Go Big or Go Home

2025 was another successful garlic harvest that produced some award-winning bulbs. We had lots of positive comments and demand for the crop far outstripped our supply.

We decided to double our planting from 450 to 900 bulbs, but when we broke apart our seed garlic we found that we could plant five beds instead of four for a total of 1,125 bulbs. It is hard to believe that we started with just eight bulbs four years ago.

Five long raised beds freshly covered with dark compost on a sunny autumn day, with vegetable gardens to the left and mountains visible through the trees in the background. — Five beds prepared with deep compost mulch for garlic planting.

Unlike previous years, this year we had both our soil and compost tested. We were pleased to learn that the soil and compost were in excellent shape with one exception. It turns out the sodium levels are higher than ideal. It appears that the compost is the primary source of excess sodium, which makes sense given that the primary feedstock is horse manure. Going forward we will need to make sure that we use a wider variety of feedstocks mixed with the horse manure to reduce the sodium concentration.

The testing gave us some confidence that we are on the right track with how we are approaching our garlic planting. So, as we have done in past years, we proceeded to topdress the beds with 4 inches of compost, plant the cloves, and then cover the beds with leaf mulch.

Close-up of garlic beds with rows of evenly spaced planting holes pressed into dark compost, a red bowl of garlic cloves and a wooden measuring stake sitting between the beds. — Planting holes pressed into the compost and ready for garlic cloves.

Wide view of five compost-topped garlic beds with a person planting cloves at the far end, colourful pinwheels in the foreground, and autumn trees under an overcast sky. — Planting 1,125 garlic cloves across five beds.

Three garlic beds with exposed dark compost and two garlic beds covered with golden autumn leaf mulch and colourful pinwheels in the foreground and autumn trees in the background. — Covering the garlic beds with shredded big leaf maple leaf mulch.

Five garlic beds completely covered with a thick layer of brown autumn leaves, with trees and a blue sky with wispy clouds in the background. — All five garlic beds tucked in under a thick blanket of leaf mulch for the winter.

— VVF

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