Courtesy Meredith Seaver, USU Extension

What is the best variety of garlic for our area?

Fall is the best time to get garlic planted, but there are so many different varieties of this popular and easy-to-grow vegetable that it wouldn’t be possible to talk about all of them in this column. Instead, I’ll just mention a few that you might still be able to purchase either online or at your local nursery. First, though, a quick review of garlic selection basics.

There are two general types of garlic: hardneck and softneck.

Hardneck garlic varieties mature with a tough stem in the center of a single circle of large cloves. The stem is the remnant of a floral scape that grew from the center of the bulb earlier in the season. Most gardeners know that cutting off the scapes will encourage larger cloves, but not everyone realizes that the scapes can be a delicious addition to a stir-fry, salad or other late spring dish.

Hardneck garlic varieties tend to be more winter-hardy than softneck varieties, but they also tend to have a shorter storage life compared to softneck varieties. Hardneck varieties can’t be braided together after harvest because of the tough, woody center.

Courtesy Meredith Seaver, USU Extension

Just as the name suggests, softneck garlic doesn’t have a stiff stem in the middle, so these varieties are the ones used for making braids of garlic bulbs. Softneck garlic is the kind of garlic you purchase at a grocery store. Instead of the woody center stem, a softneck garlic bulb will have several layers of progressively smaller cloves around a soft center stem. Some of the softneck varieties of garlic may not be as winter-hardy, but most tend to have a longer storage life when compared to hardneck varieties.

So, which is best? They are both fine. I’ve tried both in the past few years with good results, but like most gardeners in our valley, I prefer hardneck varieties for their larger cloves and ease of use.

Once you’ve chosen between hardneck and softneck for your garden, you’ll make your choice of variety based on what you expect from your garlic. Do you like a mild garlic flavor or are you looking for a bold flavor? You’ll find that, as a group, softneck garlic varieties are milder while many hardneck varieties are know for their robust, “garlicky” flavor.

You may still be able to find the hardneck varieties German Hardy or German Extra Hardy. They’re known for their reliability and cold-hardiness. Both have a classic bold but not overpowering flavor.

Music is another hardneck variety that does well here. It has a very bold flavor, stores for a bit longer than some other hardnecks and is know for its very large cloves.

I haven’t tried the Spanish Roja, but it is also recommended for local gardens.

If you’re looking for a softneck variety, you might still find Inchelium available. It’s milder in flavor, has a long storage life and generally tolerates our cold winters.

Resist the temptation to plant garlic from the grocery store. It can carry diseases or pests that you don’t want to bring into your garden, it may be a variety that was grown in a warmer region than ours, or it may be in poor condition from being stored in less-than-ideal conditions for an extended period.

Once you’ve purchased or ordered your garlic, take some time to prepare the soil where you plan to plant. Every clove in a head of garlic and every layer in a shallot bulb or onion develops from an individual leaf on the plant. Taking the time in the fall to give your garlic what is needs for leafy growth in the spring will pay off at harvest time in July.

Garlic does best in well-drained, fertile soil with a good amount of organic matter. It can be planted any time from September to November, so there’s still time for a soil test if you aren’t sure about your soil (visit https://tinyurl.com/4ae7er72 for information about obtaining a home soil test). Work any recommended fertilizer or organic matter into the upper soil if needed.

Carefully separate your garlic bulbs into individual cloves, but don’t peel the cloves. Plant individual cloves pointed side up and 2 to 3 inches deep. Space the cloves about 3 to 4 inches apart in rows. Garlic doesn’t compete well with weeds. If you’ll space your rows 6 to 10 inches apart, it will be much easier to keep your planting weeded.

You might or might not see anything happening above ground this fall. Either way, your garlic will be self-tending and busy establishing its root system before winter arrives. You should see green sprouts in the early spring before anything else in the garden is happening. With good care throughout the first half of the season, you should have a nice harvest of garlic in mid-summer.