bulbs would plant 80 heads. After your first crop, keep the best garlic to replant in your garden. Site Selection and preparation- Choose a site with full sun and good access to water. It does better in the ground than in raised beds due to more temperature swings in raised beds. It will not survive in pots. Garlic is not too finicky about soil, but it will grow larger with good amended soil. For fertility and soil health we plant buckwheat and other cover crops (from organic seed). The last crop is tilled in a month before planting. Our plots are rotated yearly, with cover crops grown on them in between planting years. Compost is added 3-4 weeks before planting. We don’t fertilize after that point. How To Plant- Separate cloves up to a week before planting. Select the largest cloves from the largest bulbs. Don’t worry if some cloves are naked or soft. Plant each clove 2 to 2 1/2” deep with the pointy end up and 1” soil or more covering the top. Space garlic 5” to 7” apart. Garlic doesn’t cross -pollinate, so different varieties can be planted together. Mulch 2” to 4” with straw or grass clippings (no herbicides.) Water very deeply right after planting. We water about 2” at this time. Care, Water & Feeding- Green shoots will usually start to show in early February. Water well in late February -this is very important unless we have had a rare winter with lots of snow pack. Pull back the mulch gradually to acclimate the garlic leaves to full sun. Fertilize green shoots 2-3 times in March to May with fish emulsion or other organic fertilizer unless you have planted in fertile soil. Keep well-watered in Spring and through June. We water up to about a week before harvest. Drip lines work really well for watering garlic. Keep the garlic weeded. Scapes- (Hardnecks only) Clip or break the central seed stalk when they make a loop, or shortly afterwards (usually in June.) Clipping the scapes will give you larger bulbs, however your bulbs will store longer if you keep the scape on. Eat the scapes! They will store for 2 months in the fridge. Harvest- Dig up when half of the leaves are brown, usually June 25- July 10 (earlier for Turban type garlics). This is important. Each leaf represents one layer of wrapper on the garlic. The garlic won’t store as long if it’s harvested late. If you harvest early, the bulbs may not be formed. When harvesting, gently rub some dirt out of the roots but leave the bulbs dirty. Shade immediately and keep shaded. Hang or put on ventilated shelves for 3 weeks to “cure”. They must have very good air circulation for 2-3 weeks. After the curing period clip off the dried stalk and rub off one layer of paper (rubbing off more layers will affect storage life). Also rub extra dirt out of the roots. No need to clip the roots. How To Store- Store at room temperature or cooler, out of direct sunlight. Cool basements and garages can work well for storage. The bulbs need air circulation, but storing in paper bags can keep them from drying out too much. If you keep it in the fridge use the vegetable compartment and store in a paper bag. Hardnecks generally store up to 5 months. Softnecks up to 9 months from harvest. Weebeefarms.blogspot.com Hot Water Garlic Seed Treatment Hot water treatment is used to reduce or eliminate disease in garlic. It’s necessary to do this before planting your garlic to keep your soil clean. We have done this treatment at WeeBee Farms for 2 years and we’ve had big, healthy bulbs as a result. Be brave! The first time may seem scary but it works well and is not too hard to do. After separating your garlic into cloves, put them in netted bags and treat before planting. I use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature. Sticking the thermometer in a cork keeps it afloat. A kitchen sink works fine for a small batch of garlic. Use a lot of water to help maintain the temperature better. 1. Pre-soak bath - Soak in water around 100°F for 30-45 minutes. This pre-warms the cloves so that the temperature of the hot- water bath is easier to maintain. 2. Hot-water bath – Take the cloves immediately from the pre-soak and put them in a 118-120°F hot-water bath. Maintain this bath at 118-120°F for 20 minutes. Start timing when the water reaches proper temperature. The temperature of the hot-water bath will fall when the cloves are added. You need to have boiling water handy to quickly raise the temperature. Stir while adding boiling water slowly. DO NOT LET WATER GET HOTTER THAN 120 DEGREES! We usually aim for 119 to be safe, and have had no loss of garlic. 3. Cool bath – Immediately submerse the cloves in a cool water bath for 10-20 minutes. Hose water or tap water is usually fine. (64-72°F is ideal). 4. Plant on the same day or within a few days of treatment. Can be planted wet or air dried.