Garlic – the Easiest Thing you can Plant as a First Time Gardener

I have been trying to garden in this Southern California desert region for almost 15 years now. It’s not an easy climate to grow in since we have so much sun and so little rain. There have been many seasons that I just let the garden go, but I always seem to keep coming back. I have discovered that garlic is the one thing I will always plant because it is so easy and so satisfying.

Garlic is so easy to grow you actually can’t mess it up. Nothing will eat it so you don’t have to worry about bugs or birds or even rats eating it up. It’s also not really prone to any diseases. I like to line the perimeter of my raised garden beds with garlic as a natural insect deterrent. It stays green with very little water and after a few months you actually stop watering it and let it dry up before harvesting.

Kale, cabbage and garlic scapes in a raised garden bed.

I like to set a reminder to plant garlic in my google calendar. October 1st is an ideal date where I live but you can’t go wrong with planting anytime during the fall season. Garlic loves the cold and the colder it is the bigger the bulbs will grow. We had an unusually warm winter one season with hardly any frost so my garlic never took off. I actually just left it in the ground to harvest the next year and I ended up with huge bulbs.

A hand holding a large garlic clove with dirt on it and roots.

Pro tip – save your largest bulbs for planting next season. I ordered my garlic planting bulbs from San Diego Seed Company one year and have been able to keep them going ever since. This year I am also going to plant some organic garlic bulbs that I got from Azure Standard and never got around to cooking. They have already started to sprout which is the perfect time to get them into the ground.

A metal basket with several bulbs of garlic inside starting to sprout green shoots.

I live in a warmer climate so I need to plant softneck bulbs. If you live in a colder climate you need to source hardneck bulbs. Softnecks are usually what you find in the grocery stores and if you buy organic you can just plant those in the ground (non-organic is treated to prevent sprouting.) Softneck garlic is fun because you can make a braid of garlic to hang while it dries which is so pretty. It also can last six months or longer after harvest.

A pile of garlic cloves, some of them sprouting green shoots.

After you source your garlic bulbs just separate out each individual clove and plant four inches deep. Just be sure to plant with the pointed end or sprouting end up. You can space a few inches apart in rows about nine inches apart. I wanted to have a thick patch of garlic so I planted mine closer together this year. It takes about six months for the bulbs to fully form. By early summer you can see the leaves start to turn brown and dry out which means it’s time to harvest!

Garlic cloves laid out evenly across a the soil of a raised garden bed.

After harvesting you must let the bulbs cure and fully dry out. When I pull them from the ground I leave them dirty and try not to peel any of the skin off the bulbs. After they have dried out you can clean with a soft brush and peel away the outer layer until they are pretty and clean and ready to store and enjoy for the remainder of the year. Jus’t don’t forget to set aside the largest bulbs for replanting next season, and store your bulbs in a dry, dark place. By doing all of this I am able to grow enough flavorful, home grown garlic for my family to enjoy all year round with very little effort.