When do you harvest your garlic?

I've always harvested mine around the beginning of July. Over the years I've read varying opinions on harvesting when all but 2 leaves are dead, all leaves are dead, 1 leaf is dead, etc.

Leaves are dying already, which I think is a bit early.

How weird to see this now.  Just this morning I heard a garlic grower answer this question on the radio.  They said when about half the leaves were dead and dry, about mid-August around here.

Can you leave it in the ground over the winter then harvest in the spring, Hillbilly?

Its already been there one winter. I harvest, dry, then replant for the following season. This bunch will be ready soon, but its looking way ahead of schedule according to some methods.
Fowler, I suppose july would be bang on then, because our season starts much earlier. I was just looking at it thinking I could be picking it any day now by the dead leaves.

okay garlic growers... I have a silly question (and sure I could use the bing-machine for an answer but people that have actually grown something always have the best answers!!)

can I plant garlic now? to harvest this season??? or is it only a plant in the fall for next year sort of thing???   what would happen if I were to plant it now?? would the sky fall?  (okay the last part was only joking, but I am serious.  would it grow enough if I planted it now, or does it really truly have to be planted in the fall for growth?)

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we've already been eating lettuce. No, I didn't start it in a greenhouse, or indoors. straight from seed.

lanaire, I plant mine in august for next season. You could plant it now, but you wouldn't have big bulbs this season.

We plant ours mid-Oct,harvest mid Aug generally,when theres 3 or 4 green leaves left,since you plant that much earlier they could be getting ready to harvest

so they are ok over the winter out here Birish?  do you have to cover them up quite a bit with straw or compost or plastic?
I have never grown garlic but brought back some really tasty bulbs from a farmers  market in BC and wanted to try planting it, it had a really thick coarse centre stem and less cloves but they were really big ones (and strong!)
(one year I planted some around the edge of my garden, not knowing they took a year to develop and was disappoint4ed they didn't change much over the summer!)

Our garden is on the south side of a windbreak so it generally gets lots of snow,if your patch won't get covered I think it would be a good idea to mulch,garlic is tough but I think it might winterkill without cover,give it a  try it  does very well here,last fall when I planted it the ground was frozen solid,poked holes with a stick,shoved them in,they're doing fine,knee high right now

good to know, Id really like to give it a try this Fall

Garlic cloves can freeze solid in the ground with no bad effect.  Garlic is planted in the fall, as cloves, before the ground is too frozen to plant.  Those cloves grow beneath the soil all winter long, we don't see that of course.  Come mid summer, when most of the leaves are dry, that is ready for harvest.  There are two types of garlic -- the hard neck and the soft neck.  The soft neck is the type used for braiding, it usually will have more smaller cloves on the plant.  The hard neck has a strong, hard centre stalk and is difficult to braid, it has less cloves, bigger cloves than the soft neck variety, usually 6 to 10 on a bulb, sometimes even only 4, but big.  I like the hard neck, as it keeps longer.
 
One can gather the little bulbils that form from the flower head of the garlic and plant those.  Those take two years to mature (compared to breaking a bulb that has clove division and planting large cloves).  The first year those little bulbils that you planted from the seeds of the flower head will form bulbs about the size of a dime.  The next year the dime sized cloves will make the full sized garlic bulb.  This is an excellent way to make a huge population of garlic.
 
I was intent the summer before last and gathered those little bulbils from the matured flower heads.  I planted them the beginning of October (as  I do all my garlic), pulled them out of the ground the next year, replanted in the fall and this year, I have hundreds upon hundreds of mature bulbs maturing from the little flower seeds gathered and planted.  I also have about 150 mature bulbs almost ready from planting the biggest cloves from my garlic bulbs last year.  I have read that if you want the biggest bulbs, to choose the biggest cloves from the bulb to plant, sacrifice those big bulbs, save the smaller ones for home eating, and you will have massive bulbs the next year.  Big beget big.  It is true, I attest to that.
 
