October: Hardneck Garlic
There are two types of garlic—hardneck and softneck. Our top tip for garlic growers (or those planning to grow garlic): choose the hardneck varieties.
The softneck varieties yield more, but much smaller, individual cloves. At least in our kitchen, the skinny cloves end up unused, as it’s just no fun peeling a tiny sliver of garlic. Hardneck varieties yield fewer cloves (between 5–7), but they are large and easy to peel.
Because hardnecks are native to the countries of eastern Europe, where cold winters are the norm, they like a few weeks of chilling in the refrigerator crisper drawer before planting. It’s ideal to plant them in mid to late September, but you can start later—like sometime in October.
Hardnecks are, however, harder to come by. You need to order them, because our grocery stores stock only the softnecks.
Credit for this tip goes to Tom Hanson’s discussion of all things garlic on the September 10 edition of What’s Growing On, aired on KZFR Community Radio 90.1 FM. For more information on growing garlic, read our article here: Growing Garlic | The Real Dirt
Editor's Pick Archive :: 2026 :: 2025 :: 2024 :: 2023 :: 2022 :: 2021 :: 2020 :: 2019