Foolproof Garlic Growing: 5 Simple Steps Using the Ruth Stout Method
Garlic is a fantastic beginner gardener crop! Do it right, and it pretty much takes care of itself until harvest season, it is easy to store, and it is also incredibly simple to save your own seed for the next planting. Garlic is an amazing herbal ally used medicinally too! Garlics energetics are Warm, Dry, and Bitter. Often used both internally and externally in folk remedies, it can be extremely helpful for many conditions! Used to support high blood pressure, cold and flu recovery/prevention and as an antifungal/antibacterial treatment to name a few.
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
-Hippocrates
Garlic should be planted about 4 weeks before the ground freezes and in my area that means planting in mid September-October.
Garlic needs fertile and well draining soil. The bulbs are heavy feeders and as with any root crop can be susceptible to rot if they are in soggy soil.
Now my favorite twist to this formula, the Ruth Stout, or deep mulch method. This suppresses weeds and also keeps the soil cool and Moist all year so I can be pretty much hands off after planting my garlic until harvest next July! You can use old hay as Ruth recommends or I really like to use hay and straw that comes from animal bedding. This gives me the fertilizer boost my garlic wants, the deep mulch needed for ultimate low maintenance and it makes great use of some animal bedding that needs to be taken care of any way. I currently don't produce a lot of animal bedding myself but I have cleaned out many a barn and walked away with a truck full of free enriched mulch!
There are different recommendations out there on spacing but I like to plant mine about 6 inches apart all around. This works well for me.
I usually like to grow 1 hardneck and 1 softneck variety but this year I am trialing a new variety so I'll be planting 2 soft neck types! Hardneck varieties are generally more cold hardy and produce fewer large size cloves per bulb that are easier to peel. Soft neck types produce more smaller cloves per bulb that have more wrappers making them a bit more challenging to peel. This however also gives softneck types an advantage in storage and they typically can store up to a year in good conditions whereas soft neck types are usually stored for 6-8 months.
My favorite hard neck variety to date is hands down the Romanian Red! This garlic has a notably high allicin content which makes it perfect for using medicinally. It has such a bold spicy flavor, if you are usually the person who sees a recipe call for 2 cloves and thinks… better do the whole head, you'll probably love romanian red! It packs a punch! The bulbs are large, very easy to peel, and store for about 6 months. I will be forever thankful to the elderly Russian lady at a farmers market who talked me into buying a pound of this variety to trial in my garden back in 2019. This is the garlic we use for making fermented garlic honey and fire cider and we are always disappointed when we eat the last bulb of the season.
I also usually grow Inchelium Red, it's a soft neck garlic native to Washington state with a mild and sweet flavor. It offers a garlic taste without the strong pungency, making it a favorite for those who prefer a milder garlic. Stores fairly well, up to 9 months.
New to me this year is the Nootka Rose variety, said to have a rich flavor without an overpowering spiciness and a very good storage ability of 9-12 months! I am very excited to trial this variety and if it does well I anticipate it replacing Inchelium red for my soft neck needs.
5 steps to foolproof garlic! Plant it and forget it.
The Ruth Stout (aka Deep Mulch) Method for Growing Garlic:
The Ruth Stout method is a no-till gardening technique that involves mulching heavily with organic materials to suppress weeds, conserve moisture, and improve soil quality. This is an incredibly beneficial approach especially when you want to plant it and forget it and still have amazing results! Here's how to grow garlic using this method:
1. Choose the Right Location: Garlic thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. Select a location in your garden that receives at least 6-8 hours of sunlight daily and will not become waterlogged. Prepare the bed in your preferred manner, if that is no till, low till, or all the tilling, you do whatever suits you best! I like to remove large plant matter and gently turn the soil with my broad fork, breaking up any large clay clumps with my hoe.
2. Planting Garlic: In late fall after your first frost but before the ground is actually going to stay frozen, separate garlic bulbs into individual cloves. Plant each clove, pointy end up, about 2 inches deep and 6-8 inches apart all around.
3. Mulch Heavily: Cover the planting area with a thick layer of organic mulch. Ruth Stout herself used hay, but you can use straw, leaves, grass clippings, compost, bedding cleaned out from your barn, or a combination of any of these options. Aim for a mulch depth of about 6 inches. Note that this will naturally compact especially under snowfall so in the spring the mulch will look much less deep. You can leave it be usually but if you think it needs to be topped up or notice weeds coming thru, just add more mulch on top as needed.
4. Harvest: In the following summer, (usually in July for me) when the lower 2 leaves start turning yellow and drying, it's time to harvest your garlic. Dig them up gently, taking care not to damage the bulbs. Do not wash the dirt off!!! Try to harvest when the weather is dry (not usually an issue for me in July…) so that the dirt will more easily fall off.
5. Cure and Store: Your garlic will need some time to "cure" so place them out of direct sunlight, in a single layer, at temperatures around 70-80f until the leaves and stalks are all completely dry. At this point you can trim up the roots, dust off any remaining dirt, braid soft neck varieties and cut off the stalks about an inch above the bulb on hard neck varieties. Store all garlic in a cool dry spot away from sunlight and enjoy the fruits of your labor over the next 6-12 months!
Bonus Tip - If you are saving your own seed to replant next year, make sure to set aside the best, largest bulbs from your harvest to replant. The quality and size you plant will yield corresponding results for your next harvest!
Incorporating the Ruth Stout method into your garlic-growing endeavors can simplify the process and lead to a bountiful harvest. With the right varieties and proper care, you'll be enjoying the delicious, aromatic flavors, and healing benefits of your home grown garlic in no time. Happy gardening!
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this is not intended to be medical advice, simply sharing information and thoughts on a plant and its traditional uses.