The garlic plants are sending up the scapes now, with the flower ends developing.  I need to get out and cut all the scapes off and pickle, freeze and dry the scapes.  makes for some lovely garlic greens for cooking in the future.  Thinking pickled garlic scapes and greens (non-pickled ones) for rice and soups.  All with wonderful garlic flavour.  I know that once the scapes are picked, there is about a two week waiting period and the bulbs are ready to dry, by hanging in a non-sunny airy spot.  The gazebo here is perfect, covered, no rain, wind gently blowing the garlic dry.
I gather all the leaves, which are pretty done, and tie them in bunches and just let them hang for a couple of weeks.  The hanging wicks the moisture from the bulb which is needed for proper drying and storage, like onions need to be dried for proper storage too.
A cue for me in our area for harvesting the garlic is when the farmer up the road harvests his.  My best cue actually.  He grows acres of it and when I see him harvesting, I get going too.  Before we moved here and I had this cue, back on the coast.  I would wait until most of the leaves were dry, only a couple not fully and then begin harvest.  One can also pull up a bulb when it is thought that they should be ready and see if that looks like it should be harvested.  You will know by the look and if the cloves separate from the bulb and are enclosed in the skin that surrounds each clove, but that is not the best method I would suppose, but it does work.
When I plant the garlic before the frozen ground comes, I cover that garlic bed with the leaves from the Maple tree that are spent.  About a foot deep, this helps to hold the cloves in place to prevent frost heaves and also nourishes in the spring, as the leaves decompose.  The garlic will come right through.  The will to put up the leaves that will gather the goodness from the sun is amazingly strong.  The smaller bulbils, if I am planting bulbils, are not mulched as deeply.  They are not as strong willed as a clove that is 20 times it size.
Garlic is one of the easiest of anything to grow.  Remember, it takes a full winter growing below ground to make those big and beautiful bulbs you will harvest the following summer.  Keep the bed weed free.  Garlic does not like weed competition, and refrain from watering during the last couple of months of growing, unless you are in drought condition.  The rain that comes and falls will suffice to water.  Enjoy garlic.  And have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Ah Cynthia, I knew you would have much to say about garlic. Thank you!

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I spent part of this morning cutting the scapes off my garlic, 120 . I never thought of pickling them Cynthia.

I am rather amused by my activities yesterday.  I spent the ENTIRE day, from 8:30 to about 3:00 weeding those freakin' vegetable gardens.  Oh this rain, oh this rain, never have I seen weeds develop as they have.  They must have been hiding in the soil for years, cause let me tell you, I am anal about weed free veggie gardens, and since gardening here have never allowed not even one weed go to seed.  Seeds can live for many, many years, and surface when conditions are right.  Guess this was the year.  done.  Got just a little more planting to do, then will show my garden in Sweetened's thread.  It is going gung ho now, with a meal of chard for tonight's dinner from the thinnings.  I like to keep at least 3 - 4 inches between chard plants, makes for lovely, clean chard pickings.  Too close, and you get smaller leaves, and that is where the bugs can harbour, especially ear wigs, don't like those buggers.  Beet greens will be the next thing for that dinner tonight, a little more thinning to do there too.

Deb, I cut about half my garlic scapes yesterday and the pail got too big.  Today will be a day to take some time and get those cut up into pieces, to do with what I will tomorrow.  Remember those pretty flower pods, eat only the pod.  The long, long, thin pokey outy thing, looks like a skinny snout at the end of the flower pod, that is rock stiff.  If you cook that part you will be unable to eat it, it is like straw and hard.  Trust me, I know.  So cut that off and only use the flower pod itself (and of course the scape length too).   Such pretty things to put into the soups, salads, rice, and on the plate for pickled (tastes like garlic pickles, smiling).  Glad you all enjoyed the trip down the lane on how to grow nice garlic.  Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

This is last year's bucket of garlic scapes.  Only one bucket.  This year there will be two buckets, maybe a bit more than that. Already gave a bucket for my Sister back on the coast to do with what she will, so lots of garlic scapes.

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This is after I had cut off the seed pods and put the pods separate from the cut up scape stalks.


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This is me holding a seed pod in my hand.  Usually I would pick the pods a little less mature, but was busy with something else last year.  There are hundreds of little baby garlic bulbils growing in that pod.  Some varieties of garlic only have about 20 little seeds, well the seeds are actually quite big compared to this variety, which is called Fish Lake #3.  A beautiful, long keeper, nice heat, beautiful flavoured garlic.  I think it was the Hungarian garlic I planted the summer before last and the seeds were only few in the seed head, but boy, what a lovely plant to let go to seed, that little seed pod held some really pungent garlic bulbils, nice for burning off the mouth, oops, :DIn only grow the one variety now, tried a bunch, and just prefer this, so why have other types, makes no sense.

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Those little seeds will be exposed if the flower is allowed to mature.  The seeds are attached to a hard centre, but if left, will fall to the ground. Yes, there would be tons of garlic babies growing right beside their mother plant, if let go to seed.  And yes, these hundreds of little seeds will harbour over winter and grow into teeny tiny garlic plants the following year.  Back on the coast I had an area I had planted garlic, forgot a couple of garlic plants one time and they went to seed.  The following spring there was a carpet of lovely garlic baby plants growing.  Made for some awesome picking, cutting and dehydrating of the little garlic leaves, just before our huge move from the coast to the Okanagan, had enough for use up until last year from this gift from the mother plants themselves.

More on scapes. I like to throw a couple in a ziplock with a little water. When frying prawns (or anything really) just dump the bag in the frying pan. The ice that melts contains the flavour as well.